Dynamo LED Displays built a 25 m custom LED ticker for the new London head office of Alpha FX, a foreign exchange specialist. The ticker runs along the ceiling line above the trading floor’s window wall and shows live share and currency prices and animations, fed by software Dynamo wrote to integrate with the client’s CRM and live price feeds.
Updated October 2026. Case study first published September 2018.
Project facts
| Client | Alpha FX, the London foreign exchange specialist now trading as Alpha Group |
|---|---|
| Site | Main trading floor of the company’s new London head office, 2018 |
| Display | Custom-built indoor LED ticker, 25 m long, mounted along the ceiling line above the window wall |
| Content | Live share and foreign exchange prices with movement arrows, plus messages and animations |
| Software | Custom ticker application written to integrate with the client’s existing CRM and live price feeds, run remotely from any operating system |
| Scope | Design, software, supply, installation and commissioning by Dynamo LED Displays |
The brief: live prices on the floor, from the company’s own data
Alpha FX was fitting out a new head office and wanted a trading floor ticker that did more than scroll a third-party stock feed. The prices had to come from the company’s own systems and feeds, so the rates on the wall matched the rates the dealers were quoting, and the same strip had to carry announcements and animations when the markets were quiet. That meant a custom LED display with its own software rather than an off-the-shelf ticker.
What Dynamo built
A 25 m ticker along the window wall
The ticker runs for 25 m along the top of the glazing, just below the ceiling, so it is in the eyeline of every desk on the floor without blocking the view out. Each currency pair is shown with its rate and a coloured movement arrow, so a dealer can read the state of the market from across the room. Our LED tickers page covers the heights and lengths Dynamo builds.
Software integrated with the CRM and live feeds
Dynamo wrote the ticker application to pull prices from the client’s CRM and market feeds and to run remotely on any operating system, so the content is managed from a desk rather than a box behind the screen. The application supports fixed messages that flash in and out, scrolling messages from either side, fixed left or right zones alongside the scroll, multiple tickers from one control point, images in PNG, JPG and SVG, and custom text colour, effects, background colour and layout.
Why a custom build rather than a stock ticker
An off-the-shelf financial ticker shows what its data provider sends. A dealing floor that quotes its own rates needs the wall to show those rates, which is why the software was written around the client’s data rather than the other way round. The same approach is used on our other trading floor tickers, including the 80 m replacement ticker for PIMCO on Baker Street, where remote diagnostics were the priority.
Current Dynamo options for a trading floor LED ticker
Dynamo builds LED tickers from 80 mm to 960 mm tall, with 94 mm and 250 mm the standard heights, and the LEDs are rated for 100,000 hours. For a 250 mm trading floor ticker the current default is the DIT Pro P1.9, with the DX Series as the alternative. The figures below are per 1 m × 250 mm cabinet; DIT Pro figures are from the supplier specification and DX figures from the DX Series datasheet.
| Model | Pixel pitch | Height | Pixels per 1 m × 250 mm cabinet | Brightness | Suited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIT Pro P1.9 | 1.95mm | 250 mm | 512 × 128 px | 600 nits | Dealing desks two to three metres from the run, two lines of price data |
| DX2.5 | 2.5mm | 250 mm | 400 × 100 px | 800 nits or more | Bright window-wall positions and larger floors |
| DX3.9 | 3.9mm | 250 mm | 256 × 64 px | 800 nits or more | Long perimeter runs read from across the room |
See the pixel pitch guide for choosing a pitch from the desk distance, and the LED display CMS page for how price feeds and messages are scheduled today.
Related Dynamo LED ticker projects
- 35 m trading floor LED ticker at PIMCO, 25 Baker Street
- Formula 1 timing LED ticker
- 77 m LED ticker at Bob Bob Cité restaurant, London
- Event LED tickers for Hermès Brides de Galaxy
Custom LED tickers: frequently asked questions
Can an LED ticker show our own live prices rather than a public feed?
Yes. The Alpha FX ticker takes its rates from the company’s own CRM and price feeds through software Dynamo wrote for the job, so the wall shows the prices the dealers quote. Any data the client can expose as a feed, from an API, a database or a spreadsheet export, can be mapped to the ticker, with colours and arrows set per field.
How long can a trading floor LED ticker be?
As long as the room. The Alpha FX run is 25 m and Dynamo’s PIMCO tickers were 80 m and 35 m. Tickers are built from cabinets in 250 mm steps, so any length works, and the controller treats the whole run as one surface so text scrolls continuously across joins and corners. Power and data are fed at intervals along the run.
What does custom LED ticker software add?
Control over what the strip shows and how. The Alpha FX application supports fixed and scrolling messages, fixed zones beside the scroll, several tickers from one control point, image files, custom colours, text effects and layouts, and it runs remotely from any operating system. A stock ticker product shows its provider’s feed in its provider’s layout.
What pixel pitch does a trading floor LED ticker need?
Match it to the nearest desk. For dealers two to three metres from the run, 1.9mm to 2.5mm gives sharp text and legible arrows from a seated position. A ticker mounted high above a window wall and read from across the floor can use 3.9mm. Finer pitch adds pixels and cost without a visible gain at distance.
Can the ticker be installed on a floor that is already in use?
Yes. Trading floor tickers are usually installed out of hours: brackets and cabinets go up along the ceiling line in an evening or two, power and data are run back to a comms room, and the system is commissioned before the floor opens. On a new fit-out like Alpha FX the housing and cabling are coordinated with the contractor so the ticker sits flush.
Get a quote for a custom LED ticker
Tell us the length and route of the run, the height you want, how far the nearest desks are and where the data will come from, and we will come back with a pixel pitch, a software approach and a written quote. Get a quote or call 020 3489 9878.
