LG Opens Chicago Business Innovation Center

LG Electronics USA celebrated the opening of its new Chicago Business Innovation Center, a comprehensive technology hub and educational center for LG’s commercial displays and business solutions in the United States. Located within the U.S. headquarters for LG Business Solutions in Lincolnshire, Ill., the new LG Business Innovation Center is among the first in a series of innovation center openings in major cities across the globe.

The new center will give business owners, integrators and contractors a chance to engage and learn about how LG’s leading line of commercial solutions can contribute to an increased bottom line. As its customer base continues to grow, LG is committed to offering a state-of-the-art training center to ensure brand representatives are providing the most informed and smart solutions for business owners today.

LG Electronics senior leadership perform the official ribbon cutting

In conjunction with the facility’s grand opening, LG Business Solutions launched an innovative new digital signage format, the 86-inch LG Ultra Stretch Signage display, optimized for dynamic digital content display.

The LG Business Innovation Center will feature various industry zones that bring LG’s commercial solutions to life in a real-life application setting. These include display solutions for Retail and Quick-Serve Restaurant (QSR), Hospitality, VIP and Healthcare zones, as well as commercial energy and air solutions.

The LG Business Innovation Center will showcase large and small-format LG commercial displays that are essential for the retail space, given their ability to showcase content with superior resolution, excellent picture quality and the webOS for Signage smart platform. LG’s offerings include in-demand 4K resolution for superior picture quality – with In Plane Switching (IPS) technology that produces accurate and consistent colors from any viewing angle – as well as seamless connectivity that can easily be customized across each business.

LG’s newest launch, the Ultra Stretch Signage 86BH5C, is a new 86-inch ultra-wide digital signage screen – with an incredible 58:9 aspect ratio – that can display dynamic content depending on the user’s installation environment and can even double as digital décor. With immersive 4K Ultra HD resolution and a useful Picture-by-Picture (PBP) feature – which allows the user to divide the long, rectangular screen into four parts in landscape or portrait installations – empowers the integrator to customize the screen to maximize content. With the LG SuperSign media editor, integrators are able to easily edit images or video clips of original content without the need for any additional editing programs – resulting in a seamless process for displaying and communicating content. For an immersive viewing experience in retail stores and banks, the Ultra Stretch Signage 86BH5C can also be valuable in airports, subways or even art galleries.

In addition to the interactive features of the Ultra Stretch Signage 86BH5C, LG offers additional products with the highest resolution technology available to enhance the quality of visual communication at a never-before-seen level. The Retail Zone’s flagship products include LG’s largest 4K UHD digital signage display, the 98-inch class (98.0 inches measured diagonally) 98LS95A, which showcases vivid images with superior brightness and an incredible level of detail – four times the resolution of 1080p Full HD displays. Also showcased is LG’s all-new Direct LED Video Wall VH7B featuring an ultra-slim bezel – 0.9 mm – which is ideal for retail stores that require a giant-screen commercial installation that can communicate information in a clear and immersive manner.

Hospitality & VIP Zones: Featuring the Latest Hotel Technologies

LG’s industry-leading guest-centric display solutions are nestled in the hospitality and VIP zone, which boasts a portfolio of products specifically designed for the hospitality space including commercial 4K Ultra HD hotel TVs enhanced with LG’s Pro:Centric® interactive TV platform and the Pro:Idiom digital rights management system. Complementing its ENERGY STAR® certified in-room solutions, LG offers a range of displays suited for public spaces within the hotel such as lobbies, meeting spaces and restaurants. LG’s digital signage and video wall displays offers a visually stunning communication platform that is easily installed, managed and maintained. Another highlight of the Hospitality Zone is the LG Styler, a unique clothing management system designed to steam and refresh clothing at the touch of a button, ideal for hotel suites and club lounges.

Smart Healthcare Zone: Providing the Best in Healthcare Solutions

The Smart Healthcare Zone features LG’s interactive healthcare TVs with in-room applications for patient monitoring, wayfinding and educational information.  LG develops products with the goal to streamline processes for medical practitioners and foster positive patient experience within the healthcare industry, including hospitals and medical centers, as well as long-term care and assisted living facilities.

Outdoor Signage Zone: Introducing Rugged Al Fresco Displays

Gracing the entrance to the LG Business Innovation Center is a prime example of unique new outdoor digital signage displays developed by the groundbreaking LG-MRI strategic alliance. These high-brightness displays based on LG’s IPS (in-plane switching) technology – such as the 84-inch portrait-mounted LED/LCD model in Lincolnshire – are designed to withstand the harsh Chicagoland weather and provide a new level of performance and energy efficiency.

Energy Solutions Zone: Demonstrating Broad Capabilities

While its main focus is on commercial displays, including many ENERGY STAR certified models, the Chicago LG Business Innovation Center also showcases energy solutions for green buildings, featuring industry-leading LG technologies in commercial air conditioning, solar panels and LED lighting. Technologies on display include LG’s Multi V IV variable refrigerant flow system for commercial installations, the award-winning Art Cool Gallery for residential applications and P-TAC units for the lodging industry.  LG renewable energy technology is exemplified by the new high-performance Mono X NeON 2 solar modules, while LG’s super-efficient 2×2 LED lighting troffers illuminate the entire facility.

In addition to the new Chicago LG Business Innovation Center in Lincolnshire, Ill., LG Electronics USA also just opened the Atlanta LG Business Innovation Center within its newly-expanded U.S. Air Conditioning Systems Headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga. These LG centers are the first of their kind in the United States and two of only nine such centers around the world. Other locations are in Amsterdam; London; Sao Paulo; Moscow; Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Each facility is primed to serve as a technology hub and cutting-edge product showcase to connect engineers, contractors, integrators and executives in all facets of LG’s industry-leading technology.