IMA Outdoor Turns to NanoLumens to Create a Captivating New Advertising Solution to "Engage" Toronto Skywalk Commuters

When it comes to high impact, large indoor Digital Out-of-Home advertising, the era of bezels and lines is diminishing, according to IMA Outdoor (www.IMAOutdoor.com) CEO Brian Rodkin. “Advertisers are insisting that their messages be seen with the highest quality resolution at extremely close distances and without the distractions of pixilation, bezels and lines that traditionally interfere with the advertiser’s message being seen and retained.”

This conviction led one of Canada’s leading providers of indoor Out-of-Home advertising solutions, to NanoLumens (www.NanoLumens.com), an industry-leading provider of LED visualization solutions, when they were looking to create two 21st Century advertising platforms in the famous SkyWalk pedestrian walk-way. The SkyWalk, opened in 1989, serves as the city’s pedestrian hub linking Union Station, the Union Pearson Express, and the PATH system to the Rogers Centre, Metro Toronto Convention Center, CN Tower and Aquarium. “Hundreds of thousands of people pass through the SkyWalk every year,” Rodkin explained. “And, the new UP Express arrival hall is going to generate even more high-quality pedestrian traffic. It presents an absolutely sensational opportunity for advertisers to engage working professionals, international and local tourists who are hard to reach through traditional advertising media.” 

Following a complete competitive review, IMA Outdoor selected NanoLumens to install two NanoSlim Engage 2.5MM LED visualization solutions — one measuring 10-feet-by-16-feet and the second measuring 6-feet-by-10-feet. 

NanoLumens Regional Sales Manager, Canada, Martin LeClerc, explained that the ability to complete the installation while maintaining a strict three-month deadline was critical, because the displays needed to be up-and-running by the 2015 Pan Am Games taking place in Rogers Center, where visitors and participants access the downtown stadium through the SkyWalk. “Our team met the challenge head-on, providing stunningly clear, bezel- and line-free advertising displays for IMA Outdoor and for their clients to showcase products and services during the high-traffic days of the Pan Am games,” LeClerc added.

According to NanoLumens Vice President of Strategic Accounts, Almir DeCarvalho, “Each NanoLumens NanoSlim displays portrays itself extremely well in the high-profile location in the SkyWalk. The quality was an important aspect when choosing the solutions. A lot of signs in downtown Toronto have bezels and lines through the displays; in addition the lesser pitch LED signs the closer you get, the more pixelated the image becomes. The NanoSlim Engage provides bright and vivid colors that catch the eye of people in the SkyWalk. People can walk right up to the NanoSlim Engage solutions and still see advertisers’ creative work extremely clearly.”  

NanoLumens NanoSlim Engage solutions can receive inputs from nearly any device. IMA Outdoor operates the system directly from their headquarters, so changing advertisements day-to-day is a simple task. This allows IMA Outdoor to secure additional and targeted third-party advertisers. “Our existing clients love being able to day-part,” Rodkin said. “For example, the Lottery can update a game’s jackpot amount easily, without any fuss. And, we were able to show our Toronto Blue Jays spirit and support by running Jays fan messages during the playoff games. Since the NanoSlim Engage solutions have been installed we’ve received more advertising interest from automotive, luxury product and travel companies.” 

NanoLumens NanoSlim Engage 2.5MM solutions are extremely lightweight, allowing them to hang effortlessly on any architecture. The tight pixel pitch also provides a seamless image that can be seen clearly at any viewing distance or angle. 

“The displays have been a huge success with our advertising clients as well as Skywalk patrons,” Rodkin concluded. “We are also considering additional advertising signage into the SkyWalk.”

To download additional hi-res images, click here.

Toronto Transit Commission Gains Critical Control With Massive Rear Projection Cube Videowall Installation By Advanced!

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) selected Advanced to upgrade their Control Room where they monitor Toronto’s four subway lines, 11 streetcar routes, and more than 140 bus routes each day.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), home to one of the largest Control Rooms in North America, wanted to incorporate the most dependable and innovative videowall display for monitoring Toronto’s public transportation system. To do so, they turned to Advanced, Canada’s leading AV integrator, to envision and install a large 80” Delta Displays Rear Projection LED Cube videowall system that guarantees 24/7 footage of the city’s transportation system for more than 1.6 million people daily.

“Advanced is honored to have been selected from a pool of elite Canadian integrators for this critical project,” Advanced Co-President David Weatherhead said today. “The TTC’s Control Room oversees the safety of 460 million passengers annually. Utilizing dependable technology is essential in order to make sure everything runs smoothly.”

When selecting the ideal videowall for the TTC’s Control Room, Advanced knew it had to be dependable, low-maintenance, and easily serviceable. The Delta 80” Rear Projection LED cube videowall embodies all of these factors; broken into different sections, each low-maintenance rear projection cube displays four separate camera feeds. Other cubes display the transit system and subway lines status allowing control room operators to make critical decisions.  Each cube operates independently, so that if one has an issue, the rest of the videowall remains functional.  The LED light source ensures no lamps need to be replaced over the life of the display, and since Delta is the world’s largest manufacturer of power supplies the power engine is extremely robust and durable.

“Most importantly, the videowall is easily field serviceable, as it provides rear access to the displays without affecting the image presented at the front. Therefore, we can change or repair a cube without affecting the rest of the videowall, which is extremely important in this type of operation,” Advanced Vice President Mark McPherson said today.

Switching out the TTC Control Room’s fifteen-year-old system presented several challenges for Advanced. Firstly, the videowall had to be updated in sections and matched precisely to the concave curvature of the wall, which required custom-tailored engineering. Secondly, the Delta LED rear projection cubes are smaller than the previous systems’, so each new cube had to be custom matched with two sections flanking each side.

In order to install a videowall in a 24/7 mission-critical room, Advanced provided a temporary seamless NEC LCD ultra-narrow bezel videowall during the installation process so that TTC employees could continue to monitor Toronto’s public transport system at any given time.

In addition, Advanced technicians worked through the night to avoid busy transit times, such as Toronto’s rush hour. “Our integration staff was fully briefed on the TTC Control Room’s schedule and unique requirements. All of this work was done in the wee hours of the morning,” McPherson added.

The Transit Control room oversees every vital Toronto Transit System operation. As the largest referrer to 911, Transit Control workers are responsible for maintaining order in an emergency. The room holds 98 employees, 22 per shift, working 24/7 to track the trains.