AV Case Study: Zinc Fed Square LED

I don’t mean this to sound disparaging of AV events companies but it’s hardly common practice to get anything significant ‘thrown in’ as a sweetener. (“That USB lead? Sure we can price that up for you”!) But there are exceptions. Zinc, one of Melbourne’s more primo function spaces located in the Federation Square precinct, has recently installed a gorgeous micro LED display into its foyer, and it’s being offered almost as a ‘value add’.

“Almost every time we get a prospective client coming through, they’re stopped in their tracks by the new screen,” reports Jeremy Kirk, Austage Events’ Production Manager for Zinc Fed Square. “We’ve decided to price it at a point where no one has batted an eyelid… ‘sure, we’ll do that’.”

PITCH BLACK

The 1.2mm pixel pitch Absen KLCOB LED screen is 3.6m and 1.01m high (2880 x 810 pixels), and fits sympathetically into a space behind the foyer bar. KLCOB ships with a ‘black polymer coating’ that (along with the neat, black bezel) gives the screen a beautifully smooth and resolved look. Along with offering a protective layer against knocks and spills, the coating also assists with providing a black level enhancement along with acting as an anti-reflection layer. The result is a very luxurious-looking display that instantly turns heads.

Tommy Blum, Technical Sales for Visual Displays at NAS, says, “Given the limited space available and the need for exceptional image and video quality, 1.2mm pixel pitch was an obvious choice, especially with the increasing affordability of Chip-on-Board (COB) technology. Additionally, considering the high-traffic nature of the bar environment, we prioritised impact protection to safeguard against accidental knocks, spills, and close-range interactions. The Absen KLCOB V2 offers both durability and easy cleaning, ensuring long-term performance without compromising visual excellence.”

“At this early stage, we’re mostly using the display for logos or title slides for awards nights,” notes Jeremy. “It helps to theme the night for our clients.”

Jeremy and his team are well accustomed to working with LED but more often the ‘rental’ kind. KLCOB is and install product and being such a fine pixel pitch could easily have been far more finicky.

“It was actually quite easy to install,” reports Jeremy. “The modules all have fine adjusters, but largely it all fit together perfectly out of the box. Thankfully we had joists behind that wall, so we screwed the brackets straight into the wall. That said, it’s quite light weight… and it runs quite cool.”

TIME TO RESPOND

It’s early days for this particular display but Jeremy and his team are looking forward to the event when a professional content creator really makes the most of it.

“The better the content, the better the display looks. Even simple material looks really good, but as soon as our clients start to realise just how amazing the image can look, I’ve no doubt they’ll maximise its potential with amazing animations and more. Personally, I’m keen to explore interactive content that responds to people moving past the display and reacting. That would be a huge talking point and not that difficult to achieve.”

Watch this space!