I was walking past a sushi takeaway restaurant yesterday and noticed that they were using digital signage for their menu board so I stopped and had a look at how it was implemented. They had three 32″ LCD screens with rotating menu items and the design of the menu was quite impressive but not the solution. Let me explain.

At the front of the restaurant there are 3 32″ LCD screens. Each one of them displayed menu items except for the first one. This one actually had the message “No Video Input” and for most of us we know what this means. My guess is that the device connecting to the screen was either damaged or wasn’t turned on. Now most likely if the other two were on the the first unit would most likely be damaged.

So what happens here, two of the three screens were only displaying the menu so what happens to the menu items listed in the first screen. I quickly looked around to see whether there were any other signs of a menu list… and I couldn’t find any.

So now the restaurant only has two thirds of a menu and in my point of view the business may potentially lose customers if this continued.

In this particular case, what would you have done differently if you were the consultant or installer of this particular restaurant? We definitely know that if the menu system is a critical part of the overall running of the businesses we would had a backup plan or strategy to overcome this issue. For example, we would have installed a system that would allow the restaurant owner to quickly switch the templates (via a USB numpad keyboard) so that all the menu items would be rotated on the 1 screen – basically in this case it would be shown to 2 of the three screens. Otherwise, if the LCD screens had a SD card reader, using static images to display the menu items. This  would have been better than displaying the “No Video input”.

In this particular case, what would you have done differently if you were the consultant or installer of this particular restaurant?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News

As you can see from our Twitter feed, this week we have been heavily involved with forum discussion on the digital signage portal forum. We believe in generating “good” karma through helping others in the digital signage community.

The current hot topics are:

• Player & Screen resolution compatib…
  I’ve got a player that outputs (via dsub) resolution at most widescreen ratios ie. 1280×720, 1360×768, etc.

  My issue is with most, if not all, LCD TVs nowadays their tech sheets don’t support most widescreen ratios, with a lot of them displaying only 1360×768.

  What will happen if the designers create their templates for 1280×720?
  Will the TV crop it, show scroll bars, flicker?…

• Has anyone used Digital Signage SaaS?
  I was wondering whether anyone has used or is currently using Digital Signage SaaS? Could you please let share your experiences of what you’ve encountered when using this type of a solution…
  
  
• Directional Speakers
  Has anyone integrated directional speakers with their digital signage technology. We are interested to know how these systems work and whether they are worthwhile and cost effective equipment to include in a digital signage solution.

  What are the most common industries using directional speakers?

• Using Blue Ray technology
  Has anyone come across digital signage players with Blue Ray technology?

  Are storage size and HD quality the only advantages of using Blue Ray technology?
  
  

• Wayfinding KIOSKs
  Wayfinding KIOSKs are becoming more popular in shopping centers. Today, I was walking around a major shopping centre and noticed how wayfinding was integrated with digital signage… or is it the other way around?

If you have the time, or is able to help some of the other members with their questions then head over to the digital signage portal forum and start posting (registration is required)!! We hope more members of the digital signage community is able to participate in various discussions and contribute towards helping others.

Have you registered on the digital signage portal? It’s FREE. Click here to register.

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News, Digital Signage Techie

We like this article from kennisdelen.com, title “Big Businesses Go Environmentally Savvy With digital signage“. The article looks at the environmental reasons why businesses should move towards digital signage.

Digital signage has proven that it increases sales by:

- Using compelling marketing to attract new customers and persuading repeat customers to spend more
- Encouraging customers to consider items that are not selling as well, thus influencing their purchasing decisions
- Presenting new products easily and professionally
- Enticing customers with appealing branding

Source: http://www.kennisdelen.com/

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Do you really think digital signage can help the environment?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News, Featured Post

During this global financial crisis any money that goes into your pocket will help your business with paying off the bills and for the everyday living expenses. If you’re a business owner how can the stimulus package really help your business?
Let’s think about this, the government is helping the economy by giving money away to people who need it. These people will then use this money to pay for a product or a service – thus helping the economy. Therefore, this may mean there is an opportunity to engage customers to spend the money in your business or store and this is where digital signage comes into play.
By using digital signage, you can quickly and easily send message to consumers walking past. In this case, you can broadcast a quick Stimulus Sale message to get more customers to walk into your store and increase your sales.
The truth of the matter is that businesses are competing against each other to win customers and those using the latest technologies such as digital signage have the upper hand.

NOTE: We have received more digital signage enquiries this year compared to the previous years, which gives us a good indication businesses are still looking at ways to market their business during the financial crisis.

How can the stimulus package help your businesses?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News

For those of you that were not aware, the digital signage portal distributes newsletters to it’s digital signage members on a monthly basis. We are constantly on the lookout to feature businesses around the world in the newsletter. So, if you want your business to be featured in one of the sections in the newsletter, all you have to do is register and introduce your business on the digital signage portal forum section titled Introducing your business: http://www.digitalsignageportal.com/Digital-Signage-Forum/Introducing-your-Business/

The next newsletter distribution will take place on the 25th March 2009 so don’t miss out on this opportunity.

Want to automatically receive the newsletters? Join the digital signage portal.

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Newsletter, Digital Signage Polls

If you have a twitter account, you can easily add this to your digital signage portal profile.

To do so simply follow these instructions:

1. Login to your digital signage portal account
2. In the User Menu click My Details
3. Move your mouse over the EDIT button just above your profile page
4. Click Update your profile
5. Click the myTwitter tab
6. Enter your twitter account name and twitter account number. The account number is the same number as your RSS feed on your twitter page

or watch this short video.

Have you registered on the digital signage portal? It’s FREE. Click here to register.

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Techie

I wonder how many businesses will be showcasing digital signage products.

Meet more than 6,400 Technology Experts and Network with over 28,700 Business Visitors all under one roof: at CeBIT Australia 2009

* See the tools & technologies to help you SURVIVE in tough times and THRIVE in the good!
* Meet the technology experts FACE-TO-FACE.
* Learn how to CUT COSTS and boost EFFICIENCY!
* FUTURE PROOF your business while making commercial gains today!

See you at CeBIT Australia 2009
Sydney, Darling Habour

To register click here: https://www.mycebit.com.au/rego09/index.php

Category: Digital Signage Blog Events

We couldn’t resist and just yesterday we joined the Twitter network – yes, we thought we might as well follow the footsteps of other businesses and join the web 2.0 social networking phenomenon.

Whilst using this twitter application, I was brainstorming on how this application can be integrated with digital signage. Here are my thoughts; use Twitter as a quick communication tool to all your employees and clients. Basically use it as an RSS feed and display the company’s main activities through the digital signage network.

You can follow us on twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/advertisemeAU

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How else can twitter be integrated with digital signage?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Blog News, Digital Signage Polls

If you were fortunate enough to attend the digital signage Expo 2009 what are your thoughts on the event and did anyone capture any videos during the event? If so, please share this with the rest of the digital signage community by adding or uploading the video on the digital signage portal.

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What are your thoughts on the digital signage expo 2009?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Events, Digital Signage Blog News, Digital Signage Polls

Since quite a number of companies are focusing on being “green” and environmentally friendly, I was wondering whether there was a way to reduce the amount of power an LCD screen uses based on the colour of the content being displayed.

So here’s an interesting question for those techies out there who may be able to shed some light into this question. Moving forward, if black does use less power, the content providers should focus on using this black rather than the others bright colours and screen manufacturers should develop a technology to disable pixels use based on colour.

Does black pixels on an LCD screen use less power than white?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Techie