CEDIA 2024: Super Size Your TV! Just Video Walls Smashes Barriers with Lunar Ledge and Expanse microLED Walls

(September 11, 2024) Now in its second year of operation, Just Video Walls is sticking to its founding principles and showing the microLED Wall segment exactly how an installer-centric approach works. The company was founded by former integrators who knew there was a better way to implement large microLED displays in the marketplace, and its most recent product announcements are exciting on multiple levels.

For most homeowners, a giant video wall costing upwards of $150,000 isn't financially feasible. Just Video Walls, however, is using its new Lunar branded line to shift pricing toward the realm of affordability. At the very least, the line will allow large microLED walls to be implemented in home projects that likely would have only considered projection as a large format option. At the very best, its rollout gives us a glimpse of what direct-to-consumer video wall sales could look like years down the road; as it stands, both Lunar models are strictly tailored to be integrator-friendly, easing the burden of specifying a project while reducing installation time.

The Lunar Walls line of products includes the Ledge, a pre-packaged video wall “TV,” and the Expanse, pre-engineered video walls that bridge the gap between custom and tailor fit.

The Ledge is perfect not only for first-time customers considering a video wall experience, but also for secondary systems in larger homes with multiple viewing areas. Available in 135" and 162" variations, Ledge requires no external processor and needs only a single power circuit. However, they are still packed with the features that modern consumers look for such as HDR, 4K, and a Bluetooth remote.

The Expanse line enhances potential options by adding 96 pre-packaged SKUs with easy-to-understand width multipliers based on 16:9 TV ratio. For example, a 1.0 Expanse is a 16:9 standard TV ratio, and a 1.5 Expanse grows it to 1.5 times the width of a 16:9 standard, resulting in an overall 24:9 aspect ratio. The Lunar Expanse line adds variations all the way out to 3.0x for ultra-wide applications.

We caught up with Just Video Wall's Skyler Meek at CEDIA 2024 and had a spirited conversation about the Lunar model lineups. This is definitely something to keep your eye on!

 

[Sonnie Parker]

That was a great interview Todd... very interesting technology. It's still a little outside of my reach.

I wonder if this technology will be similar to other display technologies, where the price eventually drops below the 10K mark in the next few years.

Obviously, they've made huge strides in packaging already, so I would guess that will continue to get easier and less expensive to package for end-users.

Who else will be in this market in the next several years?

 

[Todd Anderson]

Hard to say. There are quite a few companies in the market, but it's proving to be (1) very expensive to scale down in size and (2) labor-intensive to set up. The Samsungs and Sonys of the world all have their eye on microLED, but word on the street is that they are pulling investment back on R/D for smaller TV sizes for the foreseeable future.

Once you enter larger sizes, the price jumps big time. Will it ultimately come down? Yes, but will it come down to mass consumption levels? Don't know.

What JVW is doing is incredibly unique... and you can definitely see how their approach could bleed into a product that's sold direct to consumer. Some day!!!

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I'm almost maxed out on the size I want to view. 126" was slightly too large for me, and 98" seems comfortable. However, I would probably give 110" a go to get the wider aspect ratios a little larger.

At this point, regular TVs are much easier and a lot cheaper, but Lord willing, I'll be keeping an eye on this technology.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Just imagine a scenario where you have a giant video wall that allows you to watch 4 college football games on 65" or 75" screens, at the same time... and then, if you want to watch a 2.30:1 movie, it would instantly transform without having to apply masking.

It's really cool.

Only downside is that some implementations have visible seams between the microLED panels (if you get close enough).

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Yeah... that would no doubt be cool.

I figure the seams will get better over time.

You were there... what is "close enough" at this time?

 

[Todd Anderson]

In the next few days, I'll have a video up from the top manufacturer in the segment... no seams visible. But their product literally costs 3 to 5 times as much as JVW.

But, in terms of what I saw at CEDIA, I want to say that ideally you'd be about 10-12 feet away for most content. That would eliminate any visual hint. But, for content that's super busy with lots going on, you can get closer.