Tokyo, Japan
Installation Details
New signage system introduced as a part of renovations timed for the 100th anniversary of the station's completion.
The Seibu Railway, which connects northwestern Tokyo with southwestern Saitama Prefecture, has been commemorating a century since the company's establishment with various projects and events collectively referred to as “Seibu Railway 100th Anniversary,” over four years from 2012 to 2015. One of the projects was a thorough renovation of Ikebukuro Station, one of the railway's hub stations, to mark 100 years since the station opened.
Part of this renovation is the introduction of a new Panasonic digital signage system, based around our professional-quality 4K LCD displays.
Our 4K displays, acclaimed for their high durability, have been installed at a train station, marking a first* in the Tokyo region.
Thus far the columns in Ikebukuro Station have featured advertisements on electrically lighted signboards, but as the advertising industry moves toward digital signage, the installation of this signage system was included in the station's renovation plan. After examining video system options with the goal of securing "the largest, most state-of-the-art displays possible," Seibu Railway compared various companies' products, primarily large 4K displays, before selecting Panasonic's.
When installing displays in a location like Ikebukuro Station with heavy pedestrian traffic, it is necessary to attach protective panels over the displays, meaning that what station users see are pictures with their resolution degraded by passing through the panels. However, Panasonic professional displays already have protective glass over their surfaces, meaning protective panels are unnecessary and station users can see super-high-definition 4K images without any degradation.
With the client appreciating Panasonic products' combination of durability and high definition, it was decided that TH-84LQ70 84-inch 4K LCD displays and TH-70LF50 70-inch full high-definition LCD displays would be installed, a first at a train station in the Tokyo region*.
During the first phase of renovations, completed in February 2015, twenty-four 4K LCD displays and 40 full high-definition LCD displays were installed in the subterranean (B1F) concourse. The second phase of renovations, scheduled for completion this autumn, will see fifteen 4K LCD displays and 34 full high-definition LCD displays added on the first-floor concourse, for a total of 113 displays (of which 39 are 4K LCD), among the largest number at any station in Japan. This will complete the "Seibu Impact Ad: Ikebukuro Smile Station Vision" public transit advertising system.
* As of February 24, 2015, survey by Panasonic.
System Outline
Fully digital content distribution for high-resolution picture.
The installed displays are connected to the Seibu Railway digital signage system. Content data distributed from a server is received by STBs and input to the display via DisplayPorts. Use of a fully digital distribution network eliminates noise and other interference. In the subterranean concourse there is a difference between the thickness of columns in the passageway to the JR station and those in the passageway to the ticket gates, two different display models are employed.
In the connecting passageway to the JR line, 84-inch 4K LCD displays are mounted on six columns. As there is an intersection of pedestrian traffic flows at this location, displays are mounted on all four sides of each column so the high-resolution 4K images can be clearly seen by station users coming from all directions.
Meanwhile, in the passageway leading to the ticket gates, 70-inch full high-definition LCD displays are installed, utilizing the entire width of the columns. Here the pedestrian traffic flow is basically in just two directions, so displays are mounted on only two sides of each column. Displays are positioned on 20 columns to create an overwhelming visual media environment.
Effective advertising media designed to capitalize on the building's structure.
Ikebukuro Station is a building with many columns, enabling installation of a total of 64 displays in the subterranean concourse alone, and a system that delivers effective in-transit advertising media.
Seibu Railway Co., Ltd.
Seibu Railway has marked its 100th anniversary and is on track, full speed ahead for the next 100.
Seibu Railway operates a 176.6km network of 12 rail lines linking northwestern Tokyo with southwestern Saitama Prefecture, and connecting the heart of Tokyo with the abundant nature of sites like Chichibu and Hanno. Ikebukuro Station, from which trains depart bound for Chichibu and Hanno, has served as a gateway between countryside and city since it opened a century ago in April 1915.
Equipment installed
- 4K UHD Display
TH-84LQ70 x 24 - Standard Display
TH-70LF50 x 40
