Imagine a product demonstration, an introduction to an LED video panel product. Imagine a product specialist with a mallet and a LED video panel, and then run through your mind that person smacking the module of that LED video panel product, maybe giving it a kick or two, smacking it on a table, and then powering it up for a smooth signal, even output all across the front of the panel surface. If you can picture that scenario in your mind, you have just gotten a taste of a product in the Tungsten Series from Vanguard LED Displays — a virtually indestructible high pixel pitch panel series that’s designed to maintain its integrity throughout your high production season and beyond.
A Different Approach
Vanguard LED Displays, founded in 2012, is a very energetic company out of Lakeland, Florida that makes and sells LED panels specifically geared toward the rental and production markets. The company’s principal, Michael Wiener, a passionate and creative entrepreneur who with a team of young associates led by Max Perry, has built a company based on reputation in an industry where your reputation is a good as your last product offering. Vanguard’s reputation has developed also in part by providing stellar service and by delivering cutting edge products to the market.
Vanguard LED Displays has been providing quality video products with low latency, innovative features, and industry-leading ideas since the company’s inception. One of those innovations is the 16:9 aspect ratio video panel, as Vanguard’s Michael Wiener told me in a phone call about the Tungsten Series video panels. “I invented the 16:9 aspect ratio panel mostly out of common sense, this was five years ago or so; my guys were always talking about the need to scale and manipulate an image, mostly because every cabinet was square,” Wiener said in an interview. “Video was shot in 16:9, and I simply asked the question, ‘Why aren’t the cabinets square?’ That’s the Rhodium Series. We invented that cabinet, 640 mm by 360 mm, and it’s still to this day our best seller. People love it.”
Wiener and Vanguard LED Displays are no stranger to cutting edge, high volume selling products. Vanguard’s Axion panel, a fine pixel pitch panel with products ranging from 0.9mm pitch to 2.5mm pitch for highest resolution display, won InfoComm’s 2018 Best in Show award, among all of the fine pixel pitch offerings at the show. “The product is spectacular, and users are the ones making this determination,” Wiener says. “Our attention to detail and meeting the needs of the users, these values make up the integrity of the products Vanguard has been bringing to the market.”
Designed for the Rigors of Touring
The Tungsten series panels are a continuation on the need for a rental-ready, tried and true video panel product that production and rental companies can purchase and put through the paces of a heavily booked production season. “People are hard on their video panels, this is just the nature of the industry, says Wiener about the Tungsten series panels. “We wanted to bring to market a product that could be beaten up, still perform flawlessly, and have innovative features to protect the integrity, look, and feel of the product. Tungsten is that product.”
Vanguard’s innovations are what makes their products suitable to the rigors of the process of production. One of these innovations is a process they call VCOB, or “Vanguard Chip-on-Board” technology — as a part of the manufacturing process, a special liquid product is added to the spaces between the LEDs that hardens into a completely impervious surface that not only protects the LEDs and modules from damage, but from humidity as well. Humidity is that serial killer of fine electronic components over time, and once the humidity is working its magic on the product, the damage is already done. This is especially true with LED products. Vanguard’s VCOB process effectively fights that decay and performs as a long-time barrier to other damage. The technology creates an impervious surface that really protects your investment in Vanguard video panels so that you can have seriously designed video cabinets in your inventory that are going to last the test of production rigors and time. In today’s environment of taxes, tariffs, and meeting your customers’ needs, Vanguard’s design is something you can bank on, with their attention to detail and product integrity literally protecting your investment.
Another protection innovation of the Tungsten series product is protection for the structure of the cabinets. Fold-over aluminum edge protectors allow you to have safety in the places that always get the most damage, those corners. In addition to this, the frames are built so that the bottom of the panel is slightly elevated, making sure that the bottom never touches the surface. Tungsten series panels are thought-out to be superstar products for the rental and production industries because Vanguard has taken into consideration the mitigation of the kinds of environments and conditions, often austere, to which our video products are subjected.
Geek Specs
Vanguard’s Tungsten LED video cabinet has a 2.5mm pixel pitch, meeting the demand of the rental and production markets. It’s also available in a 3.9mm and 4.8mm pixel pitch for your needs. From the front to the rear, Tungsten cabinets are designed to be easy to install, align, and maintain — LED modules are front or rear serviceable, the frames are manufactured from sturdy die-cast aluminum, and assembling panels together is achieved via Vanguard’s 8-point integral locking system that aids in keeping your video design aligned with no seams or gaps. In the event that a power or data module needs to be replaced, Vanguard has designed a quick-release system into the Tungsten panel, giving you the ability to swap out PSU on the fly without any trouble.
In addition to the virtually indestructible LED surface, corner protection, and locking systems, Vanguard’s Tungsten panels are driven by Nova receiving cards, and are flicker-free for your broadcast and filmed applications. Tungsten’s refresh rate runs up to 2880Hz, and panels have a contrast ratio of 3000:1. Tungsten’s LEDs are SMD2121s, protected by the VCOB liquid protection technology, and have an average power draw of 235W per square meter of panel (maximum 700W per square meter). Individual panels consume 100W on average, and 200W maximum draw.
The panels are lightweight, at 19.1 pounds per panel, and are sized at 500 x 500mm and 85mm thick (19.68 inches by 19.68 inches, 3.34 inches thick). LED modules themselves are a manageable 249.9 by 249.9mm (9.84” by 9.84”), four modules per cabinet, and cabinets have a pixel density of 160,000 LEDs per square meter. Brightness is 800 Nits with a viewing angle of 140° horizontal and vertical.
At a Glance
Functional and Tough By Design
Vanguard’s Tungsten panels are not only functional and tough, they’re beautifully designed — they just look absolutely professional, because time has been invested in making the product perform flawlessly, configure easily, and handle effortlessly. I highly recommend giving them a call to get a demo for your project.
Tungsten Series
FEATURES
- High Quality Nova Receiving Cards
- Covered LED modules mean significantly less chance of damage to LED modules
- Fold-over edge protectors for keeping cabinet corners protected during load-in and out
- Low Power Consumption
- 14-bit gray scale
- Flicker fee for broadcast applications
- Refresh rates up to 2880Hz
- Contrast Ratio: 3000:1
- Pixel Density: 160,000/m²
SPECS
- Module Size: 9.84” x 9.84”
- Panel Size: 19.68” x 19.68” x 3.34”
- Brightness: 800 Nits
- Viewing Angle: 140° H+V
- MSRP: Contact dealer
- Manufacturer: Vanguard LED Displays
More Info: www.vanguardleddisplays.com
To view Michael Wiener demonstrating this product at LDI 2018, go to www.plsn.me/VanguardVideo.
