NC State’s Flashy Library Refreshes Video Walls With Sony CLEDs

October 19, 2023 by Dave Haynes

North Carolina State was a pretty early adopter of big video walls, putting them in when its James B. Hunt Jr. Library first went up about 10 years ago.

That tech – including a big Christie MicroTiles wall (those little rear-projection blocks) – was agin out, and the university has started to replace them with a new generation of screens, including a big, curved Sony CLED video wall in a space known as the iPearl Immersion Theater.

Ryan Hunter, the Lead AV Professional for Advanced Technology spaces at NC State libraries, says he started looking at replacement technology a few years ago, and was intrigued by Sony’s MicroLED product. But in 2019, when he saw one at InfoComm, it was only rear-serviceable.

“Once I found out a front serviceable version was available,” he writes in a piece shared by Sony, “I pitched it to our group. We considered various manufacturers and when it came down to image quality, Sony ended up being the general vote. We were also sold on the CLED because of its 4K resolution and the fact that it supports current 120 refresh rates and a high dynamic range (HDR).”

“Its simplicity is another high point. Being able to expedite that repair time is another huge benefit because in the event of an issue our video wall will not be down for nearly as long as it used to be.

The wall is about 20 feet wide by eight feet tall, with a resolution of 4,000 x 1,620 – which makes me think that in technical purist terms it is MicroLED-ish but not true MicroLED.

The wall works as a digital exhibit space for student, faculty and community projects, and special events such as a “Martin Luther King
Experience.”

A second CLED is planned, to be called the “Art Wall.” Hunter says this one won’t be used for immersive content or instructional purposes, instead displaying digital signage messaging and student artwork.