A leading car dealership in Lyon is attracting the attention and custom of locals thanks to a dramatic 23 metre-long LED videowall unique in France. Charlotte Ashley ï¬nds out more.
Sitting on a busy one kilometre stretch of motorway on the outskirts of Lyon, France, it wasn’t always possible to differentiate car dealership Starterre from nearby concessions. Yet following the introduction of large-scale LED technology it is now attracting greater footfall and new business by carefully catering advertising content for inside and outside its 30,000 m 2 exhibition space.
“Starterre are a big car dealer here and they only have one showroom so they really wanted something with the wow-factor,” says Yann Laurençon, digital manager at IPOView, who proposed a 23m x 2.3m videowall to dramatise the retail experience. Offering a resolution of 5,760 pixels in length, the wall can be seen from the nearby highway that outlines the city. Planning how to install the necessary LED tiles in the heart of the showroom and in between the cars and ï¬rst floor ofï¬ces, however, presented numerous challenges. “We hadn’t worked with a screen of this size before,” says Laurençon. “It was completed on budget, but we had some problems with ï¬nishing on time because it was very difï¬cult to implement the structure of the videowall, and we had to make some modiï¬cations to the mounting structure.” The display was installed overnight by a three-person team that had to carefully position the 168 Absen N4 LED modules on a single concrete column.
“For the wall, we used Telologos Editor’s software and a player with four outputs because the resolution is quite high,” says Laurençon. Content advertising offers and speciï¬c models displayed throughout the day is switched to target outside the building during peak travel times. “We are working with them to link the videowall to Google Trafï¬ c in real-time. This means that in the evening when the trafï¬c is busier they can automatically switch the content to short content.”
“Starterre is delighted with the wall because since it has been installed, they have recorded a considerable increase in visitors who are coming in as a result of seeing the promotions on the screen.”
The brightness of the wall is managed by a sensor that regulates intensity depending on the light outdoors, as well as ensuring it meets the environmental and highway regulations in France. Laurençon says Absen tiles were chosen for their small cabinet sizes, as well as being the most cost-effective option, with power consumption of 25,000W per hour at 100%. “That’s around 25% less than other suppliers, which of course impacts the life-span of the project.”
Three 55-in capacitive touch screen terminals help visitors quickly navigate the 2,000 new and used cars and 30 brands on display in the hall. Running the same signage software, the kiosks switch to presenting information about the dealership (e.g. a presentation video, opening hours and adverts) when not in use. Prospective buyers can also sit down at 42-in capacitive touch desk to explore options, positioned at the side of the showroom.
The display was ï¬nally switched on in September 2016, seven months after IPOView won the project. For the car dealership, the results are already noticeable; “Starterre is delighted with the wall because since it has been installed, they have recorded a considerable increase in visitors who are coming in as a result of seeing the promotions on the screen.” Its long-range brightness and time-speciï¬c content has also forced the local competition to react. “Since the installation we have already been approached about two projects in the same area with other car dealers,” concludes Laurençon.
Tech-Spec
Absen N4 LED display
iBase signage player
HUMElab 42-in TOMA touch panel
IPO Technologie 55-in totems
Magnimage videowall controller
Nova brightness sensor & sending boxes
Telologos Editor Media4Display software