There was resistance the first time Ryan Wilhelm suggested a retail outlet in an airport put in an LED screen.

The owner was worried the dwell time, the amount of time customers spend in the store, would go down. Instead, having the information in-store about when their flight would be leaving and how long it would take to reach the gate gave fliers the peace of mind needed to stay for longer.

Now, Wilhelm, Regional Sales Manager for Unilumin, is seeing more airports adding LED screens, even with fewer travelers, as the pandemic offers an opportunity to make improvements.

“When you think about it, people would be shopping, and their dwell time went up three times at that point. They’re shopping and saying, “I can spend more money and spend more time here,’” Wilhelm said.

Upping the amount of time and money people are spending in retail outlets is hardly the only reason transportation centers are upgrading their displays.

An airport often serves as travelers’ first impression of a city, influencing the way people think about an entire place. That’s why economic divisions and tourism boards are utilizing LED boards for wayfinding, making sure arrivals aren’t puzzled as they look to find their luggage at the baggage claim or their Lyft from the ride sharing station.

Others are simply looking to make the airport look more pleasant.

“You can advertise your city, so the municipality’s economic development could be better, too,” Wilhelm said. “Some of them are not only for economic development, but for art. They’re putting that ‘tech-orating,’ that word everyone uses, they’re putting art there and using it as an art project.”

Then, not only do travelers understand where to go, but they’re also in a good mood as they head into their destination.

Shaun Roos, Western Regional Sales Manager, Unilumin USA, dropped by the Direct View podcast to share his insider knowledge on various considerations when determining LED needs and requirements.

As someone who works on the manufacturer’s side of the AV industry, a significant part of Roos’s job is educating the client, whether it’s a dealer, integrator, end-user, or consultant, and providing them with all of the information necessary to make a sound decision.

And that includes helping them understand all of the various terms and jargon that surround LED solutions.

“When considering purchasing direct-view LED, pricing seems to be on the forefront of everyone’s mind,” Roos said. “But I urge people not to make that their sole reason for purchase. When buying LED, you need to look at many things. What type of warranty does the LED manufacturer provide, and how long does it go for?”

And what type of product support does a manufacturer provide? Amid a pandemic, knowing the onsite support capabilities is of vital importance.

How close is someone going to need to view the LED display? Will it be placed indoors or outdoors? These are considerations that matter in terms of what type of LED needs to be purchased, and it is why companies such as Unilumin provide experts like Roos to assist clients with their purchasing decisions.

Another factor that Roos said businesses need to consider but don’t always think about as the first thing when making LED purchases is tariffs. Currently, Unilumin does not incur any duties on their LEDs, but some manufactures may.

With all the LED variables at play, Roos said, “knowing what someone is looking for, the vision of their application, and communicating that information to us [is] going to help us educate the client on the options we can provide to them.”

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A tour of the facilities to entice the top recruit used to be the purview of college basketball and football, but universities are increasingly using esports to woo students to their campus.

It’s just the latest sign of an industry that is growing rapidly, something that even the unprecedented situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been able to slow down thanks to the built-in ability to operate remotely.

But the esports arenas being built across the country aren’t going to sit vacant forever. As the COVID-19 pandemic draws to a close, the demand for esports events won’t dip, and crowds will once again come see their favorite Fortnite, League of Legends or Overwatch players in person.

Not only do venues need a beautiful screen to display the action, said Jeff Volk, Vice President of Alpha Video, they also can use the same technology to give attendees a full experience and maximize sponsor exposure.

“As we shift back into using venues and facilities, a lot of our clients are looking to install large-format video screens to be able to host watch parties and various different marketing and promotional events that have their sponsors, their team and their brand,” Volk said.

Some universities, esports arenas and other venues may look at projection options rather than going with LED, but Miles Dean, Business Development Manager, Sports & Entertainment at Unilumin USA, said that may be a shortsighted approach.

“That cost is going to be very comparable to the projected on a five-year term, and, with LED, you have much more flexibility, a large color gamut, greyscale, white scale, blacks, all solid colors,” Dean said. “That’s what’s key and important, because a lot of these organizations, when they want a display, they want it to look nice.

“They want Coke red to look red, they want Facebook blue to look Facebook blue. That’s the important thing – LED can give you that large color gamut as a performance standard.”

With esports looking to be in it for the long haul, a decision made with a stronger vision in mind might be the way for institutions to brighten their futures.

Ryan Wilhelm, Regional Sales Manager at Unilumin, offered a preview of exciting things to come. He helped host Tyler Kern kick off the first episode of The Direct View Podcast.

“This podcast is going to be extremely educational,” Wilhelm said. “LED is not just a transactional sale anymore. These are completely customized, designed and engineered solutions for a multitude of settings.”

Through this podcast, audiences will learn the many uses and applications of today's LED technology.

What excites Wilhelm most about the Direct View podcast?

“That people are going to have the opportunity to learn different aspects of this business,” Wilhelm said.

He looks forward to taking deep dives into LED projects and discussing facets such as financing and interactivity.

“I think this podcast can help AV integrators when designing these projects and the end-user, as well,” he said.

Companies that want a seamless look for their lobby video communication screens have begun turning more and more to LED applications. Ryan Wilhelm, Regional Sales Manager for Unilumin, and Frank Milesky, Southeast Area Director for Cenero, joined The Direct View to talk more about the LED solutions taking place in today's corporate lobbies.

“Four to six years ago, we started to see a trend where LED started to take over,” Wilhelm said. “Because they could customize these lobbies to make them more current, but they could also make them as long as they wanted, as high as they wanted, and the content is infinite.”

The experience for visitors to these lobbies is increasing with the interactive nature of today’s LED technology.

“The real estate in lobbies began to be re-imagined with the increase of flexibility and customization with LED,” Milesky said. “We’ve seen less custom artwork, fewer fountains and fewer TVs and more of these custom pieces of LED art.”

Milesky stressed the importance of getting LED solution ideas into the hands of the people designing these spaces, so that the solutions work in harmony with the company's goals and costs involved are understood and budgeted.

“As you’re working with a building team early on in the stages, you can talk at a square foot level of what an LED solution might cost in a good, better, best scenario,” Milesky said.