The almost perfect LED installation

Moscow | Moscow Central Airport Sheremetyevo is Aeroflot’s home airport and a remarkable digital signage showcase. The new Terminal 1B, which opened just in time for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, has been fitted with iconic LED installations for DooH and FIDS. A touch of Dubai in Moscow. An invidis site inspection. (with video).

We are often disappointed when we visit a highly acclaimed digital signage installation on site. Only rarely we experience the promised WoW effect. A notable exception was this week’s visit to Moscow. We didn’t expect much, since digital signage projects in Russia tend to be more functional than WoW and often lack attention after an initial launch phase.

A touch of Dubai blows through the terminal in Moscow with massive digital touchpoints and applications which almost seem a bit oversized. But the installation – designed and installed by Moscow based Integrator Tegrus – is one year after launch still one of the best digital signage installations currently to be experienced in public space. As so often, it’s the content which unleashes the potential of the technology. And at SVO the content is fantastic.

The most striking installation is the LED cube around the central elevator building. The installation is an absolute eye-catcher and a prospective award-winner. The 4mm LG LED (1,000 cd) four-sided digital signage installation encompasses the cube and is far too good for plain advertising. With 670m² LED area, the flagship installation is one of the largest LED installations in Europe.

LG and the airport operator have produced some fantastic content pieces, including artistic creations almost at eye level with the LAX Clocktowers in Los Angeles (invidis report). The LED wall shows DooH advertising especially designed for the touchpoint and artistic content such as highlights of Russian space flights and animations with traditional Russian elements.

One year after a major sports event, typically global marketing budgets are no longer available, and digital touchpoints are neglected. We were surprised that at SVO T1B still visually appealing DooH campaigns were shown. DooH campaigns with simple content due to limited production costs can look great on the central LED cube. Korean premium car manufacturer Genesis effectively added motion graphics to exiting print campaign motifs. Slightly animated rain brings dynamic to the static artwork.  Out of competition are the LG commercials which were obviously developed especially for the touchpoint and make excellent use of the unique cube format and the environment.

Passengers reach the departure level via escalators next to the LED cube. Reaching the top departure level, it is impossible to miss the 42m² LED departure board. The 2.5mm Pixel Pitch FIDS installation required a finer pixel pitch LEH than the LED cube due to the detailed content and the close viewing distance.

Attractively animated are way-guiding instructions for baggage check-in at the bottom of the FIDS installation. The screen design of the flight data is unfortunately not optimally solved. The reason, however, is not the technology platform but the CI of the airport, in particular the font type, the color selection and the challenges of having to display three languages.

In addition to Russian (Cyrillic), the information is also displayed in English and Chinese. The sequence of the language displayed is unfavorable for western travelers. In addition to Cyrillic, which is always displays, Chinese and English are alternating. This means that half the time no departure data is readable for western travelers.

In addition to the LED cube and FIDS, LG also implemented an LED clock and an 83m² DooH billboard in the terminal that seems almost too large for the relatively small departure hall. For the LED clock, 27m² LED modules (4mm pixel pitch) were installed, complemented by an LED cube with 49m² LED area. Further LED installations are located above the security checkpoint and at the head ends of the check-in islands.

While the borderless LED cube with content – both the video art and DooH are a real highlight – many of the other LED installations are a touch too big. Obviously, LG wanted to present a special showcase during the world cup.

But in general, SVO shows how LED can transform public spaces into art galleries and dynamic advertising canvases.