One Of The Bigger Outdoor LED Displays In Germany Just Went Up, Attached To A High Rise With Velcro

December 20, 2024 by Dave Haynes

We are well past the days of getting excited or intrigued about big displays being attached to the sides of buildings, as that sort of thing is now commonplace, but this DOOH installation in Dusseldorf, Germany is interesting because of how engineering factored in.

The new 70 square meter display is on the top of a high-rise in that city, and what’s notable is that it is using LightnTec’s super-thin display tech – essentially SMD LED lights on a flexible substrate that is then married with a tarp-like material and attached to a backing plate, using commercial-grade velcro.  What that means is minimal steel or iron as the mounting system, and therefore minimal weight-load.

Probably not always, but in many cases, a building that gets a more conventional outdoor display attached to its facade, above ground level, is going to need heavy structural supports, and expensive engineering studies, to confirm the integrity of the installation and overall safety. You don’t want an LED display’s weight starting to pull the facade away. Engineering concerns can particularly be true for older buildings, of which Europe has a few.

This tech can also go up faster and more easily, which reduces the big upfront cost of installation labor.

The German company that developed this tech has been at this for years, but adoption has been limited by things like the relatively low resolution when compared to more conventional outdoor products. But this one is 8mm pixel pitch, which is in line with what would be done on a building like this using more conventional LED.

Like a lot of small, engineer-led companies, these guys have been good at the tech, but no so hot at the marketing. But LightnTec now has a US partner in i5LED, and the product is now being sold (and tweaked) through them for the US market.