Sansi North America (SNA) Displays, a manufacturer of custom LED display and lighting solutions, recently completed the installation of five exterior LED video displays at 10 Times Square, also known as 1441 Broadway.

New LED Displays at 10 Times Square in New York City (Image: SNA Displays)

The project site, owned by L.H. Charney & Associates, is the new home to Champs Sports, a division of Foot Locker, which is moving its flagship store from 5 Times Square on Seventh Avenue between West 41st and West 42nd Streets. Other building tenants include Tommy Hilfiger and Liz Claiborne.

Given the historic tower's architecture and how its corner juts into the intersection of 7th Ave and 41st, SNA Displays engineered custom corner pieces to allow the displays to meet at a 106-degree angle.

SNA Displays provided an exterior S|Video product with a 10 mm pixel pitch. All LED displays employ surface-mount device (SMD) pixel packaging, ensuring crisp, vibrant imagery and a widened viewing experience.

Positioned as Times Square's new LED 'bookend' to the south of the bowtie, the displays are quite impressive," said John Pisciotta, who handled project management for SNA Displays. "The nearly 2,000 square feet of video displays really enhances the building façade."

The project's main screen, which wraps around the eastern corner of the building, is comprised of four smaller displays, totaling 68 feet wide and 24 feet tall. Two of the four displays meet at the corner while the other two displays serve as return features to the building, giving the main screen a three-dimensional aspect.

Additionally, a three-foot-high ribbon display stretches 77 feet along the side of the building facing 41st Street.

In total, the display system contains more than 1.7 million pixels.

"This project installation did not come without challenges," Pisciotta said. "The display hovers pretty close to the ground, just 10 feet above the sidewalk and directly above one of New York's busiest subway stations."

In addition to dealing with the substantial amount of pedestrian traffic, the crews worked in frigid, sometimes single-digit, temperatures to complete the project on time.    

To celebrate the launch of the new displays, the digital art initiative 24:7, produced by Tzili Charney and featuring artists from Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia and the Americas, ran for the first 30 days of operation.

SNA Displays worked closely with several partners to ensure the safety parameters and precision required for the installation were all met.

Show + Tell and Analog Way provided the content management system for the project; McLaren Engineering Group provided structural engineering services; Jack Green Associates provided electrical engineering services; USIS North America provided fiber cable terminations; Milrose Consultants, Inc. helped expedite permits.

"We provided a full set of services to the client, from structural and electrical engineering to city permits to a state-of-the-art content management system," Pisciotta said. "I'm proud to have led this sharp, clean, and modern-feeling installation at such a historic location."