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Digital signage keeps visitors engaged during Georgia Aquarium renovation

During an extensive restoration project at the Georgia Aquarium, digital signage video walls continued to engage visitors and continue the flow of patrons in a viewing gallery undergoing a complete reconstruction, according to a recent case study from LG Electronics USA.

January 11, 2016

During an extensive restoration project at the Georgia Aquarium, digital signage video walls continued to engage visitors and continue the flow of patrons in a viewing gallery undergoing a complete reconstruction, according to a recent case study from LG Electronics USA.

The Atlanta-based aquarium wanted to continue to engage visitors in the gallery and keep visitor flow as streamlined as possible, so aquarium executives opted for a digital signage solution to recreate a live exhibit with video wall displays, LG said. So the Aquarium installed 36 LG 55-inch full-HD video wall displays inside of an emptied acrylic aquarium that formerly housed "The Wall of Fish" exhibit, and the video walls provided the aquarium's more than 2 million yearly visitors with an entertaining visual experience on par with a live exhibit, the company said.

"During construction of our new Sea Lion exhibit, we had to remove life support systems that supported the Wall of Fish exhibit, leaving nothing but an empty acrylic box," said Ryan Palley, senior manager of AV at Georgia Aquarium. "[The] video walls provided the best solution with lifelike picture quality capable of duplicating the feel of a live exhibit, to maintain the underwater experience while entertaining and informing."

According to LG, the installation process faced several challenges, namely the space allotted for the video walls. The in-house AV team installed the 36 LG displays, in two six-by-threee matrices, inside of a former fish tank that measures 16 feet deep and is separated by a partition in the center. The tank only allowed five feet of working room to install mounting structure, brackets, power, data and displays. With this limited space, the team was challenged to identify creative ways to install product without causing any damage to the tank and its waterproof design. The team implemented a floating support system that uses carpet pads to protect the product and the acrylic wall on which they are installed. The digital signage displays were carefully lifted and lowered into the tank given the narrow confinement, and then mounted with Crimson video wall mounts. The super-slim 3.5mm bezel-to-bezel depth of the displays worked to the team's advantage, allowing them to be seamlessly integrated into the aquarium's environment. Another key benefit of each unit was their light weight, LG said, weighing in at only 50 pounds and easing installation in the space.

Given the dimensions of the tank, the in-house team needed to create a 32:9 aspect ratio to showcase content in 2K resolution. The content transitions between the vivid colors and fluid movement of living corals, swimming sharks and macro invertebrates. Additionally, the video walls are used to communicate marine conservation messaging to help educate and inform visitors.

The Georgia Aquarium opted to control the LG video walls using a RS-232 system to operate a total of 11 hours a day. The RS-232 system automatically powers on the video walls 30 minutes prior to the aquarium opening, and powers off 30 minutes after it closes.

"We've benefited greatly by reducing our electrical consumption with the LG Energy Star-certified displays," Palley said. "We also chose to display the video walls in low lighting, cutting approximately 200 amps of energy for lighting alone – not to mention eliminating the energy typically needed to support aquatic life in the tank where the screens are installed.

"The … video walls are the first visuals that our visitors see when they walk into the Georgia Aquarium," Palley said. "We've been very impressed with this installation and want to continue to push the envelope with more exhibit enhancements such as this."