Revitalized Toronto Union Station Adds More LED, LCD Video Walls

March 7, 2022 by Dave Haynes

The main commuter rail and bus hub in Toronto – Union Station – has been undergoing renovations for the past 10 years, and as new common areas have been  spruced up, they’ve opened with more and more digital components, including LED video walls for ad spots and messaging.

The latest area released at the station – which serves commuter rail lines and buses, subway and passenger rail – is an overhauled food court, access to new platforms and subway connections. 

The Toronto-area firm ICON Media was contracted to put in a series of new Samsung-made screens – a couple of flavors of LED video walls, as well as a narrow bezel LCD wall. The media time will be sold by Branded Cities.

The Samsung IER Series 4mm LED Displays wrap around three sides of an elevator column to “animate the space,” says Samsung Canada in PR, “showcasing sporting events, premium advertising and, perhaps most importantly, emerging local art organizations. With the pandemic greatly affecting the artistic community, Union offered them screen time to showcase its long-term commitment to supporting these organizations.”

An LCD video wall, interestingly, has been schemed in to, at least in part, support free public events that will run throughout the year at the station.

It’s an interesting space that has transitioned from a dull, low-slung post-war maze of halls, tunnels and stairways to a reasonably airy, bright and navigable space filled with retail and eating options. The station has followed the same sort of evolution path as revitalized airports, which increasing feel like high-end malls with airport gates.

Notice the foot rail down at floor level on the LED-wrapped column. That will reduce the risk of roller bags ramming the fragile LED walls, but these things will still get the crap beat out of them by shoulder bags and wandering hands unless they have some sort of protective epoxy/glue coating, and I don’t think these do.