Brackets & Mounts: Rigidity and Flexibility Features 29/01/2018 Hurrairah bin Sohail speaks with bracket and mount manufacturers about how the evolution of LCD panels, user requirements and local competition has impacted business.Karen Smidt, senior marketing manager at Chief, says: “Display technology has continued to evolve with bigger, better screens at lower costs. This has led to a proliferation of displays in almost every channel, but most notably in the digital signage and experiential AV markets. We’ve focused a lot of efforts on developing fl exible, multi-display solutions that give designers and integrators a wide variety of options to suit any environment. Whether you’re planning an architectural videowall, utilising stretched displays, integrating outdoor displays or rolling out a global digital menu board overhaul, we’ve got a solution to support that effort.” From Smidt’s comments it is clear to discern that the usage of LCD screens is evolving. Ken Woollard from Ultralift corroborates and says: “With interior designers incorporating custom AV designs into collaborative ofï¬ ce spaces the need for customised TV mounting solutions has become more evident over the past few years. We have seen a signiï¬ cant shift from the TV’s taking up large wall spaces to TV’s now being mounted behind artwork, descending from a ceiling cavity or designed into custom made pieces of furniture.” Shane Spinks, national account manager for Australia and New Zealand at Screen Technics, adds: “The wall mount market has seen new technologies introduced in the consumer and commercial space that reinforce a need for cost effective and installation friendly bracket designs including bracket panel adjustment, wall mounting fl exibility and supplied mounting screw packs that give the installer everything they require to complete the project.” Crazy shapes The message from the market is clear. End-users are looking for more creative displays and it is the job of the AV manufacturers and integrators to meet these needs. LED tiles, the main competition for LCDs, have a distinct advantage when meeting these new requirements. Wim Arts, sales manager for MEA at Vogel’s, says: “Due to their ï¬ xed, rectangular, size LCDs are less easy to use for creative conï¬ gurations than the smaller and square sized LED panels. However the current brackets offer options for creative conï¬ gurations. Vogel’s has special rotation brackets to position displays, for example, in a 45-degree angle and also curved shapes are possible. In general LED panels are easier to use for creative conï¬ gurations because of the smaller size but are also still more expensive.” Jenny Li, sales manager for APAC at B-Tech, adds: “LCD videowalls can be tiled in any arrangement and B-Tech manufactures solutions that can meet most, if not any, requirement. Our popular BT8310, BT8312 and System X videowall mounts can be used in both landscape or portrait orientation and can be arranged in any kind of conï¬ guration; mosaics, doughnuts, scatter walls - limitations are actually few and far between.” Smidt from Chief says: “Creative videowall design is deï¬ nitely not limited to LED. Chief has a few options to support amazing videowall designs using LCDs, for example, our ConnexSys Series videowall mounting system has been used on curved walls, videowalls that wrap around corners and in architectural designs.” Why should clients consider LCD panels over LED tiles for their applications? Arts from Vogel’s thinks that mounting solutions might be the reason and says: “LCD mounts nowadays are much more mature than LED mounting solutions. The difficulty with LEDs is that for the fitment there is no standardisation like VESA for LCDs. This makes it difficult to make universal LED mounting solutions and in nearly all cases custom or partly custom parts are needed. These parts are expensive and time consuming to manufacture and this is still the advantage of LCD.” Li from B-Tech adds: “Despite the continued growth of LED solutions, LCD videowall mounts are still more modular and easier to specify off- the-shelf than LED. For smaller scale digital signage, a 2x2 videowall for example, will still be the popular straightforward option.” The onus is also on integrators and manufacturers are ready to work with them. Woollard from UltraLift says: “We are seeing creative mounting ideas each day for standard flat panel screens. LCD videowalls are still being set up in 2x2 or 3x3 formation, however we are now seeing innovative AV integrators combine various LCD panel sizes in portrait and landscape modes to create a 3D effect. At Ultralift, our design team is constantly looking at new mounting solutions for these types of setups.” Inherent advantages While LED tiles might have the edge when it comes to creative shapes that does not mean that LCD panels are without their inherent advantages. One of these advantages is touch capabilities, be it native touch input features or touch features provided with the help of infra- red border mounts. The latter option impacts brackets and mounts and needs to be accounted for during installation. Spinks from Screen Technics says: “Adding an overlay only changes the centre of gravity by approximately 6mm to 12mm. Installers will need to account for the added weight in the mounting solution. Choosing a larger wall plate like the SmartMount Universal Flat Wall Mount SF670 or SF680 will provide a more stable foundation and reduce bounce when interacting with the display.” Smidt from Chief says: “Chief has extensive experience with supporting large, interactive displays. A key concept beyond load bearing is rigidity because it’s so crucial to the interactivity capabilities. Chief mounts are robust enough to provide the steady base necessary for infra-red touch features.” Following industry standards also benefits manufacturers in the respect of handling heavy panels. Arts from Vogel’s says: “At Vogel’s we always keep the maximum weights of available displays on the market in mind during our design process. On top of this all Vogel’s mounting solutions are designed according the TüV safety standards, which means we have at least a five times overload safety factor of the specified weight.” Manufacturers are also looking to offer other products to help. Woollard from UltraLift says: “Provided the panels are mounted securely against a solid fixing, weight distribution is not an issue. However, we are seeing more touch screen displays mounted on mobile trolleys.” Price competition A defining feature of the Asian market is competition which must be addressed. Li from B-Tech says: “In recent years, the cheaper ‘copycat’ products have begun trying to replicate features found on top brand products. In general, they still lack finesse and fall significantly short in build quality, reliability, speed of install and are generally less end-user friendly. As mentioned previously, our testing process is very thorough and we know the cheaper alternatives do not stand up to the same scrutiny when put through the same tests - our research has shown cheaper products failing with significantly less weight mounted to them in comparison to what our own products are capable of.” Smidt from Chief believes that the competition can be combatted by having a closer relationship with the client and says: “More than any one specific feature, the design process at Chief starts with the customer. Everything we do is based on direct feedback and observation of installations to make sure we’re solving the kinds of challenges that integrators deal with on a regular basis, leading to faster installations and easier servicing. We also have rigorous testing standards to ensure the highest levels of quality and safety.” Arts from Vogel’s claims: “Vogel’s brackets clearly differ in design, use of materials, quality and finishing. Especially the accuracy of the 3D alignment mechanism in our videowall mounts is on a much higher level than the cheaper Asian alternatives which results in easier to install and better looking end solutions. Looking to our new range of motorised wall mounts there is nothing to be compared with.” Spinks from Screen Technics says: “Safety should be the first thing you consider when purchasing any wall mount. Peerless-AV’s wall mounts are UL2442 listed, which tests each mount to 4X the stated load capacity and 6,000 cycles for articulating mounts. Many of the cheaper alternatives are made with inferior steel and are not designed with any safety factor and offer no local support. Local support is the key to provide a point of difference in the bracket and mount market.” It seems brackets and mounts manufacturers are rising to meet the needs of new displays.