By Guest Author in Comment, Display March 28, 2022 0

LED has become a by-word for creative potential at events such as tradeshows and concerts, and is starting to transform the way in which we think about space in the workplace. By Piet Vanhuyse.

As French philosopher Henri Lefebvre noted in the 1970s, space is not a constant that you fill up and move around in, rather it’s produced by people and their interactions with material space. When the structure and scenery of a space change, so do people’s interactions with it and, by extension, the meaning of that space shifts too. When a space in a company building is transformed through a video wall that facilitates employee engagement, or an eye-popping visual display, LED is helping to transform the way in which people perceive that space. As members of the workforce interact with that video wall, it becomes a new centrepiece of the organisation and, most importantly, a vital part of that firm’s story.

But what exactly is LED? And how did it come to be? With humble origins dating as far back as 1907, light-emitting diodes are simply solid, semi-conductor devices that emit light when an electric current is passed through. To generate the dynamic and crisp light range for which LEDs are known, various materials are used to produce photons at different wavelengths. High-brightness red and amber LEDs use the aluminium indium gallium phosphide (AllnGap) material system, whereas blue, green and cyan LEDs use the indium gallium nitride (InGan) system. Between them, they cover the entirety of the spectrum of light, as their relative intensities are controlled to produce colour across the range.

LEDs first became popular in the 1970s, capturing the cultural imagination as displays on alarm clocks. Until the mid-1990s, LEDs had a limited range of colours – commercial blue and white LEDs did not exist. It was AllnGap and InGan that opened up the palette of colours to a degree previously unimaginable. As the colour palette expanded, so did the uses for LED.

By the late 1990s, LED walls were being used as fixed installations in the retail and public signage sector, as well as at tradeshows and events. By the early 2000s, the size of the panels needed to mount LEDs on became smaller, and this helped pave the way for the types of creative use most associated with the technology. In 2003, the curved applications that dominate control rooms and broadcast environments to this day emerged. As time wound on, LED became democratised. Display processors became more compact and integrated in screens, allowing smaller, digital out-of-home displays to leverage LED technology for more intimate spaces outside the usual markets that still demanded a visual punch. In line with the smaller spaces that LEDs had entered, 2017 marked the start of the narrow pixel pitch (NPP) era. NPP meant less empty space between pixels, resulting in finer details and reducing the optimal viewing distance for those huddled around a screen.

Today, companies of all sizes and across a variety of industries tap into the potential of LED. At Hewlett Packard’s UK headquarters in London, the customer engagement centre has been equipped with state-of-the-art LED technology. Two Barco displays provide a 1.6mm dot pitch and 4k resolution, creating a wall that is used to impress visitors and highlight the HP brand.

The history of LED is still being made, with the trajectory of the displays of tomorrow being written in stunningly crisp technicolour. While issues such as the inherent fragility of the hardware still need to be tackled, the march towards finer pixel pitches will facilitate a redefinition of the way in which we see LED in workspaces. As the technology evolves, so will our thought process, and digital signage as a byword for the lunch menu in the canteen or ‘just’ a screen above a stage at the Glastonbury festival will be left behind. The history of LED is the history of the evolution of space – and the future looks bright.

  Piet Vanhuyse is a director of segment marketing at Barco .

Sign up for regular updates and get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. You can manage your subscriptions just select the ones you want to receive.

Sign in or Register a new account to join the discussion.

By using this website you are consenting to the use of cookies. AV Magazine is owned by Metropolis International Group Limited, a member of the Metropolis Group; you can view our privacy and cookies policy here.