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Greenpix Wall at Night and Day  (Source: Greenpix)

Greenpix Wall Construction  (Source: Greenpix)
Greenpix wall gets all the power it needs from the Sun

Simone Giostra & Partners architectural firm have created a video wall called Greenpix that requires no power to operate. Greenpix is the massive LED video wall façade of the Xicui entertainment complex in Beijing, China. The complex is located near the site of the 2008 Olympic Games and is the largest color LED display in the world.

More impressive than the façade is that the entire display is 100 percent self-powered. During the day the panels harvest solar energy that is in turn used to generate the static and moving images on the LED displays at night. Chinese officials will display specially commissioned programs and video from artists from around the world during the Games this year.

Chinese representatives who unveiled the display herald it as a beacon for what green technology can accomplish, while still pushing the boundaries of what's technically feasible.  No comment was made on how long the display could operate on a single-day's charge, however.

Another company called Arup developed a new technology for laminating photovoltaic cells into a glass curtain for the project. The photovoltaic cells are laminated into the Greenpix screen in varying densities to increase the performance of the building. The changes in density of the panels allow natural light in when required and reduce the heat that enters the building.

The backlighting for the LED panels is provided by circular florescent lighting spaced every 900mm x 900mm. Each of the glass panels used in the wall measures 890mm x 890mm.


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Yeah... but what's it's response time?
By therealnickdanger on 5/5/2008 11:59:12 AM , Rating: 3
no wai i'm buying 1 if its not <1ms!!!1




RE: Yeah... but what's it's response time?
By sliderule on 5/5/2008 12:04:22 PM , Rating: 1
What kind of video card do I need to play Crysis on that thing? :P


By therealnickdanger on 5/5/2008 12:06:49 PM , Rating: 3
It looks like it's resolution is 100x70 or something... haha


By das mod on 5/5/2008 12:10:21 PM , Rating: 5
you can already tell it's got dead pixels


By littlebitstrouds on 5/5/2008 12:20:18 PM , Rating: 5
so on a C2D Extreme... with SLI... 100x70 should run at..... 20fps. Damn can I play at 50x35? How's the scaling?


By omnicronx on 5/5/2008 12:20:22 PM , Rating: 5
Just by quickly counting the squares (5x5 squares per big square) it seems like it is about 600x200.. From a distance, I assume it would look pretty good all things considered. Now how many colours it can reproduce is a difference question all together ;)


By TennesseeTony on 5/5/2008 10:52:23 PM , Rating: 1
Looks like roughly 67 blocks long, 36 blocks high, each block having 16 pixels (4x4), so the resolution is at least 38k, arranged 268x144. Sad, the resolution is beat by a PSP. An iPod. Many cell phones. :)

As far as to the video card you need, minus the DX10 (and DX9) support, you should get by with a GeForce3 Ti200. Sweet card, so long as you have a Duron, or P3 and at least 96 Megs of RAM. I just hope you don't have a P4 1500. Those suck.


RE: Yeah... but what's it's response time?
By MrBlastman on 5/5/2008 1:54:16 PM , Rating: 2
Looks perfect for playing that old old old computer game Rogue on it....

Just look at the picture - sure looks like ASCII characters to me.

Rogue was awesome for its time, but I doubt many people here will know what I'm talking about.


By nugundam93 on 5/5/2008 2:12:06 PM , Rating: 2
i call dibs on playing the old version of scorched earth on this LCD screen! :D

i <3 them MIRVs and baby nukes


By Alpha4 on 5/5/2008 6:41:42 PM , Rating: 2
Level 29: Rattlesnake + 2 Dragons FTL -_-


backlighting?
By ioannis on 5/5/2008 1:08:03 PM , Rating: 4
I'm confused. Why does an LED based display require a backlight?




RE: backlighting?
By rudy on 5/5/2008 1:17:50 PM , Rating: 2
heh exactly I was just about to post this.

What am I missing? Why does an LED display need CFL lighting? Was it suppose to be LCD display?


RE: backlighting?
By Adonlude on 5/5/2008 2:22:58 PM , Rating: 2
Circular flourscent lights as a backlight? How many must be up there? I see a flickering flourscent light nightmare in the making. Seems wasteful.


RE: backlighting?
By omnicronx on 5/5/2008 2:32:20 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Circular flourscent lights as a backlight? How many must be up there? I see a flickering flourscent light nightmare in the making.
I see a bunch of people having seizures in their cars ;) Its also not a waste if it is totally self powered.. doesnt really matter how much it drains if it is all renewable energy.


RE: backlighting?
By mindless1 on 5/6/2008 5:22:05 PM , Rating: 2
It does matter, is a waste. Consider two alternatives:

1) It could've been only a solar panel array, built to generate power for other uses instead of consuming power.

2) Production, installation, upkeep are all energy intensive. There's nothing green about making a new toy that doesn't even replace an old, less efficient toy.

It's neat, impressive in scale, but a total waste in the grand scheme of green things.


RE: backlighting?
By melgross on 5/5/2008 2:48:54 PM , Rating: 2
That's exactly what I was wondering as well.


RE: backlighting?
By dnd728 on 5/5/2008 4:34:30 PM , Rating: 2
Because it's not really a LED screen. It just looks like a huge version of one.


RE: backlighting?
By TennesseeTony on 5/5/2008 4:46:35 PM , Rating: 2
I think the 'backlighting' is for the building interior, which now has it's windows covered by an insanely ugly LED display. I am led to this belief, because they previously mentioned the solar cells allowing in some natural light[into the building, I presume].


RE: backlighting?
By StormEffect on 5/5/2008 8:09:46 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, I suppose the backlighting is the interior lighting for the building.

Even though, you'd think they wouldn't call it an LED screen if it used a source of light for the backlight other than an LED.


Isnt there a name for this
By tastyratz on 5/5/2008 12:11:28 PM , Rating: 1
China has their big special led wall
They have their flakk guns to control the weather
They have their great firewall of china
All bow under the great and powerful china look at us everyone were awesome

Don't they generally call everything china is doing "overcompensating"

Those with the big fancy cars usually have the small.......




RE: Isnt there a name for this
By wushuktl on 5/5/2008 12:17:26 PM , Rating: 2
seriously? you've got to be f'n kidding me...


RE: Isnt there a name for this
By BadAcid on 5/5/2008 12:17:39 PM , Rating: 5
You Americans have such gargantuan... mine, very smaww. So smaww.

*try to bomb the harbor!*


RE: Isnt there a name for this
By therealnickdanger on 5/5/2008 12:23:06 PM , Rating: 3
I guess it is pretty big...

*grin*


RE: Isnt there a name for this
By FITCamaro on 5/5/08, Rating: -1
RE: Isnt there a name for this
By DanoruX on 5/5/2008 12:33:18 PM , Rating: 5
Indeed, the national debt is astronomically big.


By littleprince on 5/5/2008 2:19:28 PM , Rating: 2
Could the CO2 produced there because of American consumerism? Easy to enjoy the technology and manufacturing of products in China, complain about their CO2 output, and than further complain about loss of jobs in the USA.

Yet you all still buy made in China! Pretty hypocritical. Its not that many years ago no factory in the USA cared about the environment either...


By noxipoo on 5/5/2008 2:33:27 PM , Rating: 1
Top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases on a national basis
1 United States
2 China
3 Russian Federation
4 India
5 Japan
6 Germany
7 Brazil
8 Canada
9 United Kingdom
10 Italy

Top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases on a per capita basis (tons of carbon per person per annum)
1 United States (6.6)
2 Canada (6.3)
3 Russian Federation (3.6)
4 Germany (3.2)
5 United Kingdom (3.1)
6 Japan (2.9)
7 Italy (2.5
8 Brazil (1.3)
9 China (1.1)
10 India (0.5)

The west needs to stop blaming China and India for all the troubles in the world.


By aftlizard on 5/5/2008 3:33:50 PM , Rating: 2
Actually China just recently passed the US in greenhouse gases.

http://www.physorg.com/news127495011.html


By FITCamaro on 5/5/2008 3:44:34 PM , Rating: 3
Of course practically every advanced nation is higher per capita than China. They've got over a billion people with only about 30-40% of that even living in cities. The vast majority of people in China barely have electricity (if they even do) much less things like big screens.

Same goes for India. Personally I'm surprised they're even on the list. France would knock one of them off likely but they're largely nuclear powered.

And your data is still outdated.


By patriot77 on 5/5/2008 12:09:46 PM , Rating: 2
Many technologies like this one come and go, and we do realise the potential of the ones like the above. But despite the conviction that such breakthroughs will cause major changes to the scenario, we often do not see that happening.
So, will this technology really be implemented on a large scale basis and in the mainstream area?




By SectionEight on 5/5/2008 12:44:05 PM , Rating: 2
I'm surprised somebody in Las Vegas didn't think of this first. They love their lights there and have more than enough sunlight. Hopefully they will implement something similar soon to cut down on their massive power useage.


By FITCamaro on 5/5/2008 1:58:25 PM , Rating: 1
Las Vegas should power their lights with exercise bikes generating electricity from the pedaling of the hundreds or thousands of illegitimate children conceived there.


By omnicronx on 5/5/2008 2:29:57 PM , Rating: 2
Something gives me the feeling that an entire wall of solar panels that double as LED's can get quite pricey ;) Even from a business point of view it would be hard to implement such a thing on a broad scale, it would probably take 20 years at its current price in order to make your money back.


Nitpick
By amanojaku on 5/5/2008 12:55:51 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Simone Giostra & Partners architectural firm have created a video wall called Greenpix that requires no power to operate.


Should be "... that requires no terrestrial power to operate." It needs power all right, it's just not getting it from anyplace on Earth.




By Reclaimer77 on 5/5/2008 7:17:22 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Chinese representatives who unveiled the display herald it as a beacon for what green technology can accomplish, while still pushing the boundaries of what's technically feasible.


Because nothing shows the practical aspect of what going 'Green' can do for me more than a 20 ton glass panel LED that wouldn't even fit on the side of my house with the resolution of an Etch-A-Sketch !

I can't wait for them to keep 'pushing those boundaries' ! Maybe, if I'm lucky, they can make an even BIGGER one in a few years. And it might even look slightly less s#$%ty !




Blatant Lies
By Shadowmaster625 on 5/6/2008 1:32:25 PM , Rating: 2
In order for this huge display to be truly sustainable, it would need to generate and return 2kWh to the grid all day, every day, for many years. Because that is the amount of energy that was consumed during the construction of this so called "sustainable" piece of stupidity. All we need now is a giant picture of Al Gore to make this display of naive greenie idiocy complete. The worst thing any greenie can do is go around making people believe that crap like this is sustainable.




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