Latin America. It's no surprise that LED technology today is regarded as the new display solution in the industry. Although this has been around for more than 50 years, it has been changing drastically over the years, from simple semiconductors, light emitters, to the narrow pixel pitch (NPP) screens that are known now. In this way, Barco has helped shape this evolution for more than two decades as a pioneer, during some of the decisive moments of technology.
LED technology are semiconductor light sources that emit it when powered by an electric current. But where does the LED concept come from? This concept has existed since 1907, but it was not until after the Second World War that commercial applications of this technology began to be developed. For this purpose, the developers relied on infrared space that cannot be seen by the human eye and were put to the test on devices such as remote controls, it is not a big surprise that the color of the first LEDs was red.
They subsequently became popular in the 1970s, as indicator lamps or on seven-segment screens, and later in basic appliances, digital clocks, calculators and radios. Soon after, blue and green colors became widely available. This opened the door to the creation of color screens. Benefits include energy-efficient LEDs that show when high light emissions are needed. Barco recognized these benefits early on and began experimenting with the technology.
How did the history of LED en Barco begin?
In 2003 the Barco Mipix solution was introduced, which facilitated curve configurations and other creative shapes, considerably expanding the applicability of LED. Barco went on to present the blackest LED in the world (the NX series). This was also a very flexible product with separate modules (9 in one frame), allowing it to fit into small rows or columns. In 2009, the NX series was updated to also display 3D in 120H.
The transformation of this technology has gone through different challenges, one of the most important was the weight, because many applications were outdoors, the tiles needed to be protected against weather conditions and had to have shells and seals of heavy material.
In this way, in Barco we develop research to reduce the weight of the devices, in addition to the Typhoon test program to guarantee the validity of the tiles, opening the possibility of their use outdoors. This resulted in the TF and T series, which was obtained for the ABSA project in Johannesburg (South Africa), the largest LED installation in the world at the time. Especially the crown at the top of the building was a masterpiece. Another well-known project was the magnificent 360° tour of U2, which obtained the innovative transformable LED solution of Barco's FLX series.
Thanks to innovation and the great advance of technology, the image processors that drive the LED walls at this time adapt to the rental market, offering many possibilities and solutions to the needs of customers.
Barco also debuted the Infinipix® platform. Launched in 2015, this solution made LED applicable for smaller DOOH (Digital Out-Of-Home) displays. The following year, Barco introduced Flexled, a very innovative product that allowed even more freedom of use.
Screens with LED technology today are thought and designed to meet each of the customer's needs, especially for indoor use in applications such as control rooms, boardrooms, museums and corporate. The business industry is constantly innovating from these technologies and the best is yet to come.
Text written by: Manuel Navarrete, Sales Manager at Barco Colombia.
