The Challenge
In the fall of 2013, the world’s most well known theme park was looking to enhance its ticketing process. The park aimed to implement a visual solution that incorporated eye-catching, engaging movement to entertain its guests while in line. The park also wished to encourage ticket upsells by highlighting attraction packages in a fun way, whilst offering the ability to efficiently change graphics.
Due to the park’s outdoor environment, location of the displays, safety concerns, and noise pollution concerns, the park had very specific requirements for its signage that had to be addressed in the solution.
To make this dream a reality, the park called on Peerless-AV® based on the company’s unique, consultative approach to creating digital signage solutions.
The Solution & Installation
The solution to the amusement park’s needs was to replace static signage above its ticketing booths with eye-catching outdoor displays and custom digital signage mounts.
The Displays
As a large, busy, and outdoor theme park, screens selected for this project addressed:
• Tropical Weather Because of the park’s location, the screens needed to be able to withstand 100% humidity, frequent thunderstorms, hot weather and a high concentration of flying insects. Due to its unique capabilities, the Peerless-AV’s Xtreme™ Outdoor Displays were selected and deployed as they are 100% sealed and ventless to keep out dirt, water, dust, and insects, whilst withstanding extreme heat (+140°) and extreme cold (-40°) through the Dynamic Thermal Transfer™ system — making them ideal for tropical weather locales.
Peerless-AV® Xtreme™ displays have also achieved best-in-class weather ratings — they are the only displays to have an IP68 rating, meaning they can be completely submerged under water and still function.
• Safety Concerns As a great deal of the park’s attendees are children, safety is a top priority for the venue. Because of this, a solution that was not easily breakable was a must. Peerless-AV® Xtreme™ displays feature anti-reflective, impact-resistant safety glass so even if the screen did crack, glass would not shatter, it would simply “spider web,” protecting all visitors from shards of glass. The Peerless-AV® Xtreme™ is the only outdoor display in its class to pass the UL Impact Test. During this testing, a solid steel ball weighing approximately 500 grams is dropped on the center of the display from over four and a half feet in the air. The Peerless-AV® Xtreme™ display easily passed the test, displaying no cracks, stress marks or imperfections.
In addition to this, the Xtreme™ displays are optically bonded which reduces visual glare and strengthens the display.
• Noise Pollution Previous tests at the theme park had included displays placed in enclosures with cooling fans. The noise from these fans severely disrupted the park ambiance and disturbed park employees and they stated it interfered with ticketing procedures. With Peerless-AV® Xtreme™ displays, there are no noisy fans — the patented Dynamic Thermal Transfer™ system keeps internal components safely cooled in extreme heat without producing noise pollution. This system completely removes the need for external vents, filters, and fans.
• Visibility With the displays being deployed outdoors, its contrast had to be able to compete with varying amounts of glare from the sun, providing consistent clarity and readability, regardless of conditions. The ability to be equally visible to customers wearing polarized sunglasses was a must for the park. Peerless-AV’s Xtreme™ displays addressed this in several ways: o Polarization — a secondary polarization film ensured content is always readable, even in direct sunlight regardless of polarized sunglasses. o Optic bonding — UV absorptive gel reduces glare and dramatically increases contrast creating an ideal viewing experience. o Ambient light sensor — If it is cloudy or the sun is setting, the panel will adjust its lighting.
The amusement park took 60 days to evaluate Peerless-AV’s Xtreme™ Outdoor Displays and to compare the displays to another solution. During the testing phase, the park staff ran various forms of content on the Xtreme™ Displays — they wanted to ensure no matter what visuals they provided, the display would still run at optimum brightness and be an attraction for visitors. By addressing each of the park’s custom needs, the displays were just the right solution.
Custom Mounting Solutions
With the outdoor display selections in place, the park now needed to determine how to mount the screens to its current ticket booths. The park was looking for very specific features in a mount and knew it wanted a custom solution.
The famed amusement park also turned to Peerless-AV for this portion of the project due to Peerless-AV’s reputation in the space as the original custom mounting solution provider, having invented the first TV mount in the early 1960s. Beyond this expertise, Peerless-AV’s fully staffed custom project team consisting of engineers, designers, and product managers was exactly what the park was looking for. The attentive team provides end-users with consistent consultation to ensure each product meets its specific needs.
Peerless-AV provided several different models of custom mounting solutions for this project, as each campus had different mounting solution needs.
These included the ECN 23029 Outdoor SP850-UNL (modified to have a 15° tilt), the ECN 24803 Outdoor Portrait Flat Wall Mount, and the ECN 23358 Flat Mount for Walls Sloped at 35°.
The mount was custom-designed to ease the installation of the Peerless-AV® 55" Xtreme™ Outdoor Display. The mount offers the ability to extend from the wall into a near vertical position so that the installer was able to insert screws into the top VESA pattern of the display and then hook the display onto the mount. A lift-assist mechanism allowed the bottom of the display to easily travel back to the wall and be secured into place.
Most of the park areas needed mounts with such pull-out options for easy serviceability. And, of course, these mounts also needed to be specially coated for outdoor use. The challenge in this install was creating mounts for ticket booths with a 30° pitch as these mounts needed to come out forward for serviceability, but still be able to be safely locked into place for everyday use. For this project, the Peerless-AV® Custom Team created and shipped over 145 mounts.
The Results
Beginning in April 2014, the park purchased over 145 outdoor displays and custom mounts, which were installed across four campuses. Installation began in June 2014, with the project concluding in December 2014. The installation process was handled entirely by the park’s on-site team. “I am happy to report that the amusement park staff is fully satisfied with the solutions Peerless-AV® provided,” said Nick Belcore, Executive Vice President, Peerless-AV. “They are not only happy with our products, but with the unmatched service our sales and custom product team provided them.”
