Commercial Integrator February 2023 - 20

COVER STORY Display Resolutions
Admittedly, the use case above is a pretty
niche application, so let's consider more
common scenarios. According to Taub,
ultra HD is a core requirement in many
elements of the healthcare vertical. " For
example, " she begins, " medical imaging
is an ideal use case for 8K content, where
fine detail analysis is paramount. " Taub
adds that teaching hospitals and medical
schools depend on ultra-high-resolution
content to help students make accurate
diagnoses. Iowa State's Pedersen, who
generally expresses skepticism about ultra
HD's utility, readily concedes that specific
education applications call for it. " Certain
disciplines here at Iowa State, such as
engineering, astronomy, geographic information
sciences or veterinary sciences,
would certainly have applications that
could benefit from 4K/8K, " he acknowledges.
" These would be applications
where the users would be a couple feet or
a few inches away from the screen, studying
fine details. "
Meanwhile, Creel spotlights digital
signage, saying it's very typical to find 4K
signage displays in lobbies and other public
environments these days. The real question
in those use cases, he says, is how to get
4K content onto those screens. " There's
nothing better than having 4K content
displayed on 4K TVs, " Creel enthuses. " It
just looks great. " (Shortly, we'll dive into
the practicalities of doing that.) Creel also
points to broadcast as perfect for ultra HD,
saying, in that world, the imperative is not
to disrupt, change or modify the signal.
He notes that four full-HD signals can be
displayed natively, in multi-view format, on
a 4K display; meanwhile, up to 16 full-HD
signals can be shown natively on an 8K
display. Citing simultaneous display of
multiple signals, Creel declares, " In that
broadcast and monitoring world - and
that extends to control rooms even outside
of broadcast - the higher-resolution
displays are really beneficial. "
Finally, esports is another category where
ultra HD might add considerable value.
According to Taub, " Esports absolutely requires
ultra-HD displays, but most [applications]
require a frame rate of at least 120fps,
if not higher. " Creel expands on the latter
point, describing esports as the number20
The
interior space of the Cyclones football team in Iowa State's Stark Performance
Center. Each of the four curved displays is approximately 30 feet long by six feet high.
Content is managed by a large windowing processor that can have 360-degree content.
one sector where frames per second and
refresh rate matter. Indeed, he calls a
display's refresh rate equally important as
its resolution for graphics-intensive esports
environments.
Where Ultra HD Isn't Needed
With those applications being great fits for
ultra-HD displays/content, we'll now turn to
use cases where full HD is sufficient.
If you ask Iowa State's Pedersen, most
applications fall into this latter category.
Referring to his own school, he explains,
" The projectors on campus are predominantly
1920x1200 resolution, but we
operate them all in 16:9 at 1920x1080. "
Pedersen readily concedes that bulk of the
flatpanels that Iowa State has purchased
in the last four years are native 4K, but he
says that's simply because that's the resolution
of the base glass that all manufacturers
use now. " Like the projectors, " he continues,
" to my knowledge, are all operating
at 1920x1080 resolution on a day-to-day
basis. " Pedersen then declares, " We are
really not focused on these types of geewhiz
specifications. " At Iowa State, he
adds, the vast majority of content is in the
form of presentations that simply don't
demand high resolution, 10-bit color,
Commercial Integrator FEBRUARY 2023
high dynamic range (HDR) or Rec.2020
color space.
USC, where DeWitt works, has a similar
mindset. He explains that, although all
the university's core infrastructure can
handle 4K, there's rarely a need for it
outside of critical viewing spaces. " The
default install tends to be 1080p/full HD,
with 4K as futureproofing, " DeWitt says.
" Enabling 4K where it's not needed only
adds to bandwidth overhead for no real
benefit. "
Creel attests that Hewshott still does
a lot of large-scale, full-HD projection,
which, he declares, looks phenomenal.
" So many times, we've gotten the
request, 'For big projection and movies,
we want 4K,' " Creel relates. " And I have
to ask, 'Why?' And they're not sure...they
don't know. " He reaffirms that full HD routinely
wows clients who have large-scale
auditorium and theater deployments, and
he adds that it's incumbent on consultancies
like Hewshott to present the client
with budget numbers so they can make
an educated decision. " To go from a
WUXGA or an HD projection system to
then a 4K all the way through, there's a
significant additional cost to get there, "
he observes.
commercialintegrator.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF MECHDYNE.
http://www.commercialintegrator.com
Commercial Integrator February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Integrator February 2023
