WDIV Local 4 is Detroit’s NBC affiliate and the flagship television station of Graham Media Group, serving viewers across the Detroit metropolitan area and southeast Michigan. With multiple rating wins that position it as the most‑watched source for local TV news in key dayparts and demographics, the station and its news operation have been recognized with numerous Michigan Regional Emmy Awards for excellence in local journalism and production quality.
Image: Previous Set circa 2016 - Photo credit: Scott Skybush

The Goal

A New Canvas

WDIV set out to move beyond virtual sets and green screens to a contemporary, LED‑driven studio that would deepen viewer engagement and visually differentiate the station in a competitive news market. The objective was to give producers and presenters a flexible, reliable visual canvas for everyday news, weather, sports, and special coverage without compromising on image quality or operational robustness.

The Challenge

A Seamless Experience

The station were looking to create a full LED environment for news, weather, sports, and stand‑ups, but early concepts pointed to a patchwork of mixed LED and LCD displays that would have compromised the look and pushed the project over budget. WDIV also needed the system to behave like a single, tightly integrated canvas, with reliable processing and routing so on-air talent could move effortlessly between multiple walls and camera positions without visible seams or mismatched image quality.
 

The Solution

Distinct Storytelling Zones

Working alongside ReveLux, Ross Video, WrightSet, and Xibitz, ZTransform took responsibility for the LED displays, video processing, and control layer behind five of the studio’s video walls, ensuring they functioned as a coordinated system within the broader set design. The team performed the engineering to specify the LED displays and processing, and the graphics source tuned to each wall’s resolution and geometry so content could be routed, framed, and synchronized cleanly across weather, sports, anchor, and stand‑up areas.
 
ZTransform sized each of the 5 ReveLux LED systems to handle the aggregate pixel load and configured every panel and output so producers can treat each surface as a distinct storytelling zone or part of a larger, multi‑wall composition. The Ross Video Xpression Tessera weaves the rich graphical imagery to the multi-display rasteur seamlessly.
Image: Courtesy of Ross Video
During commissioning, ZTransform worked with ReveLux and the station’s engineering and production teams to align color, gamma, and brightness across all five displays, taking advantage of the LED’s matte finish and Midnight Black nanocoating to minimize reflections and hotspots under studio lighting.

The Result

Immersive Visuals for Viewers

The completed Local 4 News studio now features seven on‑screen video walls overall, with ZTransform’s processing infrastructure delivering the control and consistency required for day‑to‑day news production. WDIV gained a fully LED‑based environment that stays within tight budget constraints while avoiding the compromises of mixed display technologies, giving producers a broader palette of backgrounds, data displays, and live visuals to support breaking news and feature storytelling.
 
By concentrating the LED signal chain under a single technical partner, WDIV gained one point of accountability for display and processor selection, configuration, and system behavior, simplifying both installation and long‑term support. ZTransform also ensured that the LED infrastructure integrated smoothly with the control room and graphics platforms, so producers could treat the walls as everyday tools rather than specialty elements.
 
For viewers, the new studio translates into cleaner, more immersive visuals that reinforce Local 4’s brand and helps anchors and meteorologists explain complex stories with clarity. For WDIV’s engineers and producers, the combination of ReveLux LED and Ross Video processing and installation expertise has created a robust, future‑ready platform that can adapt to new graphics packages, formats, and show concepts for years to come.

Key Technologies

  • ReveLux StoryGlass Ultra CrystalFlex 1.5mm pixel pitch
  • Ross Video Xpression Tessera
  • Wright Set, Set Design
  • Redwood Light, Lighting Design
  • Xibitz, Set Fabricator
 
 

LCD-Driven Studio

Future‑Ready Platform

Seamless Processing & Routing

Key Services

Engineering & Design

An end to end engineering package included schematic design through to construction documentation.

Systems Integration

Our Systems Integration professionals deploy a vast array of technology solutions with a heavy focus on ease of maintenance and support for the life of the systems.

Operational Readiness

We provides both systems configuration programming and proof of performance testing on all installed systems prior to shadow and launch.

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