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Based in Orlando, Florida, the Translational Research Institute (TRI) for Metabolism and Diabetes is a joint venture between Florida Hospital and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. Housed in a new 37,000 sq. ft. facility that opened in early 2012, TRI is dedicated to the study of obesity, metabolism, diabetes, and the metabolic origins of cardiovascular disease. As the public focal point and centerpiece for their new facility, TRI sought a bold and contemporary method to inform their visitors and researchers about the institute's research mission - and that's where they turned to RGB Spectrum's MediaWall 2900.

At the project's inception, TRI initially discussed installing a static, architectural glass mural that would never change. Yet as the development stage evolved, RGB's video wall proposal priced out equally - but with the added element of flexibility, and the ability to dynamically change the wall's content as required.

TRI selected Sound Stage Inc. of Winter Park, Florida as their integration partner for the project. The goal was a 6 high by 5 wide video wall to be installed above the staircase in the main lobby, and purpose-built for interactive ease-of-use by the facility's staff and tour guides. With RGB's MediaWall 2900 at the core, the project was completed in mid-April 2012, and is now used regularly by Dr. Smith, the institute's founder - with a unique system that uses an iPad to display their custom app conveying their mission and research.

Overall, RGB Spectrum's MediaWall 2900 allows users to create video content in a seamless environment, and manipulate that content as required, anywhere across the wall's array of displays - and this inherent flexibility proved to be key to TRI's decision. Using the RGB system, TRI has an un-ending palette of creative visual alternatives that can change regularly based on the Institute's messaging needs.

Several additional key features factored into TRI's decision. The MediaWall 2900 accepts both digital and analog signals, with the ability to place windows anywhere on the video wall - even across the display's mullion lines. This allows content from synchronous players to be used, plus content from iPad and Apple TV applications. During installation, setting up the wall and creating various layouts was extremely easy, which in turn allowed the Sound Stage integration team to minimize programming and configuration time.

From a configuration standpoint, TRI's video sources consist of three 720p media players, two computer inputs (running at 1920 x 1080), live TV, and the Apple TV player. Using the MediaWall 2900, these units are routed to the windows on the 6 high x 5 wide array of NEC 46" LCD displays. Overall control is provided by AMX, using a 5" graphic touchscreen specifically programmed for TRI.

Providing a very cost effective solution, Sound Stage combined the processing power of the MediaWall 2900 with the internal scaling and signal distribution capability of the NEC monitors, resulting in a 30 monitor wall with only a four output video wall processor.

Chet Neal, Vice President of Sound Stage, commented on the installation. "Having used RGB in the past, my initial reaction was that the MediaWall was extremely easy to use, and for setup, the product's web interface is simply great," said Neal. "Picture quality was extremely good, and their scaling engine eliminated a lot of pixelation that could have been problematic in the output array. In fact, this contributed to a very clean picture that was surprisingly good for splitting one image over 30 displays. Also, with the MediaWall's eight available inputs, we did not require a matrix switcher - and this saved the client a tremendous amount of cost while adding value that the competition simply could not achieve. Based on this installation, I'm certainly looking forward to the opportunity to use RGB Spectrum's wall processors again soon."

"The key word is flexibility," said Bob Marcus, CEO of RGB Spectrum. "TRI's selection of the MediaWall 2900 is another great example of how our products offer creative and flexible solutions, with the right feature set and the right tools to solve any installation challenge."