Skip to main content

Caltrans upgrades video wall

When Caltrans district 7 began the first phase of a multi-phase audio-visual (AV) system upgrade at its Los Angeles facility, it contracted with Electrosonic to create a brighter, more reliable video wall for traffic monitoring that takes advantage of the latest in projection technology. “Caltrans district 7 has more than 400 cameras on the highways of Los Angeles and Ventura counties,” says Electrosonic project manager Guy Fronte. “They can review camera feeds 24/7 in the facility and when there’s a traffi
February 26, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
RSSWhen 3879 Caltrans district 7 began the first phase of a multi-phase audio-visual (AV) system upgrade at its Los Angeles facility, it contracted with 6683 Electrosonic to create a brighter, more reliable video wall for traffic monitoring that takes advantage of the latest in projection technology.

“Caltrans district 7 has more than 400 cameras on the highways of Los Angeles and Ventura counties,” says Electrosonic project manager Guy Fronte. “They can review camera feeds 24/7 in the facility and when there’s a traffic event, road damage or an accident, they can magnify that feed on the video wall. The video wall is integral to 24-hour traffic management.”

The existing video wall comprises a twelve-screen centre unit in a four by three configuration flanked by a pair of six screen three by two units. The giant wall features 80-inch diagonal screens in the centre and 52-inch screens on the sides.

The standard format of the wall has single camera feeds on the side screens and two by two graphic traffic patterns on the centre screen with single-camera feeds surrounding them. “They monitor heavy traffic volume locations and can bring any one of those feeds up on the larger central display as needed,” Fronte explains.

The wear and tear of more than five years of constant operation had taken their toll on the existing rear-projection engines and begun to degrade the facility’s ability to monitor traffic, so Electrosonic replaced the video wall engines with 7336 Christie one-chip SXGA displays to take advantage of improved projector quality. Christie RPMSP-D132U displays were selected for the centre screen and RPMX-D132U displays for the side screens.

The side projectors were installed in existing cabinets behind the video wall; the centre projectors were placed in a huge metal framework previously built by Electrosonic.

“Caltrans district 7 has the most spacious rear-projection room I’ve ever worked in,” says Fronte. “It’s very well thought out, so replacing the engines was quite simple.”

The primary challenge for the installation was working in conjunction with the 24/7 hours of the facility. “We couldn’t take down the wall during rush hours, so we swapped out one projector at a time to allow for continuous operation,” Fronte notes.

Video wall control is achieved using a Quantum processor previously installed by Electrosonic. The Crestron touchscreen control system that operates the wall turns the system on and off and monitors lamp life was modified to accommodate the new projector engines.

Electrosonic also furnished forty-eight spare lamps and is providing an extensive two-year service contract, which includes complete parts and labour, unlimited telephone support, proactive preventive maintenance visits and eight-hour response time on weekdays.

Related Content

  • July 19, 2012
    Digital Light Processing transforms travel information
    David Crawford investigates the potential of new projection technology. Fifty years on from its invention of the microchip, US company Texas Instruments (TI) has compressed the technology into a surface area of just 4.3mm. As such, it forms the heart of a new Pico Digital Light Processing (DLP) system that is set to transform travel information delivery for millions of users on the move - by making it projectable.
  • May 22, 2012
    Video developments in automatic incident detection
    David Crawford reviews technological progress with automatic incident detection Highway safety problems are likely to intensify given recent predictions of future traffic growth across the world. In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that currently over 30,000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries occur as the result of accidents on the nation’s roads each year. These figures will increase with the number of kilometres travelled each year in the US expected to gr
  • May 8, 2014
    Colombia awards major traffic management contract to Indra
    Colombian highway concessionaire Coviandes has awarded Indra the contract, worth nearly US$35 million, for the design, installation and start-up of the intelligent traffic systems (ITS) the control and communications systems for 45 kilometres of the Bogota-Villavicencio highway in Colombia.
  • April 19, 2012
    Amey and URS/Scott Wilson win ITS maintenance contract
    Amey and URS/Scott Wilson have won a four-year contract to manage, maintain and improve ITS throughout Wales. This includes all the associated telecommunications and tunnel systems for the entire motorway and trunk road network in Wales. The contract, which starts this month, will see the companies managing a wide range of motorway technology including telephones, signals, CCTV cameras and the two traffic management centres.