Updated 1,500-Foot Fremont Street LED Canopy Now Live In Las Vegas

November 21, 2019 by Dave Haynes

Danville, Ill.-based LED manufacturer Watchfire Signs says work is now complete on what is touted as the world’s largest single video screen, a renovated Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas.

Watchfire won the $30 million deal last year and says the project was delivered on budget and ahead of a schedule that had schemed in a “grand reveal” on New Year’s Eve.

The media canopy is 1,500 feet long and is suspended 90 feet above the pedestrian mall. It is the first update in 14 years, which results in a new canopy is now seven times brighter and four times sharper. It now has the lighting power to run during daylight hours.

One of the interesting technical stories on this is how Watchfire designed an all-new product that allowed the new modules to fit the existing canopy structure. The display modules have perforations that let daylight filter through and air circulate, which is pretty important in the blast furnace is Vegas for half the year.

“We had to get very creative to develop a unique product that met all the distinctive needs for Fremont Street, including trimmable modules that fit the canopy’s shape and can handle the extreme desert conditions,” says Steve Harriott, president and CEO of Watchfire Signs. “Interest in this product has been very high and we’re looking forward to using it for other projects.”

Watchfire says it manufactured and shipped 130,000 sq. ft. of digital signage. The canopy was manufactured in more than 67,000 modules. A total of 1,054 subframes containing 64 modules each were installed in phases, allowing Fremont Street to remain open during the upgrade.

A formal launch of the new canopy, at full visual capability, is planned for New Year’s Eve. Tickets will go on sale beginning November 27 (I thought Fremont was free access, but maybe this is a viewing stand/launch party thing).

The video below, which doubles a pitch by local realtors, shows the pre-Watchfire LED and show.