Case Studies

Tekniska Verken Plant Boosts Control Room Efficiency with 18-Monitor, Matrox-Powered Video Wall

Matrox Mura MPX Capture and Display Cards Enable Utilities Firm to Centralize and Share All Critical Data on a Collaborative Video Wall

Tekniska Control Room Video Wall
Matrox Mura MPX Series video wall processor cards power an 18-monitor installation, increasing control room efficiency in the Tekniska Verken KV1 plant.
Tekniska Verken, a regional utility firm providing services ranging from electricity and water to waste management, is located in the land of lakes, Sweden. In its KV1 plant at Linköping, the control room sports a large 18-monitor, Matrox Mura™ MPX-powered video wall that captures and displays data from among its 70 sites. From their desktops, employees just drag and drop the information to be displayed on the collaborative video wall to share simultaneously with other operators.
Video Wall
The video wall was installed to prevent employees from having to walk from workstation to workstation to find information required to complete daily tasks.

Optimizing Operations

Tekniska Verken’s operators didn’t always have the luxury of accessing a video wall.
 
Prior to the video wall, employees walked from workstation to workstation in search of data pertaining to the utility firm’s various controls and operations. In the event of emergency situations, there was increased activity and foot traffic in the control room, adversely affecting workflow and efficiency. To address the situation Teknisa Verken approached integrator Kontor-X AB for a way to cost-effectively centralize information.
Matrox Mura MPX Series
Mura MPX Series comprises six different boards with passive cooling and long product life cycles for increased reliability. Mura MPX cards can be combined within single controller systems to power video walls of diferent sizes.

A Video Wall Data Aggregator

Kontor-X AB opted for a Matrox-validated Trenton TVC4403 controller system housing six Matrox Mura MPX-4/4 video wall processor cards, which integrate four Full HD outputs and four Full HD inputs on the same PCIe® x16 board. This configuration proved robust enough to power the resulting 6x3, 18-output control room video wall comprising 55” Philips Ultra Narrow Bezel monitors, featuring 24 different inputs made up of video streams, relevant data, and alarm lists.
 
Mura MPX boards feature a comprehensive design, integrating both inputs and outputs and offering passive cooling for even greater longevity and reliability. Combined with Matrox MuraControl™ for Windows® video wall management software, it was also the best hardware/software combination for the video wall project, according to integrator Kontor-X AB.
Tekniska VideoWall
Mura MPX cards capture and display a variety of inputs on the video wall, including content streams and data pertaining to the many sites monitored by the plant's control room employees.

Putting the “Control” in Control Room

The MuraControl software proved to be a critical component of the Tekniska Verken installation, with Kontor-X AB key account manager, Kristoffer Nord, stressing how well it suited the client’s needs.
 
“MuraControl made it easy to manage and control each of the 24 different sources,” he said. “The ability to create, save, and switch between different video wall layouts was especially helpful following shift changes.”
 
Calling it an incredibly easy-to-use solution, Nord went on to say the installation took just two days to complete, despite initially budgeting a week.
 
“It was an exciting project, but not as demanding of an install as we had originally anticipated,” he said. “After how fast it went, we’re now looking for ways to integrate Mura MPX in the future, especially for control room environments.”
Tekniska Utilities Control Room Video Wall
Tekniska Verken is a regional utility firm with services ranging from electricity and water to waste management, with the KV1 plant located in Linköping, Sweden.

(Less) Money Is Power

In addition to featuring inputs and outputs on the same card, the multi-functional Mura design facilitates video switching, signal conversion, scaling, and de-interlacing all from a single board, eliminating the need for multiple solutions and reducing installation costs.
 
In the end, it was the comprehensive feature set and affordability that prompted Kontor-X AB to select Mura MPX hardware and MuraControl software, which went above and beyond their video wall requirements.
 
“Tekniska Verken was very pleased with the final result,” Nord continued. “Having increased workplace efficiency in the control room, the video wall exceeded expectations. Taking into account the solution’s cost-effectiveness, the smooth integration with sources and outputs, and the ensuing installation, Matrox Mura MPX Series made our job as integrators easier as well.”

For More Information

Matrox Mura MPX Series video wall controller cards are building blocks of high-performance, scalable installations that meet even the most demanding requirements of system integrators. Featuring both high-definition outputs and high-definition inputs, Mura is key to the assembly of everything from small-scale, single-board presentation systems to large-scale, multi-board configurations for use within control rooms or as digital signage. Fanless models eliminate background noise and build further upon renowned levels of reliability. High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) compliance meanwhile enables the playback of copy-protected content. Contact Matrox Graphics to learn more.
 
Matrox and Matrox product names are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Matrox Electronic Systems, Ltd. and/or Matrox Graphics Inc. in Canada and/or other countries. All other company and product names are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of their respective owners.