Absen deploys 400 m2 Led display at the airport of the capital of Malaysia

Malaysia Airport Holding Berhad (MAHB), operating company of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), The project to improve and renew the visual systems of the country's aviation center has been completed, awarded to the local media company VGI Airports, which is part of the audiovisual integrator VGI Malaysia (Malaysia).

This is how Nacho Pérez explains it, Chief Digital Officer, VGI Malaysia: "For many years, we have been the advertising dealer of KLIA. When it was time to improve the airport, decided to take the opportunity to develop a new digital advertising platform.".

Kuala Lumpur International Airport, to some 55 km. from the capital of Malaysia, It has an area of 100 km² and is one of the busiest so far in the world, with 62,3 million passengers in 2019, and as with other facilities in the world, with a very reduced activity due to the pandemic.

Designed and built as part of MSC Malaysia's plan, in order to create a high-tech business district in the city of Selangor, The airport was expanding its surface in each phase of the project and increasing the number of passengers.

The third and final phase was developed to serve more than one hundred million passengers., and continue to make the airport the largest and busiest facility of its kind in Malaysia.

"My role during this process was to lead digital development," says Pérez., including selecting locations to install or update, the identification of the appropriate technology and suppliers for the placement and integration of the screens, as well as its maintenance, and delivery, content creation and programming".

After an exhaustive planning phase, The team decided that a digital review was needed throughout the airport, following the flow of passengers from the departure area, through the check-in room, Immigration and the exit gates.

In addition, to create a similar flow in the opposite direction: From the arrival gates, passing through the immigration corridors to the baggage claim belts and, ultimately, The arrivals hall.

"From the beginning it was clear that digital technology was the only way forward," says Pérez.. Allows flexibility and accuracy to show relevant ads and messages to the right audience, at the right time, using the right content".

VGI decided to use a combination of LCD and LED display technology, depending on the size of the screens and the idiosyncrasy of each place, and the choice for the latter was always that of the manufacturer Absen.

As Pérez explains, "We only work with the best suppliers of each technology. That means selecting each supplier based on a combination of quality., reliability, Support and Total Cost of Ownership. Absen's Led technology ticked all the boxes for us and their customer service was second to none at all times.".

VGI Airports selected a combination of N4 display models, Absen's Acclaim A2719 and A2725 for the visual installation of the airport, which was divided into three different areas.

In the arrivals and to welcome passengers has been created the screen called Digital Dream, An impressive visual wall of 400 m2 of Led model Absen N4, offering a resolution of 23.976Wx1.008H.

Absen's A2719 was selected to configure the Satellite Digital Impact Network display, covering both arrival and departure from international destinations. These high quality Led panels have also been installed in the check-in doors.

At last, for the Digital Arrivals Impact Network is used the screen A2725 Led curve, with dimensions of 7.3×2 metre (with a configuration of 12×6 Panels), that has been installed above the escalators to receive the new arrivals.

Absen's N and Acclaim series are designed for permanent indoor display and are ideal for application in corporate spaces, Busy transportation or retail. With a slim panel depth of 2", a brightness of 1.000 nits and a weight of 8,8 Kg, the N4 model offers a lightweight and dynamic display solution for all indoor requirements.

With wide viewing angles and remote tracking, To send and view real-time performance from a mobile, the N4 model lends itself perfectly to the needs of the airport, offering crisp color uniformity and brightness.

"At Absen, we have always been committed to offering the best solutions regardless of the customer.. In a critical environment like this, quality, the reliability and ease of installation of the products are key aspects for the right solution, explains Rubén Rengel., Vp. Senior of Global Business Development of this multinational. The N Series, together with Acclaim, responded to those requirements seamlessly.".

For Nacho Pérez, Chief Digital Officer of VGI Malaysia, "The LED allows us to build custom sizes that suit different areas and create some really immersive and seamless environments.. That has been our commitment in that project, in which we ended up building the largest Led screen of an airport in Southeast Asia".

This particular Led screen, located in the baggage room and known as Digital Dream, Requires ten different media servers, a video processor and fifteen shipping boxes to create a unique panoramic effect on your 400 m2 of visualization.

"Our biggest obstacle during the installation was that we were working on a functioning airport," recalls Pérez., since KLIA is open 24/7 and use it more than 165.000 passengers per day (some 60 million a year). As a result, installing more than 1.000 m2 of digital screens in more than 250 spaces without interrupting service was a great challenge"

A challenge that, As this manager points out "we overcame it thanks to a professional relationship with the airport operations team, mainly with engineering departments, Security and electricity. We also make sure that everyone involved in the installation, from suppliers to contractors, comply with operating procedures as agreed with MAHB, the airport operator".

In this sense, the technical team and the mechanical contractor in charge of the installation "received on-site training courtesy of Absen.. We also had their technicians available to help, control and review products throughout the process", says Perez.

In addition, VGI Airports made sure the signalling system was reliable, including backup media players and shipping boxes, as well as redundancy data cabling in case of failure.

Installation began in March 2019 and was completed in February 2020, just in time to miss the massive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. "In these difficult times, Passengers appreciate arriving or departing from an airport that is fully equipped with digital screens. In addition to looking more modern, The messages they show are more relevant and dynamic than before.".