What is the real price of a video wall, how to spend wisely?
€100,000 for a 6-screen wall, that's the announced price. This amount, worthy of "lunar technology", holds back more than one fire department. It is we citizens who are then less well protected.
Since 2021, we have presented our video wall solution to almost forty fire departments and have participated in the installation of 15 command centers (a ratio of 15/40). This has given us some experience, particularly in the sales practices of the sector. On our side, we are a software publisher and we avoid selling hardware, installation, cabling and other. Indeed, we wish to remain impartial on the hardware, as integrator is a profession that requires skills and logic quite different from that of a computer scientist.
Everyone has their own profession, so I strongly suggest not to try to save money on the human part that will drill the walls, pull the cables, align the supports and others. Any quality service has a price.In general, organizations that want a 360-degree view on a video wall serve the population or protect an existing park of goods or services.
They equip themselves once every ten years with a video wall and are therefore not aware of the real technical composition of such a tool.The purchasing policy of these institutions is such that they often buy more expensive to support the local economy.
For example, the red firefighter paint is charged by Renault nearly €5,000 per vehicle, let's hope it is done in Europe. But the software and components of a video wall are manufactured in North America, England and of course Asia. What are the benefits of a 6-screen wall at €100,000 for the European video and software industry?
What are the basic components of a video wall?
-Component 1: monitors or TVs.
-Component 2: Wall mounting systems.
-Component 3: Cabling.
-Component 4: Video server and its software.
-Component 5: Additional boxes such as KVM switches, multiviewers, video wall control boxes, screen shutdown system, audio system, TNT/satellite box, network switches in case of IP arrivals, an RS232 interface and other elements that I don't know yet.
Why is it so expensive?
Let's take the case of a 6-screen 55-inch wall that is offered around €100,000. An integrator will make you a first offer of this type.
-Component 1: 6 thin-edged monitors for €12,000 (6*€2,000), the margin is low, the customer can easily compare prices.
-Component 2: the wall mounting system. They sometimes call it a spider. This can quickly be offered at around €600/800 per screen, plus labor. We quickly arrive at a total of €6,000.
By simply searching on the internet, we find "push and pull" products for €452 excluding tax.
-Component 3: cabling, you should not skimp on this part, it is crucial.
-Component 4: the video server is invoiced on a minimum basis of €20,000. It is a motherboard, a microprocessor, a hard disk, RAM, one or more graphics cards, one or more HDMI signal acquisition cards, a possible TNT card, one or more network cards. It is no more or less than a big PC dressed in a metal case mounted in a server rack. Our 15 clients have taken quality components and have built solid workstations for €3,000.
The software is invoiced from €8,000 according to our sources. Depending on the options chosen, the sky is the limit. At Easy Multi Display, the basic version starts at €280 excluding tax and the one chosen by the command centers is invoiced at €911 excluding tax.
-Component 5: for additional elements, let's take the example of a video wall controller box. This object resembles the satellite decoder you have at home. An HDMI cable carrying the source enters on one side and 6 HDMI cables leave this box to the 6 screens (1 per monitor). This component is quickly invoiced for thousands of euros, even tens of thousands of euros. It has more or less advanced functions (adding sources on the fly) but which often come in repetition of the possibilities of the video server. On Amazon the first prices start at €100 excluding tax. These €100 boxes have been running 24/7 in stores and public places for decades and are reliable...
In the end, for €100,000 the 6-screen wall, the bill is more or less divided as follows, €20,000 for the 6 screens fixed to the wall, €40,000 for the video server and its software, €20,000 for the additional boxes mounted in server rack and €20,000 for labor and cabling. Added to this will be an annual maintenance to secure your big investment.
What is the correct price for a video wall?
€20,000, that's the price our customers usually pay for a complete, turnkey installation of a 6-screen wall (so-called invisible border). They only buy the software from us for €911 and are free to choose their integrator. Other clients have innovated and have built themselves very beautiful architectures for €7,000, covering 6 square meters of display with 86-inch screens.
Come and see me in Montpellier, in our 90-meter showroom I will share my experience with you and you can play with my 12-screen wall (about 3.6 meters wide by 2 meters high).
My wall cost me €5,000 all inclusive, so yes it's not perfect, but it does the demo job. The real life is that public organizations often have little means, but thanks to our technology they can equip themselves with a beautiful work tool with a "Made in France" embedded technology.