Stretch LCDs, Low-Rez LEDs, Glass And Film Mashed Up For Virtual Water Wall

January 7, 2020 by Dave Haynes

This is a very slick experiential digital piece done for the water treatment company Pentair at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, where the NFL’s Vikings play.

The project was developed and delivered by Twin Cities-based Microgigantic, with creative that highlights how Pentair “Brings Water To Life. For Life.”

There are layers of custom led lights, fabric, diffusion film, glass panels, and a set of eight-foot- tall LG stretch screens, creating a virtual water wall.

Microgigantic says Pentair’s goal was to replace a living wall at the stadium, which filtration technology that was no longer a part of the company offering, with a new digital piece. “Initial conversations centered around a full led tile wall but quickly turned in a different direction once pricing was discussed. Microgigantic came up with a high impact but cost conscious solution that fit the Pentair budget.“

The water wall includes a 1-minute playlist of three distinct photorealistic water animations along with Pentair brand messaging. Each animation, developed by Modop, was built in 8K to take advantage of the large canvas and solve the need for high resolution.

The BrightSign player and network switch synced six individual animation files to create a seamless canvas. The water animation was built using a combination of Aftereffects, Cinema4D, Maya, Octane and Gigapixel AI. Huge shoutout to our animation partners / for the collaboration. 

The technology set, designed by Microgigantic partners Tierney Brothers  has six LG 88 stretch screens mounted vertically, and flush with a 25-foot tempered glass wall.

The physical wall was designed and built by Microgigantic partners Star. It’s a custom built glass wall 12 feet tall by 25 feet wide. There is a diffusion film on the backside of the glass, coupled with a vignetted gradient fabric. A low rez array of 1,200 LEDs creates an undulating wave light effect behind the glass, as a complement to the content on the stretch screens.

Very nice. The simple but very expensive approach to this kind of project would be a single 25-foot wide by 12 high direct view LED screen, but that would have been well, well into six-figures just for the display canvas if the pitch was anything approaching fine.

Going this route takes advantage of LED at a fraction of the cost, and uses the stretch LCDs to show HD content in an interesting visual design.