The Battery Atlanta, a new mixed-use development adjacent to the new SunTrust Park stadium, features a 7’ x 69’ NanoLumens Nixel Series™ LED display wrapped around a giant hanging baseball.
Watch a timelapse of the display and baseball being built and hung at The Battery Atlanta.
NanoLumens®, award-winning creators of uniquely compelling interactive LED visualization solutions, has just installed a truly unique 7’ tall by 69’ long curved Nixel Series™ LED display wrapped 360 degrees around a giant metal baseball that is suspended over a water fountain!
Located at The Battery Atlanta, a new mixed-use development that leads fans into the new SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, the NanoLumens display is the main attraction and meeting point in the most complete mixed-use development ever to be built around a sports venue and Major League baseball team.
According to Dan Rossborough, NanoLumens Director of Strategic Projects, the idea for this iconic digital centerpiece came from Atlanta Braves President of Business Derek Schiller, and was the result of thoughtful design, months of planning and a cutting-edge display solution that only NanoLumens could provide. The Braves wanted something that would stand out from every direction, for every visitor, and would make a bold statement in the first work/play/live development in all of professional sports.
“At NanoLumens we like to say that we make our clients’ dreams into reality,” Rossborough said, “and in this case, we’re confident no other display manufacturer could have delivered this design. The 7’ by 69’ display weighs just under 5,000 pounds, and that’s only possible because of NanoLumens’ patented technologies that are thinner and lighter than others, and have fewer moving parts. Because it uses less power and produces very little heat, cooling fans aren’t required. Competitors would have also required a catwalk or infrastructure to access and maintain the display, but because the largest serviceable component of a NanoLumens Nixel Series™ display weighs just 4.5 pounds, it can be serviced from the front by one worker on a ladder or cherry picker. That means a leaner overall design and lower impact on infrastructure, both at the point of installation and throughout the serviceable life of the display.”
Hovering 40 feet over the water fountain, the baseball display makes a stunning statement and provides opportunities for advertising, broadcasting live baseball games and creates a central meeting point within The Battery Atlanta neighborhood. Designed with a 9.5mm pixel pitch and the ability to reach an eye-popping 7,000 nits of brightness, the 360-degree display is visible from more than 100 yards away in every direction.
The display is comprised of hundreds of NanoLumens Nixels, small, flexible panels of LEDs that the manufacturer can combine to create a completely seamless HD display in any size, shape or curvature. This breakthrough design allows for quick repairs, front access, and allows the company to offer the industry’s best warranty by far – six years down to the individual pixel. That means if a single pixel dies, NanoLumens will replace the Nixel on which it resides. No other company offers that level of warranty and service. It is constantly exposed to the elements and runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so the IP65 weather rating and thorough warranty were key selling points.
“This area is a hotspot within The Battery Atlanta,” Rossborough said. “It’s the main plaza visitors pass through before entering SunTrust Park, and is surrounded by top restaurants, shops, apartments, and the new Comcast regional headquarters building. That means it could see more than 50,000 people parade through on a game day. Right at the base of the ball, Fox has broadcast rights to host pregame and postgame shows, and the spray fountain is a popular spot for families and friends to meet.”
“The NanoLumens display broadcasts advertisements, pregame festivities, live Braves games, and the content team even created a baseball graphic that completes the sphere, combining the metal and LED elements to form a 22-foot-tall baseball,” Rossborough continued. “It’s a prime location for announcements and displaying images and videos to get fans excited about the game and The Battery Atlanta experience.”
To broadcast live video, the content software splits the 360-degree display into four sections that each display a standard 16:9 ratio video feed. Because the amount of ambient light varies from direct sunlight to the darkness of night, the display includes light sensors and automatically adjusts its brightness output every few seconds to ensure it is always at the optimal viewing level. As one of the stadium entrances, visitors to this section of The Battery Atlanta must pass through security, but do not require a ticket. The plaza features several major restaurant and bar locations, an Omni Hotel, and is just across the street from the Coca Cola Roxy, a brand new music venue that accommodates nearly 4,000 guests.
Other crucial features include a notification system that sends alerts if temperatures go too high in the display or other issues arise, and a half-mile-long fiber optic cable that connects the display to the control room at SunTrust Park.
“NanoLumens actually made the impossible, possible,” Rossborough concluded. “What’s happening is people are saying, ‘let’s meet under the ball, grab food then go to the game.’ The leadership wanted an iconic structure that people would be attracted to and would be memorable, and that’s exactly what it has become.”