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Aluminum supporting new LED sign in Manchester

New outdoor LED digital signage in Manchester, U.K., is using aluminum as its structural framework, according to an announcement from systems manufacturer Boldman.

January 8, 2016

A new outdoor LED digital sign in Manchester, U.K., is using aluminum as its structural framework, according to an announcement from systems manufacturer Boldman.

Work recently concluded on the 13.9-meter by 7.8-meter Printworks outdoor screen in Manchester; it follows on from two identical 11.5-meter by 4.8-meter screens at Heathrow Terminal 2. Both screens are to be used as high-profile advertising space, the company said.

The Printworks is an urban entertainment venue, with the screen located on the exterior of the 19th century building making 916,923 impacts every two weeks. The screen has a pixel pitch of 10 mm and a brightness of 6,000 nits.

The Printworks screen was manufactured using an Oblik spaceframe structure framework designed by Alan White Design. It was constructed from 156 individual fabricated aluminum sections and is the largest of its kind, weighing 5.5 metric tons. Aluminum was chosen over steel because a lightweight support structure was needed to attach the entire assembly to the grade-2 listed building in Manchester, the company said.

"The Printworks is a much-loved grade-2 building dating back to 1873, so it was critical that the screen did not exert any unnecessary pressure on the building structure," Boldman CEO Nigel Clarke said in the announcement. "Aluminum is the perfect material for this as it is lightweight, strong and allows for extreme accuracy in manufacturing and installation.”

The main challenge when constructing screens of this size is maintaining quality of resolution in picture: the slightest inconsistency in flatness will cause noticeable picture distortion, the company said. The use of aluminum allows the screens to be ultra-flat, resulting in a very high-resolution picture, it said.

The Oblik system was designed and developed to provide a modular lightweight load-bearing structure. The system is based on an oblik beam manufactured from lightweight aluminum sections. The beam diagonals are out of plane, creating a three-dimensional framework when the trusses are bolted together side by side and includes suspension points that can be fitted where required.

The stiffness of the spaceframe means that even under the most extreme design conditions the structure will deflect less than 7 mm at any point, and the structure itself is capable of supporting more than 100 metric tons, the company said.