- Planar Systems, Inc. has just introduced the next-generation of their Clarity Matrix LCD Video Wall System. As the video wall category heats up, Planar’s new iteration should garner more than the usual interest at the Digital Signage Expo next month.
- The new Clarity Matrix LCD Video Wall System now features what Planar is calling their “G2 Architecture.” This combines what Planar is calling “the industry’s thinnest profile ultra-narrow bezel LED LCD video wall with improvements in design, installation and service, further delivering on its reputation as the best-in-class video wall solution.”
In addition, a new 55” Clarity Matrix model features a tiled bezel width as small as 3.7 mm (0.15 inches). That bezel width is about half the size of the first iteration of the Clarity line when it was introduced in 2009. The last iteration before this new release was a 5.5mm bezel. (Planar has an interesting “timeline” on the history or the Clarity Matrix product line here.
“The next generation Clarity Matrix builds on the accomplishments of the award-winning Planar Clarity Matrix family of video walls, which has gained significant market adoption,” said Planar CEO and President Gerry Perkel, in a press release. “We are taking the key elements that everyone loved about Clarity Matrix, making them even better, and combining them into a next-generation product that meets the needs of today and tomorrow.”
What does that mean? I recently spoke with John Dixon, product marketing manager with Planar Systems, to ask him what’s new here, for the integrator. And I asked him to explain the G2 architecture. He said that the system’s essential features are:
• Better support for 4K sources. Of course you can tile to get to 4K, but there is also the ability to input just one 4K source if desired– from a single DisplayPort input, and get to 4K without having to build from 4 different inputs. The result: fewer cables in.
• Planar built video extensions into the product. So that now the source can be 330 feet away with a single Cat6 cable
• For simplified maintenance, the Clarity Matrix with G2 Architecture features off-board electronics architecture, reducing maintenance time and complexity with easy-to-access source input and control.
• The Clarity Matrix with G2 Architecture integrates Planar’s WallNet software, making it possible to monitor display performance and troubleshoot issues remotely – even in environments using simple network management protocol (SNMP)-based enterprise device management.
I asked John Dixon what DSE attendees might find most interesting about the product?
“We want to simplify the lives of our integrators, that are out there deploying the product,” said Dixon. “We’re leveraging what is good about the last generation Clarity Matrix, and we’ve now built in the features that make installation and maintenance easier. We had the opportunity to preview it at GovComm in December, and people really appreciated the cable simplification, the overcoming of distance limitations, and of course the very narrow bezels.”
