Fourways, Johannesburg, South Africa 27th November 2017 - Screen Media is proud to announce the completion of the LED Display Upgrade at the famous Montecasino precinct.

Montecasino is the premier entertainment destination in Gauteng. Located in Fourways in northern Johannesburg, this award-winning complex has recently been voted Best Casino, Best Entertainment Complex, Best Cinema Complex and Best place to take out-of-towners.

The outdoor LED Screen is ideally located in the outdoor Piazza area, and forms an integral part of the entertainment lineup at Montecasino. The display is used to show upcoming events, sport and even outdoor movies. The Piazza area is also home to the ever popular Boktown rugby fan park, where the screen is really used to its full potential on match days.

The original screen was due for a technology refresh and the recent upgrade saw the screen resolution increase by more than 10 times! “The original resolution was 480 pixels wide x 277 pixels high and has now been upgraded to an impressive 1520 pixels wide x 880 pixels high, making it one of the largest, highest resolution outdoor displays in Southern Africa.” mentioned Lourens Steyn, Technical Director of Screen Media.

Two of the directors of Screen Media, namely Allen Evans and Lourens Steyn have played an integral part in the installation, maintenance and management of this screen since inception some 8 years ago. “The original 52 m2 LED display had a long and successful life” commented Lourens Steyn. “This long-standing relationship with Tsogo Sun and Montecasino made Screen Media the natural choice to facilitate and manage the recent upgrade” commented Managing Director, Sean Nienaber.

Screen Media embarked on a comprehensive selection and procurement process and vetted a variety of brands. By May 2017, 4 manufacturers had been shortlisted to proceed to the final selection phase, this phase included factory visits and product evaluation using Screen Media’s project specific LED display evaluation system. This content based evaluation system is specifically designed to test the screen’s ability to reproduce colour, highlight contrast ratio, and assess refresh rate.

Finally, consensus was reached by the evaluation team and CreateLED was recommended as the preferred supplier. Their AirULTRA range met the stringent criteria set down by Screen Media. The product was further enhanced by upgrading the power supplies and enhancing the on-board electronic LED control further increasing stability, performance and picture quality. While the display was being manufactured, the Screen Media team set about engaging with local industry professionals to advise and assist in the structural modifications to the existing structure and the fabrication of frame work to accommodate the new display.

All work was designed and supervised by two independent sets of structural engineers. The installation team only had a two-week window period to complete the installation. This involved cutting & removing the front cladding, removing the existing LED screen, cutting, modifying and installing new lighter primary and secondary supports. With a passion for detail and mechanical accuracy, the 209 panels of CreateLED AirULTRA-6 were installed seamlessly, creating a perfectly unified digital canvas.

Finally, the new cladding was installed around the edge to add the finishing touch. “Installation of the screen went in quick and easy” commented Allen Evans, Operations Director, “the 30-strong team worked diligently to get the job done. The team included an account manager, 2 project managers, 10 metal work fabricators, 2 electricians, 6 installers, 8 cladders, and a structural engineer”.

The installation was finalized on time and the first Boktown event completed successfully. Screen Media is positioned as a brand agnostic, independent digital consultancy, specializing in large format LED display technologies and was thus ideally suited to advise and recommend the best in class solution for the upgrade of this iconic LED display.

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