In the Middle East, not every new LED screen causes as much of a stir as it does in Europe. But this one is worth a little fuss: an almost 1,000 square meter large curved screen now spans the exterior of a shopping center in Jeddah.
New Gigascreen: 1,000 sqm LED in Jeddah
For many Muslim pilgrims, the Saudi city of Jeddah serves as the gateway to Mecca – and as a result, welcomes millions of visitors each year. It’s also now home to one of the country’s largest digital facades: a massive LED screen spanning more than 970 square meters (10,333 square feet) across the curved exterior of the Stars Avenue Mall.
The mall itself isn’t new and it did already have a screen in the same spot – but the old one was tiny compared to this monstrosity, as my colleague Florian recalled from his visit a few years back.
The new one measures 55 meters (253 feet) in length and 12.6 meters (41 feet) in height. The installation was carried out by Pixcom Arabia, a Dubai-based integrator and display supplier, which sourced the LED panels from an OEM manufacturer and delivered the project as a turnkey solution. At peak brightness, the screen reaches 10,000 nits and operates at around 550 watts per square meter – which, across the entire surface, adds up to roughly 533,000 watts.
Details about the display remain limited, though it seems to be hosting some experimental content, as this video suggests. Surely, it’ll also be used for DooH, hopefully with some special-effect campaigns thrown in the mix.
