TECHNOLOGY
Aluminium LED Screens
Aluminium systems manufacturer Boldman has proven that its metal of choice is an ideal one for supporting outdoor, high-resolution LED screen support structures.
3 February, 2016
Using aluminium, Boldman is putting together screen structures that are flat and precise enough to allow for large-scale audio/video screens with near-HD display quality.
Boldman has shown what its aluminium structures can do through two projects in the United Kingdom: an outdoor screen for The Printworks in Manchester (which measures 13.9 m by 7.8 m) and two matching screens at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2 (each measuring 11.5 m by 4.8 m). For The Printworks, Boldman utilised an Oblik spaceframe structure framework with a design put together by Alan White Design. A Grade II listed building (assigned to buildings of historical interest) in Manchester, The Printworks is a historic entertainment venue that includes a movie theater and eateries in Manchester's city center.

The Printworks screen consists of 156 fabricated aluminium sections and weighs ten tons, making it the largest of its kind. In order to attach the entire LED screen to the historic structure, Boldman chose aluminium over steel to make sure the structure was sufficiently lightweight. The Oblik system is based on an oblik beam made from aluminium sections, with the diagonals of the beam coming out of the frame to create a three dimensional framework when its trusses are bolted together. Thanks to the strength and durability of aluminium, Boldman's support system is capable of supporting over 100 tons of weight and can withstand even the most extreme environmental conditions.
The twin screens built for use at Heathrow Airport are the largest outdoor screens at any airport in the country, and will be put to use for advertising to the 55,000 passengers passing through Terminal 2 on a daily basis. Built with £2.5 billion in private funds, the terminal first opened in 2014 and serves 20 million passengers flying with over 20 airlines every year. The screens themselves have an operational temperature range that goes from -20 °C to + 50°C and are expected to last over 100,000 hours (equivalent to 11.4 years).

Heathrow LED Support Structure. Photo by Boldman
It is vital that outdoor screens can withstand high winds and extreme changes of temperature and weight without an effect on structural integrity whilst maintaining image quality for advertisers. Aluminium is the perfect material for this as it is lightweight, strong and allows for extreme accuracy in manufacturing
Nigel Clarke
CEO of Boldman
As a general rule, LED lights depend on light-emitting diodes to generate a video display. LED panels can either constitute a small display in their own right or, as is the case with larger systems like those recently created by Boldman, form part of a larger display. In addition to their use in advertising—what Boldman's Printworks and Heathrow projects are designed to do—LED screens are also found in store signs or as destination signs onboard public transportation.

LED panels can even be used as general or specialized lighting, depending on the circumstances. These panels can be either conventional (using discrete diodes) or surface-mounted device (SMD) panels. Within each pixel of each LED panel, red, green, and blue diodes are forced together to form the full pixel. While indoor screens tend to use SMD technology, outdoor devices are picking up on it as well. In large LED displays with hundreds of square meters worth of pixels, obtaining measurements precise enough for clear, high-quality imaging is a challenge. For Boldman, that is precisely where aluminium—one of the most malleable industrial metals—comes in.
Media City Aluminium Support Screen. Photo by Boldman