Dynamo LED Displays replaced a faulty LED ticker on PIMCO’s trading floor at 11 Baker Street, London, in 2017: an 80 m U-shaped run at 3mm pixel pitch around the floor, showing live stock and share prices and RSS news feeds. The old display was removed and the new one installed over two evenings, with remote diagnostics built in.
Updated October 2026. Case study first published October 2017.
Project facts
| Client | PIMCO, the global investment manager (Wikipedia) |
|---|---|
| Site | Trading floor at 11 Baker Street, London, 2017 |
| Display | Indoor LED ticker, 80 m long in a U shape around the trading floor, 3mm pixel pitch |
| Job | Removal and disposal of the existing faulty ticker from another supplier, then installation of the new system |
| Programme | Two evenings on site after trading hours |
| Content | Customised stock and share prices plus RSS news feeds from several sources |
| Monitoring | Remote diagnostics for temperature, supply voltage and receiving-card status, with SMS and email alerts to Dynamo engineers |
The brief: replace a ticker nobody else would fix
PIMCO already had an LED ticker running around its Baker Street trading floor, but it had developed faults and the original supplier was unable or unwilling to put them right. A trading floor cannot have a dark or stuttering ticker for long, so the brief was simple: take the old run down, put a reliable one up in the same place, and do it without disrupting the floor. Dynamo was asked in after an initial consultation and planned the swap around the trading day.
What Dynamo installed
An 80 m U-shaped run at 3mm pitch
The new ticker follows the same route as the old one: 80 m in a U around the perimeter of the floor, set just below the ceiling so every desk has a line of sight to at least one leg. At 3mm pixel pitch the text is sharp from a seated position a few metres away, and the continuous run means headlines and prices scroll around the corners without a break. Our LED tickers page covers the lengths and heights Dynamo builds.
Removed and replaced over two evenings
Dynamo engineers stripped out and disposed of the old display on the first evening and installed the new run on the second, so the traders arrived to a working ticker on both mornings. Working after hours is standard for LED installation on a live trading floor: the desks, cabling and ceiling access are all shared with people who need the room during the day.
Remote diagnostics and alerts
The control system reports the temperature, supply voltage and receiving-card status of the ticker remotely and sends an SMS and email to Dynamo’s engineers if anything drifts out of range. That matters on a display that failed under its previous supplier: a fault is seen before the traders notice it, and the engineer arrives knowing which section to open. Content is managed through the LED display CMS, pulling live prices and RSS feeds.
The second PIMCO ticker, at 25 Baker Street
When PIMCO moved to a new building in 2026, Dynamo was asked back to design a ticker into the ceiling of the new trading floor rather than relocate this one. That project, a 35 m run at 1.95mm pitch, has its own case study: PIMCO 25 Baker Street trading floor LED ticker. Together the two jobs show the difference between replacing a ticker on an existing floor and planning one into a fit-out from the first coordination meeting.
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 | Desks two to three metres from the run, two-line price and news content |
| DX2.5 | 2.5mm | 250 mm | 400 × 100 px | 800 nits or more | Larger floors where the nearest desk is further back |
| DX3.9 | 3.9mm | 250 mm | 256 × 64 px | 800 nits or more | Long perimeter runs read from across the room, like this 2017 install at 3mm |
See the pixel pitch guide for choosing a pitch from the desk distance and custom LED displays for corner pieces, curves and housings built to the room.
Related Dynamo LED ticker projects
- Custom LED ticker for an FX trading floor
- Formula 1 timing LED ticker
- 77 m LED ticker at Bob Bob Cité restaurant, London
- 24 m curved LED ticker
Replacement LED tickers: frequently asked questions
Can a faulty LED ticker be replaced without changing the building?
Usually, yes. A replacement ticker follows the route and fixings of the old one wherever they are sound, so the ceiling, power and data positions stay as they are. At PIMCO the 80 m U-shaped run was removed and the new ticker installed on the same perimeter over two evenings. Where the old housing is reused, Dynamo checks its depth and ventilation first.
How long does it take to replace a trading floor LED ticker?
Two evenings for an 80 m run at PIMCO: one to strip out and dispose of the old display, one to install and commission the new one, both after trading hours so the floor was never without a ticker during the day. Shorter runs can be done in a single night. The time goes on access and cabling rather than on the LED panels themselves.
What pixel pitch does a trading floor LED ticker need?
Match it to the nearest desk. For desks two to three metres from the run, 1.9mm to 2.5mm gives sharp two-line text and legible logos from a seated position; PIMCO’s 2026 ticker at 25 Baker Street uses 1.95mm. The 2017 ticker described here used 3mm, which still reads cleanly across a floor where the run sits higher and further from the desks.
What does remote monitoring on an LED ticker do?
The controller reports the ticker’s temperature, supply voltage and the status of each receiving card over the network, and sends an SMS and email to Dynamo’s engineers if a value goes out of range or a section stops responding. Faults are seen before the traders notice them, and the engineer arrives knowing which part of the run to open, which keeps downtime short.
Can an LED ticker show news feeds as well as prices?
Yes. The PIMCO ticker scrolled customised stock and share prices alongside RSS news headlines from several sources, mixed into one feed by the content system. Any data the client can supply as a feed can be shown: market data, internal announcements, sports results in a bar, or a brand message at an event. Colours and fonts are set per feed.
Get a quote for a replacement LED ticker
Tell us the length and route of the run, the height you want, how far the nearest desks are and what data it needs to show, and we will come back with a pixel pitch, an install plan and a written quote. Get a quote or call 020 3489 9878.
