Under Armour Clads London “Brand House” Windows With Transparent LED

April 17, 2023 by Dave Haynes

The big old Battersea Power Station along the south side of Thames in London has been converted to a shopping and entertainment destination, revived after decades of sitting derelict. It’s all new-build retail inside, and some big brands are spending big dollars to get noticed – like Under Armour.

Nike’s store used semi-transparent LED in the windows of the store in old turbine halls, and Under Armour is also playing with the shop window glass – excepting using LED film that offers 95% transparency.

London-based solutions provider/integrator Elport Digital has put in a 9 meter wide by 2.4 meter tall (so roughly 30 feet by 9 feet) display on the glass using 3.9mm pitch LED on film. The product has a potential brightness of 4,000 nits, which is way more than sufficient for a job sone inside a building.

The video, embedded below, shows the display running and the degree of transparency looking into the store, which at the time it was shot was still being fitted out. The “brand house” store opened about five weeks ago.

VERY curious what this looks like from the inside. The early iterations of LED on film looked pretty good from the display side but not so much from the rear, but like pretty much any display technology, that’s improved.

LG was the first big company to market LED on film, but the display giant has not necessarily kept up with some smaller competitors (assuming Elport is reselling a Chinese product, or partnering). The flagship LG film product is 13.7mm and has a transparency (transmittance) of 53%.

Had a Battersea visit in my plans when I was through London in January, but … Passing through again in September, and hope to grab some time to have a look.

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