Metrobus has been working together with the RATP, which operates the Paris metro system, to market advertising space since 1949. Over the past few years, the station has been thoroughly revamped, leaving far less space for advertising. By resolutely choosing digital media, Metrobus manages to consolidate and increase advertising revenues in spite of the shrinking advertising area. When the company launched a call for tenders for a new LED display in the central hall, Barco emerged as the best partner for the LED technology. 

Impressed by the ‘Digital Dream’ 
“We had seen the Barco solutions at work during ISE 2014 in Amsterdam, just after launching the tender, and were impressed by the quality,” says Jerome Chellet, Innovation Project Manager at Metrobus. “Yet most of all, we were amazed by the ‘Digital Dream’ – the huge LED wall that Barco had installed at the Les Quatre Temps mall, near the Paris metro station. In addition, we loved the idea of working with a company headquartered in Belgium and with regional offices in France. The possibility to be close to the Barco team for information, technical support and testing, really is an added value.”

Image quality and ease-of-use 
In December 2014, system integrator SERELEC set up a 46m² modular LED wall consisting of Barco’s 4mm V4 tiles in the station’s main hall. The LED tiles ensure very dark black levels and a wide viewing angle. Just like all tiles from the V series, they are supported by the DV-100 image processor with a high-class Athena™ scaler for flexible scaling and support a wide range of standard inputs. “Google was the first to advertise their Nest solution on the display, during the Christmas period, and now we have an advertisement from Warner,” says Jerome Chellet. “Both are big-name advertisers, of course, who were really enthusiastic about the brightness of the display. We, for our part, really appreciate the reliability and quality of the product and the ease of managing and controlling the screen.”

Entertainment hub 
On both sides of the new wall, commuters can now see schedules and travel-related information, while the large 24m² central screen is open for advertisements in full HD quality. In the coming months, Metrobus wants to also use the screen to transmit video and television images, as well as add interactivity features so that commuters can interact with the screen through their smartphones. In this way, the V4 display will become a true entertainment hub in the metro station. “We are proud of realizing this groundbreaking project in such an important metro station like La Défense,” says Carl Rijsbrack, VP Retail & Advertising. “La Défense is Paris’ major business district so 2.5 million people pass through the station every week – a perfect way to market our solution.”