When Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) replaced its original front-projection Transmission Control Center mapboard equipment in 2006, it selected Barco's OV 80-inch (2,032-mm) DLP SXGA+ cubes, building a two-high matrix of 24 edge-matched lamplit-projection modules to create a canvas featuring 16,800 by 2,100 discrete pixels of imagery.
Years later, because of its proven reliability, superior image resolution and maintenance-free operation, the utility decided to remain with Barco for the next generation of its system, this time to retrofit the existing Barco video wall with a brand new LED engine. The wall's excellent black levels, consistent brightness enable even single-pixel-height lines to be clearly viewed on the display, even from a distance.
“When it comes to reproducing precise, uniformly pure color with respect to images and data, no one does it better than Barco,” commented Tom Madsen, project development, AVI Systems. “Even single-pixel-height lines just pop out of the background and are perfectly aligned because of the wall's excellent black levels and consistent brightness.”
Stephen Diebold, KCP&L's real-time systems manager, who presided over the initial Barco solution and is managing the new system today, concurs: “We're impressed with the clarity of the images and data on the Barco modules. The new LED technology enables our transmission system operators to read the same mapboard displays at an even greater distance. This enhanced readability helps to significantly reduce the potential for errors.”
With the LED upgrade kit, owners of its legacy video wall systems can easily and cost-effectively migrate to Barco's LED-lit projection system and enjoy all of the benefits of this technology: industry-leading brightness (20% higher than other video walls on the market); guaranteed color uniformity and consistent brightness over time and across the display; completely maintenance-free operation; and up to 80,000 hours of continuous operation.
In addition to the main control center wall, the utility also upgraded its Emergency Operations Center video wall, also originally installed in 2006. The Emergency Operations Center, which serves as the command center for restoring power during outages, is comprised of 15 Barco 50-inch (1,270-mm) modules.
Visit www.kcpl.com or www.barco.com.
