A couple of months back we were working with a couple of strategic partners on a proposed solution for a client and through that process we talked to a bunch of hardware vendors about various interactive technologies that could be built into architectural spaces. One of the people that we talked to was a rep at Christie, a company I predominantly think of as a maker of very high-end projectors for in-venue theaters and the like. We’ve used some of their products for previous projects. The Christie rep told us about a new product called MicroTiles and sent over a really cool video that showed some interesting interactivity.
Unfortunately that video was sent over under NDA through one of our partners, so I couldn’t write about it at the time. And in the end MicroTiles weren’t right for that project, so I just filed everything away. But I saw a press release from Christie a couple of weeks ago announcing the release of MicroTiles, so I guess it’s fair game now, and it still seems relevant.
MicroTiles are fairly small video cubes that are designed to be easily arrayed together in whatever shape is desired. So the concept is very similar to a traditional video wall. I would say the closest competition it has is the latest generation of ultra-thin bezel LCDs being made by Samsung and others. But MicroTiles have some interesting benefits over traditional video walls. For one thing, they are projection technology, which allows them to be serviced from the front by pulling of the display surface. This allows them to take up not much more space than their 10″ depth. For another, they are very small (20″ diagonal) with a 720 x 540 resolution. So the overall resolution of a big installation is equivalent to a video wall made up of 40″ 1080p LCD screens. The video Christie put out with the release explains it all pretty well and answers some of the questions I had early on.
One of the things that video doesn’t show much of, though, is interactivity. The original video I saw (below) did show some touch and gestural applications, which was what piqued my interest in the first place. Check out around minute 2:00 to see that. It’s pretty basic stuff, but the fact that MicroTiles are a somewhat unique display technology that can have an interactive experience layered onto them make them definitely worth a look in various scenarios.
At the end of the day, unless you need to do an unusual form factor, the choice between MicroTiles and a high resolution LCD wall probably comes down to price and supportability. Since we are neither dealers nor installers, I can’t weigh in with an opinion on either of those decisions, but any reputable system integrator could surely do so.
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