This month, the Visualist takes a fresh look at Element Labs’ (www.element-labs.com) Versa™ TILE and Versa™ TUBE LED products, and has a discussion with the founder of Element Labs, industry stalwart Nils Thorjussen. Many people in the business best know Nils as a founder of Flying Pig Systems, and subsequently in his role as VP of Marketing for High End Systems, after the merger of HES and FPS. Later, Nils started Pixeon, which was the precursor of his latest LED venture, Element Labs. We discussed where the ideas for the Versa™ range products came from, along with where Nils sees Element Labs heading and his views on the LED intellectual property wars in the marketplace and the courts.

“We originally started Pixeon because we were very interested in using LED technology in new and interesting ways,” explains Nils, the company’s president. “We see great potential in developing it. Our first two products came to us from different places. A gentleman named Matt Ward invented Versa™ TILE, with the goal of creating ‘electronic wallpaper.’ His idea was adapting video technology for use in architectural and signage applications to create visually interesting displays. The concept behind Versa™ TILE was his solution.

“At the same time, the rest of us were working on tube-based ideas,” Thorjussen continues. “We were trying to commercialize an idea (which has since been patented) that we’d seen from an English inventor, Peter Wynne-Wilson. Last year we all decided to team up together and formed Element Labs. The result is Versa™ TILE and Versa™ TUBE. “We’ve been in development for about the last year and we’ve gone through several product iterations as we perfected the technology,” Nils says. “We now have a final production version and are shipping orders.”

The Versa™ TILE system is an array of LED edge-lit light tiles controlled by a standard computer video signal. Best described as an ultra low-resolution video screen, it is often used for scenic and atmospheric effects. Versa™ TILE displays have been included on a number of high-profile events, including the Super Bowl halftime show and the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Element Labs constructs Versa™ TILEs in standard modules of 25 or 100 tiles. The light emitting LED tiles are attached to frames that provide structural support and also contain the power supplies and video signal distribution hardware. Element Labs offers two standard Versa™ TILE systems. The first is a staging system for quick assembly. The second is for installations, in which the tiles are bolted together. The installation version requires less hardware, which makes it less expensive. The rigging and stacking hardware allow large walls of panels to be constructed quickly for touring and rental applications. If necessary, the company can also create custom sizes for specific applications because the sizing is flexible. “We’ve done everything from six meters (20 square feet) to 80 square meters (260 square feet),” said Nils.

Each Versa™ TILE features 18 Nichia diodes per tile. The diode panel is mounted on a circuit board below the light tile, which is edge-lit. The light emitted by the row of LED’s project into the tile and is reflected forward. Nils says this offers real benefits - “Versa™ TILE’s 170-degree viewing angle allows the visual effect to be seen at more angles. For example, if you mount the system in a floor, a pedestrian some distance away can see the effect. In contrast, traditional LED video displays are usually not viewable at oblique angles. In addition, the LED video display technology incorporated in the product allows Versa™ TILE to produce a broad spectrum of colors, as well as flesh tones, browns, grays and other colors not possible with conventional lighting technology.”

The system accepts video feeds from any digital video signal (DVI), no matter what the source is. This makes the system equally compatible with both Macintosh and Windows-based formats. What you see on the computer display is what you get on Versa™ TILEs, whether video or still images. “The beauty of our system architecture is that there is no limit on programming options,” Nils says. “Anything that is shown on the computer screen is output into the system. We map pixels in real time from the display to the system. So content can be derived from any source, whether it’s Flash, Photoshop or QuickTime, MAC or PC. Users can make their own custom content or adapt existing video material. The possibilities are nearly endless, which is one of the things that makes it such an exciting visual medium.”

Here’s more detail to explain how it all hooks up: A user supplied PC or MAC equipped with a DVI digital video output is connected to the Versa™ DRIVE processor via both serial and DVI cables, and then the PC's video output is routed to the Versa™ TILEs via the Versa™ DRIVE. The video or still content can be played back manually or remotely with Element Labs' Versatility™ media management software (PC based only), which also allows users to manipulate certain characteristics of the content, such as transitions, brightness, etc. Alternately, the system also supports third party content playback software like Catalyst, for example. Element Labs' RasterMAPPER™ software then directs any pixel on the PC's video output to be mapped to any pixel (tile) on the Versa™ TILE panels. The system parameters of the Versa™ DRIVE are controlled remotely by the user’s PC or via the front panel controls on the Versa™ DRIVE. The Versa™ DRIVE unit features four output ports which support 1024 pixels each, for a total of 4096 pixels per unit. Each Versa™ TILE panel is supplied with both power and data inputs and outputs. Data can be daisy-chained through 40 - 5x5 panels or 10 - 10x10 panels. Power can also be daisy-chained though up to 40 panels at 220-240VAC or through up to 20 panels at 120VAC.

Versa™ TUBE uses the same video technology as Versa™ TILE, but the LEDs are placed in a light-diffusing tube. Individually controllable LED pixels change color and create dynamic effects running up and down the length of the tube. The product resembles neon or fluorescent tubes that glow with “flowing” colors. The result is unique and visually mesmerizing; people often gaze at it for minutes when they first see a working system. The Versa™ TUBEs install very easily. They come with mounting brackets and then simply need to be connected to power and data.

Element Labs’ goal is to continue to expand on LED technology in beneficial ways. “We have a variety of other LED products we’re working on, including a flexible neon replacement product,” says Nils. “It looks like neon, but it’s made like rope light so it can be cut and shaped in the field while providing all the advantages of LED technology.”

About the author: Robert Mokry is a 20 year veteran of the entertainment and mobile home industries, and forbids his daughters to date drummers. He can be reached at rmokry@robertmokry.com