Digital displays blending information and artwork have raised the “wow factor” at Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Oklahoma, Chad Mathews says.

A key element is a transparent half-wall display, measuring about 4 feet high and 30 feet long, that separates a bar from the casino floor while also providing eye-popping advertisements for the house brewing label and colorful images for other attractions.

“It has elevated a much-needed element on our main gaming floor by turning a basic service bar into a space that is more in line with the traditional Vegas-style center bar,” said Mathews, marketing director for the casino near Oklahoma City. “It is a unique and creative installation that adds the wow factor we were looking for.” The wall consists of panels featuring multiple LEDS between two layers of clear glass and able to display full-color customizable messages, images, or animations while allowing viewers to see through the unilluminated portions.

Grand executives recognized the wall’s potential impact while seeing it on display at the JCM Global booth during the 2023 Global Gaming Expo. JCM plans another big splash at next month’s G2E, where its booth will spotlight two recent additions to the DSS Clear line, Clear Circle and Clear Curve; a 6-foot-high programmable e-poster sign on a base that can be wheeled around a property; and two video walls options, the VB Diamond and TV PRO, that allow various configurations of large video screens for showing sports or entertainment events.

James “Smitty” Smith, audio/visual product manager for JCM Global Digital Signage Solutions, said the Clear Circle and Clear Curve products “give you flash and pizzazz” with programmable media content. Clear Circle signage can be wall-mounted or suspended from the ceiling. The circles come in a variety of sizes, with the G2E displays to include 6-foot, 8-foot, 10-foot and 12-foot diameters. The Clear Curve can be used with a full or half-wall display to provide rounded corners and show content different from the adjacent panels.

“We always try to do something that hasn’t been seen before,” Smith said. “This year we’re doing the circular displays. Who knows what we’re going to do next year?”

While JCM’s signage team are not design professionals, members can help clients decide how to deploy signs to reach their goals. “We are willing to walk the floor with a customer and help them visualize what they’re wanting to do in a specific area,” Smith said. With programmable LED offerings available in multiple shapes, “the possibilities are endless,” he added. “It gives flexibility to help customers achieve their goal.”

The TV Pro panels weigh less than 10 pounds each and provide ultrahigh definition images with a 160-degree viewing angle. The VB Diamond panels offer higher contrast and a 170-degree viewing angle. Clients can configure the panels to create displays of varying size. Smith said the largest TV PRO configuration installed so far is 46 feet long and 4 feet high, with eight viewing windows on the front, four on one side and two on the other. LED screens are rated for 100,000 hours of use, which Smith said is the equivalent of about 11 years of 24/7 operation.

The e-poster is a new option that allows a digital sign to be moved easily around the casino. The 6-foot-high display is mounted on a mobile base to promote events such as a buffet deal, slot floor offerings, and other events. Multiple e-posters can be linked together to form a single-screen display.

The Grand also employs other types of JCM digital signage, including a massive exterior video display near its entrance off Interstate 40; cubes with programmable displays on all sides suspended above the hallway linking the casino and hotel areas; a curved Air Slim display marking a restaurant area; and a TV PRO display with multiple viewing windows forming a three-sided video wall.

Mathews said all images on the Grand’s digital signage, created with content development partner Render Impact, are programmed internally. The half-wall is outside the “Grand House Bar” and plays up the in-house “Grand House Brewing” label offering various styles of draft beer. “The new signage gives us ample and unique ways to deliver content in support of those brands as well as live sports, entertainment programing and promotional content on the larger screens,” Mathews said. “I’m confident we will continue to find unique ways to utilize them.”

Mathews said the programmable signs and other projects have elevated the Grand’s appeal. “We like to say that at the Grand, ‘it’s more than just a game,’” he said. “The new displays truly deliver on that message.”

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