The increase of applications and sources to be visualized and controlled in a control room has led to an increase of using large screen solutions. Such large screen solutions in general consists of a matrix of displays LCDs or rear projection cubes connected to a display wall controller, with such a solution the operators have a very big desktop available with a huge resolution. A large screen solution means that in addition to the individual desktop displays of the operators a central visualization unit is used. The most appropriate technology, when these video walls are used 24/7 is rear projection as this technology doesn't suffer from image burnin or image retention, even nowadays DLP rear projection cubes are available with a lifetime of > 60.000 hrs for the LED lamps, technologies like LCD or Plasma have a lot of restrictions when using 24/7.
But is the high tech appearance of control rooms or that a control room looks impressive the only reason for using video walls in addition to the desktop displays? Well, if a control room is used by only one operator, displaying the information on a desktop display might be the best option. In multiple operator control rooms, using a video wall is the most appropriate choice. The advantages of a central video wall are various, all operators are able to see all the information at the same time and have the possibility to discuss what they see with the other operators. Also it is possible to have a task sharing between the operators or representation in case of a pause for example. With a video wall, the number of screens on the desktops can be reduced (reduction of costs and energy). In case of an incident or error the operators are able to determine it quicker and are so more efficient in taking counter measurements. If intelligent video wall systems are used, that means with an intelligent wall management software, operators can use the alarm management functions, with which for example they can automatically create events on the video wall in case of problems and therefore attract immediately the attraction of all operators. A professional software allows to receive these alarms by SMS, TCP/IP, RS-232, I/O connections, ODBC or SNMP. In case of visualizing images from video cameras, this would mean for example to display the video camera image only if there is something happening in the field of view. This is possible if the camera is equipped with a movement detectors and if such a movement is detected a signal to the video wall is being sent and the window of this video camera pops up automatically. The collaboration facilities with such a video wall system are various, when we are talking about a professional video wall system consisting of professional DLP rear projection cubes in connection with the appropriate video wall controller and wall management software. Such a video wall system is not only a stupid big display, it is more complex and also professional vendors are able to interface the system with customer systems (SCADA, DCS, video camera management or building management software). Also a professional solution offers an API to integrate the functionalities of controlling the video wall from other systems.
Also for the management, who is în general not sitting directly in the control room, such a central video wall system is ideal to see immediately what is happening when entering the control room. But also a video wall management software like eyecon from the German manufacturer eyevis offers the possibility to put the content of the video wall on any desktop monitor/PC/Laptop in the network, that means that somebody has not to be physically in the control room to see what is happening on the video wall. The content can simply be streamed through the network on any PC located in the network. On a large screen system all kind of data can be visualized when using a display wall controller, like IP video, analog video, PC's through RGB or DVI connection or by capturing them through the LAN. Another argument for using a video wallis the improvements of control possibilities, if one operator doesn't see an incident immediately another will probably see it. When deciding for such a video wall solution of course a detailed planning is required because a lot of aspects have to be respected. These are for example number of operators, arrangement of consoles and video wall, amount and nature of data to be visualized, viewing angle, viewing distance, size of fonts, resolution and size of display, display technology, aspect ratio, lighting, air conditioning, interior design, etc.. In principle there are no rules for determining the exact required display size, sometimes it might be determined by the application which is displayed on the video wall, for example in energy distribution or railway control rooms, which require a huge total resolution.
If a turnkey control room is required, it is wise to work with specialized companies who take care of the complete project from the design up to the commissioning. The can take care of all the tasks like interior design, flooring, wall cover, ceiling, enclosures, consoles, ergonomics and the video wall system and its implementation.
But is the high tech appearance of control rooms or that a control room looks impressive the only reason for using video walls in addition to the desktop displays? Well, if a control room is used by only one operator, displaying the information on a desktop display might be the best option. In multiple operator control rooms, using a video wall is the most appropriate choice. The advantages of a central video wall are various, all operators are able to see all the information at the same time and have the possibility to discuss what they see with the other operators. Also it is possible to have a task sharing between the operators or representation in case of a pause for example. With a video wall, the number of screens on the desktops can be reduced (reduction of costs and energy). In case of an incident or error the operators are able to determine it quicker and are so more efficient in taking counter measurements. If intelligent video wall systems are used, that means with an intelligent wall management software, operators can use the alarm management functions, with which for example they can automatically create events on the video wall in case of problems and therefore attract immediately the attraction of all operators. A professional software allows to receive these alarms by SMS, TCP/IP, RS-232, I/O connections, ODBC or SNMP. In case of visualizing images from video cameras, this would mean for example to display the video camera image only if there is something happening in the field of view. This is possible if the camera is equipped with a movement detectors and if such a movement is detected a signal to the video wall is being sent and the window of this video camera pops up automatically. The collaboration facilities with such a video wall system are various, when we are talking about a professional video wall system consisting of professional DLP rear projection cubes in connection with the appropriate video wall controller and wall management software. Such a video wall system is not only a stupid big display, it is more complex and also professional vendors are able to interface the system with customer systems (SCADA, DCS, video camera management or building management software). Also a professional solution offers an API to integrate the functionalities of controlling the video wall from other systems.
Also for the management, who is în general not sitting directly in the control room, such a central video wall system is ideal to see immediately what is happening when entering the control room. But also a video wall management software like eyecon from the German manufacturer eyevis offers the possibility to put the content of the video wall on any desktop monitor/PC/Laptop in the network, that means that somebody has not to be physically in the control room to see what is happening on the video wall. The content can simply be streamed through the network on any PC located in the network. On a large screen system all kind of data can be visualized when using a display wall controller, like IP video, analog video, PC's through RGB or DVI connection or by capturing them through the LAN. Another argument for using a video wallis the improvements of control possibilities, if one operator doesn't see an incident immediately another will probably see it. When deciding for such a video wall solution of course a detailed planning is required because a lot of aspects have to be respected. These are for example number of operators, arrangement of consoles and video wall, amount and nature of data to be visualized, viewing angle, viewing distance, size of fonts, resolution and size of display, display technology, aspect ratio, lighting, air conditioning, interior design, etc.. In principle there are no rules for determining the exact required display size, sometimes it might be determined by the application which is displayed on the video wall, for example in energy distribution or railway control rooms, which require a huge total resolution.
If a turnkey control room is required, it is wise to work with specialized companies who take care of the complete project from the design up to the commissioning. The can take care of all the tasks like interior design, flooring, wall cover, ceiling, enclosures, consoles, ergonomics and the video wall system and its implementation.
