Datapath technology drives large video wall at Milan Airport

Background 

Datapath display wall controller and distribution amplifier technologies are driving a 20-screen video wall at Milan Malpensa Airport, the second busiest airport in Italy with more than 22million passengers using the facility every year.

Carrying advertising content for luxury retail brands, the video wall has been in operation 20hours a day for over three years without any problems arising, highlighting the reliability of Datapath solutions 

The Challenge 

To welcome international visitors to Expo Milano 2015, Malpensa Terminal 1 underwent a partial refurbishment, a project that included the area dedicated to luxury shopping. In order to help promote the brands taking retail space in the airport, a decision was taken to install a 20-screen video wall in 5x4 format. Of the five columns, three are perfectly vertical, with two inclined slightly forward by 5°.

The system integrator on the project was Hdds Vision srl, a Milan-based specialist in digital signage solutions. Project Manager Alberto Comazzi takes up the story: "The airport wanted a solution to manage content remotely, hosting the highest quality images. Luxury brands always demand impeccable quality, particularly here in Milan, which is one of the world's capitals for luxury goods." 

The Solution 

The monitors employed to create the video wall are Sharp 60" PN-V601 models with a HD-ready resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Overall video wall resolution is 6830 x 3072 pixels, thus making it compatible with UltraHD-4K content.

To control the content we turned to our local Datapath reseller," says Mr Comazzi. "We had used Datapath technologies before on another project and knew they had the solutions for the task."

"The monitors are looped via DVI and connected to five Datapath x-Series video wall controllers in HDMI – normally the active configuration of the video wall is in HDMI," explains Mr Comazzi. "The monitors, in groups of four, are connected to a Datapath splitter. The whole chain supports UltraHD-4K resolution. We also have a Datapath dL8 in there for ultra-high resolution dual-linkDVI signals.

"Datapath's worldwide network of support is one of its primary market differentiators, and for the project at Malpensa Airport, the local Datapath reseller assisted the team from Hdds Vision on the installation. Comazzi adds, "I was really happy that a representative from the reseller came along as it was only the second time we had used Datapath products," says Mr Comazzi. "Today we are more familiar with the technology, but three years ago it was important to have that level of support. With the advice of the reseller we only needed one day to complete the installation.

"For the management of content, Hdds Vision was also able to provide a Cloud platform capable of handling requirements such as rescaling, format modification and content download in individual players.

The video wall at Malpensa Airport, which measures around 8m in length and 5m in height, has been operating since 2015 from 05:00 to 01:00 every day without any issues. An onsite 24-month warranty was supplied upon completion of the installation, but was unused.

Luxury brand advertising is the primary content, although the video wall is occasionally used for events such as live make-up sessions.