How to create a video wall?

[Airedale]

So I've a bunch of tv sets, how do I split up a video and create this? Video wall; many monitors, 1 image spread across them all style.

I dont want to hear about using multiple raspberry pi computers. How do I do this oldschool?

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Airedale

So I've a bunch of tv sets, how do I split up a video and create this? Video wall; many monitors, 1 image spread across them all style.

I dont want to hear about using multiple raspberry pi computers. How do I do this oldschool?

There probably were controllers for that, but finding one may not be cheap or easy.

Personally what I'd do is get a cheap 10-15 year old server PC with enough PCIe16 slots, get enough older graphics cards with S-video output installed in it, right click the desktop background and select adjust screen resolution to activate those outputs and move the monitors into the grid I want. The cool part about this approach is it could approximate HD or even UHD 4K resolution across the grid(which sounds a heck of a lot more appealing than an NTSC resolution image stretched into a blurry mess across a grid on NTSC monitors... Remember how bad 60" NTSC projection TVs looked?)....The down side is unless you purely plan to play video files and streaming you'll need a HDMI capture and or analog input capture and it will have noticable lag.

I basically have all the equipment to build such a system, but I was more intending to build 3-5 independent video outputs streaming different content 24-7 than a video wall as I was gathering parts...The realization that I COULD easily make a video wall came later. I've been sitting on this for a while...not because it's hard (I could probably throw it together in an hour assuming I can remember the password for the server and not have to reinstall windows to bypass it), but because server fans are noisy and my transmitters are in my bedroom and can't be practically moved anywhere else with how my space is arranged.

Maybe I'll make a video on it when I finally build it...

[Alex KL-1]

Ahhh... That brings me some memory from my childhood. Some sunday program here ("Domingão do Faustão") had such CRT wall for some time in early 90's.
This brings a curiosity question, since I'm relatively young: such system was used first time at what year in the world?

[DVtyro]

Nam June Paik was one of the first video artists, and he is one of the better known.

This installation has 336 TV sets. It used to have 50 DVD players, now they use media players. 3750 ft of cable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_6HAMtqW3Y

This whole video art thing started in the 1960s, but video installations probably in the early 1970s.

IMHO, making a video wall out of CRT TVs is boring, flatscreens are better suited for that. CRT TVs are boxes, and should be arranged in more creative ways. I cannot find a video with an installation in the Centre Pompidou. Ah, well.

[kf4rca]

You should be able to find an old video wall controller from analog days. The one our station had was made by Miranda. It was 3x4 analog. I think they were bought out by someone else.
Analog TV equipment is really cheap these days, if you can find it. Many stations just trashed their analog equipment as there was no perceived market for it.

[Airedale]

Thanks for all the info, looks like I'll have to go with a modern video wall controller. Just using a couple adapters so I can use CRT's.