The Raiffeisen Bank of Austria wanted an eye-catching branded frontage for their newly refurbished building near Vienna in Austria, and Vivid Effect was asked to provide the right combination of architectural, signage, and LED experience to achieve their objectives. Working with a local architect and installer, they designed a 20m x 8m screen to be fixed to the first floor exterior of the bank's building.
The LED fixtures used are DingDotz–individually addressable, low profile, self contained, color changing RGB LEDs that are IP66 waterproof containing super-bright Nichia three-in-one sealed LED units. With a viewing angle of 120 degrees, the 15mm fixtures radiate a sparkling light with high quality colour rendition of 16.7 million hues. A standard rack-mount Windows PC acts as the master controller, running Vivid Effect's DesignerSuite and FireFly software. The software manages the pixel mapping and contains a media player that plays the videos on the array. X-Node rack-mount integrated drivers distribute power and data to the network. Braincell slave controllers run each set of 100 Dotz. The system network architecture allows video and animation to be run at 30 frames per second.
The DingDotz are fitted from behind into a custom horizontal aluminium U-profile section with holes cut out to locate the Dotz. The U-section is then fitted over the main frame and secured with grub screws. Each section of U-profile is 2.5m long and can be removed in minutes for any maintenance requirements. The main supporting frame is made from aluminium and bolted to the exterior of the building.
A light sensor turns the system on and off. As soon as light levels fall below a certain point, the sensor activates auto start up of the system and conversely auto shut down or timed shutdown.
The custom nature of the design allows the building's occupants to see out and daylight to enter, and at nighttime the whole first floor becomes a digital LED screen running the bank's branding and promotions.
