The Challenge
In early 2014, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) was putting the finishing touches on its new student center, the UCR Student Recreation Center, a building planned as the hub of recreational, intramural, and club sports on the campus. From health classes to casual sports games to personal training and even a rock climbing wall, the 80,000 square foot facility was jam-packed with everything the campus could possibly need to fulfill students’ wants and needs – except for one thing.
The university needed to find a way to showcase school events, share news, stream sports games, and more in a visually appealing, high-tech format, in line with the aesthetic of the brand-new state-of-the-art center.
The Solution
Having dreamed of the possibility of a media system, the university sent out a request for quotation (RFQ) and High-Tech Electric answered the call. The solution presented was an impressively large 7x7 28.5-foot video wall, consisting of 49 Barco 55” LCD displays seamlessly aligned and hung using Peerless-AV®’s DS-VW755S Full Service Thin Video Wall Mount with Quick Release.
Due to the various and changing needs of the UCR Student Recreation Center, the new wall would incorporate a variety of tuners from Contemporary Research to stream 16 channels and content from a Panasonic Blu-ray player, along with displaying large still images to share major campus news.
The Install
One of the challenges of providing this solution was the space designated to house equipment. Many of the components had to be assembled and prepared a far distance from the actual wall, using remote power supplies.
To reduce weight and spatial constraints, the power supplies were also pulled out of the displays and rack-mounted along with media players in a separate, temperature-controlled room with low voltage cables running to the displays. Middle Atlantic Products provided the racks for the project. This resulted in less heat near the displays and less weight on the mounts.
An Extron Electronics touch panel created in the control room allowed for the university to easily control the configuration of the screens, from one full screen to four mini screens and beyond, to showcase a variety of news and sporting events.
With the video wall starting at 13 feet off the ground, with a peak height of 40 feet, Peerless-AV®’s DS-VW755S Full Service Thin Video Wall Mount was a crucial component of the success of the install.
The mount allowed installers to seamlessly align displays and negated tedious calculations and onsite guesswork through its reusable display dedicated wall plate spacers. While most mounts on the market require the use of tools, the DS-VW755S offers simple, tool-less micro adjustments at eight points.
Most importantly for this install, the mount’s quick release function allowed installers to gain easy access to the back of displays. The DS-VW755S can also extend into a negative tilt position for ease of cabling (a feature not offered by any other mount). Both of these features were key in the installation of a video wall from a lift.
The Results
“This project consisted of so many industry firsts – it was exciting to make it all happen, but that’s what you have to do to get the latest and greatest,” said James Gulke of High-Tech Electric, who led the project. The installation was truly a success for all parties involved, but most importantly, for the UCR Student Recreation Center.
Today, the video wall serves more than 21,000 students at University of California, Riverside, on a daily basis – from entertaining to encouraging school pride, sharing news, school events streaming sports games, and more – all in 13k resolution.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
