Alfalite, in the face of the Led wall revolution in control rooms

Workspaces, command posts, management centers, monitoring rooms, operations nodes, SOC… There are many different terms for control rooms., vital spaces for all types of sectors that require resilient visualization solutions, versatile and safe to serve as a window to demanding critical operations 24/7. Luis Garrido, executive director of Alfalite, sheds light on the new needs of the industry and how LED panels emerge as the future for this type of environment.

Security, transport, administrations, energy, defense… There are dozens of verticals in the ProAV world that have among their facilities an environment as critical as the workspaces. These operations centers They allow specialized technicians to have all the necessary information to guarantee the correct performance of their work., whether representing statistics, nodes, maps or audiovisual elements. Son, ultimately, a critical tool in your day to day, serving as CCTV, monitoring bridge, workflow management system, alert node, even, support resource in the case of crisis management.

Until a few years ago, control room display systems were supported by technologies such as rear projection o videowalls. They were not, far from it, a perfect alternative for detailed visualization of such critical data, either by its level of resolution, its brightness or the inevitable boundaries between LCD panels. However, Being a legacy technology in an environment that requires maximum reliability made them the standard in these spaces for decades..

Now, the rules of the game have changed. Most manufacturers are discontinuing rear projection cubes, which leads corporations to look for an alternative that, in the process, Enable them to improve display performance and reduce costs. Y, compared to video wall technology with big limitations at maintenance level, consumption or calibration in case of replacement, the Led technology is here to stay. In the words of Garrido: “All those responsible for the IT departments and clients have proposed technological renewals that go towards the technology of Led wall. It is being a brutal paradigm shift, “one of the largest that has existed in the visualization market”.

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The importance of redundancy in control rooms

Specific control room needs should not be taken for granted. Even above its display quality or mounting versatility, Led solutions that reach these environments must be prepared to offer a absolute fail-safe availability.

For this, It is necessary that the PCB boards of the Led panels have a dual-path redundant design in all its connections and intraconnections. This philosophy, as Garrido explains, is key in the entire offer Alfalite: “We give it all the twists and turns until we achieve the high availability that an active redundant dual-source solution offers.”, so that, if one falls, The other continues to serve.”. In these cases, The system must have a alert tool so that the user is aware of the need for maintenance.

This duplication of functions must be extended to the receiving cards, allowing, if the data comes from external management electronics, can be received in two ways actively. “Client facing, the incident must be transparent, beyond the alert that should be sent”, Garrido emphasizes, who also considers it key to have redundant power supplies that connect by double line to the PCB.

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Critical strategies for the Led world in workspaces

The redundancy is key to achieving success in these environments, Although the real difference can be made in the Led panel design strategy and their components.

In this field, It is essential to know in depth How is wiring managed?: “In these mission-critical environments, points of failure must be avoided, what are the cables like?. “These are electronic design strategies that must be taken into account to offer this level of high availability.”, comments Garrido. An effective approach is the one deployed by Alfalite in its projects: that of choosing direct connectors, instead of cables, to connect power supply, receiving cards and LED modules to the hub.

It must also be taken into account importance of certifications of electronic components, which may be of vital importance for certain operations and the awarding of projects. Among them, highlights the TAA, which ensures that the components used in the design and manufacturing of electronic elements do not come from certain countries that are on a black list, or the code NCAGE, a certificate issued by the I'LL TAKE which guarantees that the chosen supplier meets the strictest safety standards: “More and more markets are opting to work with companies with this type of certifications, to which we join from our position of the only large format European RGB Led screen manufacturer”.

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MATIX: the Alfalite solution

Alfalite began its journey in the workspaces five years ago. Since then, has been following the steps of a roadmap that has allowed them to be essential part of the market, define the strategy of your technological proposal and create solutions that adjust to the specific needs of control rooms.

This vision was materialized in the panels UHD Finepix MATIX AlfaCOB y MATIX AlfaMIP, two alternatives differentiated by their construction technology: Chip on Board (COB) y Microled in Package (MIP). Today, These Led panels are found in some of the largest control room projects worldwide and have been recognized at the prestigious ISE fair as the best display technology at the fair.

“Our MATIX series has been designed specifically for mission-critical environments and their operators., professionals who have to be 24/7 supervising and tracking information, graphs and alerts. In the end, in the midst of a crisis or any event of local relevance, national or global, “It is necessary to have technology with an absolutely high availability design”, underlines Luis Garrido.

The UHD Finepix MATIX AlfaCOB and AlfaMIP series are composed of panels with an aspect ratio of 16:9 (600 x 377.5 mm), offers a contrast of up to 25.000:1 in the blacks and is available in five different pixel pitches: 0,6 mm, 0,9 mm, 1,2 mm, 1,5 mm y 1,8 mm. Its luminous capacity 1500 nits exceeds the capacity of its competitors in this type of markets, while also boasting all the key features for control room environments, like your dual redundant source or dual receiving card.

Each of the MATIX models incorporates a multilayer with a secret formula that not only protects the component, but it avoids all unwanted reflections and avoids the limitation in brightness and colorimetry. In this way, Alfalite technology is capable of offering a super pure black contrast, an expanded viewing angle up to 175º, some ESD static electricity protection parameters > 10 kV, greater thermal dissipation and less degradation over time.

Besides, The Alfalite series stands out for having been built taking into account the specific needs from the end user: the panels reduce visual fatigue derived from blue tones without the need to put colorimetry in check. In parallel, offers the “shortest” repair time on the market thanks to a unique industrial process designed and developed by the Spanish company itself.

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Security… and long-term peace of mind

The Led screens installed in this type of spaces must guarantee not only that the data processing is carried out with the maximum confidentiality, but, over the years, technology will maintain a correct performance.

“A strategy that we are working on at Alfalite to keep offering the maximum options security is to be able to introduce encrypted signals into the electronics of the Led screen. This electronics will send the signal to the screens either via Ethernet or fiber and, by the time it reaches the receiving card, you will be able to decode in RGB. All, inside a completely secure environment”, Garrido remarks.

In addition, It is very important to have a supplier that guarantees medium term strategy for him replacement or replacement of panels; just as business models evolve, needs change and a control space may require a pixel pitch different to more accurately represent critical elements.

In this area, Alfalite has a module buyback policy Led with an ROI that allows the technological evolution of companies to be simpler: "Even so, Our modules offer the lowest degradation on the market by having an initial brightness of 1500 nits. In fact, Our gloss reduction rate is 10% after five years, while the market average falls to 40%. Besides, in the event that the dreaded burning effect occurs, “We offer a screen recalibration service so that the entire screen maintains the same brightness and color.”.

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The moment of Led panels

Nothing is simple in the rooms control. These vital spaces for the future of any organization, private or public, require a fail-safe operation. Resolution, availability, architecture, colorimetry, interconnectivity… Everything must be analyzed in detail to ensure full control of operations.

Human resources must be hyperspecialized to respond to each of the indicators that the display elements show, but technology must also be up to date height to guarantee a top level service. And now, at a time when rear projection and LCD video walls are part of the past, It is the industry itself that is choosing Led panels to consolidate its operations in the medium and long term.

“In recent years, much of our business comes from the control room market. We have closed big projects with defense companies, transport, security or public administrations, which we cannot share for confidentiality reasons. However, What we do know is that the trend is unstoppable”, concludes Garrido.