At the non-profit Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, things are looking a little brighter these days – literally. Working with local integration firm Owen Security Solutions, the museum invested in a wide range of vibrant webOS-based digital displays from LG Business Solutions USA and a dedicated video wall mounting system designed and manufactured by Peerless-AV. The eye-catching digital signage installation includes a 15-foot-wide by 8.5-foot-tall, 2.5mm pixel pitch direct view LED video wall featured at the very center of the museum.
According to museum officials, the tech makeover has enabled greater flexibility to manage and schedule content while creating an environment that’s more attractive to its school-age audience whose educational experiences and upbringings have included frequent use of digital technologies.
“This technology upgrade, centered around LG display solutions and streamlined content management, has delivered a variety of benefits for our internal operations and has modernized the guest experience,” said Jason Woodside, Tellus Science Museum Audio/Visual Manager. “Having previously relied on consumer-grade TVs purchased at big box stores, working with Owen Security Solutions to install commercial-grade LG displays was a major step up in terms of the options available and the capabilities offered. For instance, the content management and scheduling capabilities of the WebOS platform integrated in our new LG displays has greatly simplified our content updating process and enabled on-the-fly changes, as well as scheduling content weeks ahead of time.”
With the old AV infrastructure, updating a single display required Woodside to load new content onto a USB thumb drive, then physically go to the display and update just that one unit. Using the WebOS platform, he can now instantly update content on any LG display from his office PC, or remotely, saving time and frustration on a daily basis.
For museum guests, many of whom are K-12 students, the goal of the tech upgrades was to add a ‘wow factor’ and better align with their expectations and interests as tech-savvy learners.
“The LED video wall has become a center of attention, not only because it is mounted in the Great Hall where our four gallery rooms branch off, but also because it’s such a stunning piece of technology that many visitors haven’t seen before,” Woodside added. “Along with 16 flat panel displays from LG, the LED video wall allows us to connect with students through an exciting digital canvas we can use to present any kind of content. Now we can do things like show up-to-the-minute earthquake information as it happens on a huge, engaging screen.”
The installation location proved to be challenging, because the selected wall area for the large LED was slanted at an obtuse angle. Despite this hurdle, Peerless-AV’s SEAMLESS custom flat video wall mount was successfully installed in just a day. The mount was designed with a plethora of features to ensure quick, safe installation, and serviceability. The mount also included decorative covers, which were installed to the sides of the mounted displays for a clean, aesthetically pleasing installation and final look.
“When designing this custom LED video wall mounting structure, our engineering team took extra care, knowing the large system would be forward-facing and needed to be securely mounted,” said Peerless-AV Technical Sales Engineer, Rob Meiner. “Being onsite for the short, one-day installation to oversee the assembly of the large LED mounting frame, installation to the wall, and the hanging of the LED displays was truly a seamless experience for all involved. We’re proud to be part of this digital signage upgrade at the museum alongside LG.”
The Tellus Science Museum currently uses the LED video wall to promote upcoming events, marketing content and custom welcome and thank you messages for visiting groups and benefactors, and it has plans to develop original content in the near future.
LG commercial displays also provide digital signage at the reception desk and cafe, with four digital displays in each location. At reception, two displays mirror the content from the LED video wall, while the remaining two share membership info and admission prices, respectively. In the café are three LG digital menu boards and one screen that mirrors the LED video wall content. These displays were installed with LCD mounting solutions from Peerless-AV.
“Owen Solutions helped us add some animated content to the cafe menu boards, which provides a bit of fun for children, parents and chaperones waiting in line,” Woodside added. “While the menu boards display real photos of the Cafe’s food items, every five minutes an animated graphic briefly appears, including a rocket ship that flies in and out of view, a wooly mammoth that walks across the screen, and a similar T-rex animation. These are things we simply couldn’t do before.”
In addition to hosting as many as 20 school groups each day, a number of spaces in the museum are available for private events, including a series of banquet rooms that can be combined thanks to collapsible walls. The largest of these rooms, banquet room B, features two 110-inch LG video walls, each composed of four LG 55-inch narrow-bezel displays and Peerless-AV SmartMount® Supreme Video Wall Mounts (DS-VW775-QR).
“The museum had been considering tech upgrades for a few years, and we were able to show them some of the latest display technologies for this project,” said Kevin Turner, Director of Technology at Owen Security Solutions. “From the banquet room video walls that can display user content for events, to the displays found at the reception desk and the cafe, the museum now has much greater control over its messaging and can utilize the displays for a variety of purposes, including showing a live spillover feed for presentations or lunch and learn sessions that fill the museum’s auditorium.”
As a non-profit, the museum was conscious of cost. While they considered their options, including projection systems and other digital displays, LG invited six museum officials to its Business Innovation Center showroom in Alpharetta, Georgia, as well as a live project site with an active installation, to let them experience all of LG’s cutting-edge solutions. Once they saw the clarity and impact of a large-format LED display, and they learned how the webOS platform allowed simple control and could even tie-in with their POS system, they became convinced it was exactly what the museum needed.
“Our dedication to customer service is one of the things that sets us apart from other manufacturers,” said LG Senior Enterprise Account Manager Craig Rathbun. “The in-person experience really simplifies technology decisions by bringing the actual end result to life right in front of the customer. It was especially important for the team to see the differences between our available displays mediums and how these screen types perform. We demonstrate LCD, OLED and LED displays in our Tech Centers in Atlanta and Chicago, and the ability to demonstrate live webOS content management greatly helps customers understand the strength and diversity of applications available.”
The upgrades achieved every set goal and have become a highlight for visitors, showing how museums of all kinds and sizes can adopt new technologies to drive attendance and increase relevance for the next generation of visitors.
