Active Production Creates "Largest LED Wall in Georgia" with Elation EVLED 1024 SMD Panels

With over 70% of its business coming from major corporate clients, Active Production and Design, Inc. has always prided itself on being a leader in event technology. Recently, the 18-year-old full-service production company took a bold step when it added an LED video screen to its warehouse of A-V, lighting, special effects, staging, and set design offerings.

Billed by the company as "the largest LED wall in Georgia," the new video screen is comprised of EVLED 1024SMD 20mm LED panels from Elation Professional. Each of the IP65-rated panels features 1,024 pixels made of three-in-one SMD tri-color LEDs (red, green, blue), capable of creating over 14 trillion colors. Active purchased 80 of the 2'2" square panels, which can be configured to form a video screen of any desired size or shape to meet a wide range of design needs.

"Active clients expect innovation, and the LED wall has provided us with a whole new A-V design concept from which to create," said Matt Clouser, president of Active Production and Design, Inc. "Our new LED wall produces dynamic video displays that equate to awesome visual effects for Active's conferences, meetings and special events."

Already the company has seen its investment in the Elation panels bear results, as the LED wall "has been a huge hit with our clients," reported Clouser. At a recent annual conference event for a national organization, the company created a stunning visual backdrop by flying five separate 8'x10' vertical panels center stage in a staggered grouping. Various media effects were fed to the wall throughout the program.

In another application at a major corporate conference, a different type of dramatic look was achieved by configuring the panels into unconnected sections. Four separate 4'x12' vertical panels were hung in between three 12'x21' widescreens to accentuate the program and staging by "breaking up" the backdrop with a modern video display.

The EVLED 1024 SMD's flexibility to be used in different ways was one of the reasons why his company chose it, said Clouser. "The EVLED 1024 was the smartest choice. Based on the technology and its multiple applications, it was the best value," he stated. "Also, we've had a great longstanding relationship with Elation, and we knew we were getting a great deal."

Active personnel credit Elation sales representative Dustin Pesnell (Freed Sales, Miami Florida) with being instrumental in getting the LED wall off to a flying start. Pesnell worked closely with Active to develop a turnkey system that was easy to set up, transport and use at events, going so far as to custom design a computer rack with a PC for running LED video. The rack includes an ELO touch screen that pops out of the top of the case, a power conditioner, an Elation VSC video processor, and a MADRIX video server from Elation. MADRIX allows the system to be extremely versatile, letting the user do simple operations, such as mapping JPG images to the LED screen, or piping DVD video or even a live camera directly into the system. The touch screen interface allows the system to be operated like a video game, making pulling up video cues fast and easy. This entire control system is contained in a single tour-style rack case, for convenient portability and quick set-up.

In the future, the company looks forward to using its LED video wall at more types of events -- both indoors and outdoors. With IP65-rated ingress protection, 100,000-hour LED life rating and 4,000-nit luminosity, the EVLED 1024 SMD has the rugged durability and brightness to be used virtually anywhere. Active recently held an open house for its clients and partner vendors to demo the LED screen, during which "we had a wall set up outside," said Clouser. "Our guests were extremely impressed with the brightness and vividness. We definitely see some outside events with the wall in the very near future."