Although they do come with a price, they are so much easier to install and configure.

Here’s some information of the screens: (source: http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/consumer/computer-peripherals/monitors/consumer/LS23A300BS/XK/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=specification&subsubtype=series-3-led):

Display

• Screen Size: 23″(16:9)
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• 250cd/? Brightness
• Contrast Ratio: Mega DCR (Static 3000:1)
• 5ms Response time
• Viewing Angle(Horizontal/Vertical): 170?/160?
• 16.7 Million Color Supported

Features

• Support Eco Saving, Multi Screen S/W, MagicAngle, MagicBright3, MagicColor, Off Timer, Magic Tune, Customized Key, Image Size, DVI with HDCP
• Compatible with Mac
• Cabinet Color: Black

Stand

• Use Simple stand

Monitor equipped with Samsung’s unique color engine and White LED-backlight (WLED), has higher color accuracy requirements, color temperature and brightness. The new monitors’ highest response time is 5ms and also features MEGA DCR technology, which enhances dynamic contrast 5,000,000:1 in textural images. Diversified “Magic” functions allow you to extend its viewing angle so the screen always appears as if viewed face-on.

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Post tags: 5kg, Accuracy Requirements, Color Accuracy, Color Temperature, Computer Peripherals, Consumer Computer, Dimension Product, Dvi, Dynamic Contrast Ratio, Image Size, Input Video Signal, lcd screens, Magic Tune, Power Adaptor, power consumption, Series 3, Shipment Weight, Signal Input, Sync Signal, Wled

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Post tags: 3d Glasses, 3d Screen, 3d Screens, blog, digital signage, Guess, Public Environment

On a serious note, we did notice that temperature had an impact on CPU performance on a FANLESS embedded player so although there are some advantages of using a fanless system you may want to check whether CPU performance is more important for your requirements.

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Post tags: Cpu Performance, digital signage player, embedded, External Fan, Just For Laughs, Laughs

There are some digital signage solutions that are just able to automatically rotate and crop the content so that it fits on the screen no matter if it’s landscape or portrait but in the case where your digital signage system doesn’t have this feature, what do you do? To solve this issue you need to have two sets of designs or templates – one in landscape and then one in portrait.Then, when scheduling the content the administrator needs to work out which screens will use the landscape content and which ones will use the portrait content. If you have more than 20 screens with a mix of landscape and portrait screen this can be a very tedious task. I guess if you have setup your screens to be within a group e.g Landscape screens, Portrait screens then this task may be easier but at the end of the day does your network require both screen orientations? If not, I would say stick with one type of screen orientation to minimise administration and design efforts.

As digital signage solution providers we provide consultancy services and help them understand the benefits and pitfalls of maintaining a digital signage solution.

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Post tags: Colleagues, Confusion, Consultancy Services, Content Creator, Design Efforts, digital signage network, Digital Signage Solutions, Landscape Designs, Layouts, Network Group, Pitfalls, Screen Orientation, Screen Orientations, screens, Signage Solution, Signage System, Solution Providers, System Doesn, Tedious Task, Templates

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Post tags: digital signage player, Dual Core, Hd

There are many benefits in using this technology and some of these are:

• Reduce installation costs for both power and video cabling – no more cables dangling from the screen
• Ability to install screen in any given location and have the freedom to change the location

I dont know how the quality of  the video is going to be like since there are a number of factors that affect the quality such as interference and distance. But from the video it appears that you need a wireless USB dongle to be attached to the laptop.

Have a look at the Fujitsu screen which was showcased during the CeBIT 2011 and it might available in 5 to 10 years (you may need the infrastructure to run the wireless power):

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Post tags: 10 Years, cebit, Freedom, Fujitsu, Hassle, Infrastructure, Interference, Laptop, Power Point, screens, Usb Dongle, Video Cables, Wireless Monitors, Wireless Technology, Wireless Usb

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Post tags: Fun Videos, Hd, Nbsp, Poll Id, Videos, Wireless Technology

You’ve seen these at retails stores, venues, restuarants, lobbies and propably you’re looking at one right now. They are everywhere and the popularity of these screens are growing at a tremendous pace. Yes, we’re talking about the Panasonic Plasma screens. Panasonic this year launched the 20 Series screens and they also included the release of 42″ and 47″ LCD screens.

In this post (one of many) we will showcase some of features of the Panasonic Plasma screens. Most of this information can be found on the Panasonic website or their brochure.

MODELS

Firstly, lets look at the two of the latest models of the Panasonic Screens:

PH20W – these are high definition screens with the SLOT 2.0

PF20W – the main difference between the PF and PH is that the PF is a FULL HD (1080p^) plasma displays and uses NeoPDP* technology.

*NeoPDP technology is a newly developed cell structure, an innovative drive technology, a new discharge gas and a revamped panel that has four times luminous efficiency compared to their 2007 models.

^1080p means that the screen will deliver a moving picutre of 1080 lines for sharp and clear display of fast-motion images.

SIZE

The size of the Panasonic Screens range from 42″ to 103″. You can purchase one of the following size: 42″, 50″, 58″, 65″, 85″ and 103″.

ENVIROMENTALLY FRIENDLY PANEL

The Panasonic products are more friendly to the environment. All plasma display panels are mercury and lead free. The display panel also offers a long life of up to 100,000 hours under normal operating condition. This basically equates to 11.42 years if the screen was left on 24/7.

NATIVE CONTRAST

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Post tags: 1080p Plasma, Black Expression, Brochure, Cell Structure, Drive Technology, Hd, High Contrast, lcd screens, Lobbies, Luminous Efficiency, Maximum Advantage, Mercury, Models, Motion Images, Pace, panasonic, Panasonic Plasma Screens, Panasonic Products, Panasonic Website, Plasma Display Panels, Plasma Displays, Popularity, Pre Discharge, Rich Textures, Showcase, Showcase Features, Slot 2

Here’s some pictures of the unit.

Here’s the specs of the unit:

Digital Display Compatibility
Aspect ratio 16:9, 16:10, 4:3 (horizontal & vertical)
Video output 50/60 Hz: 720p (1280×720), XGA (1024×768), WSVGA
(1024×640), WVGA (768×480), 576p (720×576), 480p
(720×480), SVGA (800×600), VGA (640×480), EDID
24/25 Hz: 1080p (1920×1080; only for semistatic content)
Video connectors HDMI (incl. digital audio), DVI via adapter. VGA (DB15 HD
connector). Simultaneous use of HDMI and VGA possible
Media Format
Description language SVG Tiny 1.2+ (Scalable Vector Graphics)
Media synchronization SMIL 2.1 (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language)
Still image formats JPEG, PNG, GIF, SVG
Supported video codecs Up to SD resolution: MPEG-4 ASP, MPEG-2, MPEG-1,
H.264, MJPEG, Microsoft VC-1 (Windows Media Video 9)
Supported audio codecs MPEG audio layer 1/2/3 (MP3), ITU G.711, G.722,
G.729,PCM, Microsoft WMA, Real Audio
Media container formats AVI, WMV/WMA, VOB, AIFF, OGG, WAV, MOV (Quicktime)
Streaming media protocol MMS, RTSP, RTP, SDP, HTTP; Uni- & multicast
Import filters provided for Flash 9, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, BMP, TIFF,
XPM, WBMP, PNM bitmaps
Scripting language PHP5, JavaScript, ECMAScript
Content scheduling iCalendar (RFC2445)
Graphic Effects Engine
Graphic effects language SVG Tiny 1.2+
Vector graphics primitives Rectangles, polygons, paths with lines, elliptical arcs and
Bezier curves, text areas, linear and radial gradients
International text support Unicode standard compliant with bidirectional text support
Font file formats TrueType and OpenType
Animation capabilities Color, gradients, transparency level, audio volume, motion
along a path, translation, scaling, rotation, clipping
Animation modes Discrete, linear, paced and spline interpolation
Specialized Applications
Kiosk applications Touch screen, keyboard/joysticks/gamepads/mouse, HID
I/O devices via USB 2.0 or user defined serial port, with
touch screen calibration
Event management Real-time event communication for triggering content
changes on-demand
Time synchronized Millisecond accuracy, for unconstrained
video wall configurations
Streaming Video and audio streaming compatibility, including
live TV streamers
Network
Connectivity Ethernet 10/100 Mbit/s (RJ-45), IEEE 802.3u, 802.3x
3G connectivity through USB modem stick;
Protocols DHCP or fixed address; IPv4; IPv6;
Remote configuration HTTP(S) configuration server, password protected
Content administration WebDAV server, password protected
Other protocols SNMPv1/v2c, NTP, Zeroconf
Content updates Pull mode, push mode, server based

Storage
Internal storage 2GB solid state
External storage Flash drives and hard disks via USB 2.0 port

Physical Specification
Size 105(W) x 26(H) x 83(D) mm
4.13’(W) x 1.02’(H) x 3.27’(D)
Weight 190g / 6.7 oz
Power supply 5V DC, typ. 0.4A (2W)
Power supply input 100-240V 50-60 Hz, max input current 0.6A
Operating temperature 0-40ºC / 32-104ºF; 10-90% RH
Storage temperature -25ºC to 45ºC / -13ºF to 113ºF; 10% to 90% RH
Real time clock Min. accuracy 1 minute/month free running, battery
backed
Serial RS232, up to 115200 bauds, mini-jack 3.5mm
Analog audio output Line level, stereo, mini-jack 3.5mm

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Post tags: 1920x1080, Adapter Vga, Animation Capabilities, Audio Volume, Bezier Curves, Color Gradients, Db15, digital signage player, Elliptical Arcs, Format Description, G 711, Graphic Effects, Graphics Media, Graphics Primitives, Hyper Media, Import Filters, Lifetime Warranty, Media Player, Microsoft Powerpoint Presentations, Microsoft Wma, Mov Quicktime, Multimedia Integration Language, Radial Gradients, Resolution Mpeg, Support Unicode, Vector Graphics, Vga 640x480, Video Connectors, Warranty, Xga 1024x768

“The latest updates and new components included with this version support the growing demand in digital signage for faster, better quality content with a focus on touch-screen interactive experiences. The newest multi-touch features, including the ability to slide, swipe and flick at all components on a screen, allow companies to do cooler things with digital signage, and do them more affordably and in significantly less time.”

“The demand for digital signage is growing so exponentially, that companies are struggling to keep up and continually improve on the content itself. Flypaper is working tirelessly to stay ahead of the curve and give digital signage network owners and operators more options for creating killer content,” said Don Pierson, founder and president of Flypaper. “Multi-touch is the latest functionality that everyone is looking to incorporate, and this latest version of Flypaper helps showcase it beautifully.”

Flypaper’s Version 3.3 has several new features and updates aimed at making the customer experience with digital signage more interactive. New components that are especially powerful for kiosk displays include a virtual keyboard, a timer that kicks in during periods of inactivity, and a print button. Gesture support has been added to all components so users can slide, swipe and flick the display, making it a more engaging experience. Developers can also now add in Media RSS feeds and scrollers, run video within text, and input real-time weather data. In total, Flypaper added nearly 40 new features, updates and enhancements to version 3.3.

“Just when we think we’ve reached the limit for a touch screen display, Flypaper brings in new elements that raise the bar even higher,” said Scott Mathews, CEO of MG Digital Media Network.

“They have done a great job of staying one step ahead of what the industry needs.”

Flypaper is revolutionizing the digital signage world by enabling the development of high-quality, affordable Flash content that is very fast to create and easy to edit. The Flypaper Flash Content Creation Platform is a licensed environment where companies can create and share vast amounts of digital signage content and motion graphics. Users benefit from hundreds of already available templates and components, or can create their own quickly and easily, with no prior development experience.

We managed to get a comprehensive list of the new features and enhancements in v3.3 and these are:

New and Enhanced Features
1.    Components
a.    Multi-Touch
i.  The ability to Pan, Zoom and Rotate Components using a multi-touch enabled monitor has been added to all visible Components (requires Flash 10.1).
ii. In addition, the ability to Swipe has been added to the Cube Gallery, Image Scroller and Revolver Components (requires Flash 10.1).
b.    New
i.  Clock: Displays the time in an analog, digital or text format clock. Choose time zone and day light savings time.
ii. Close Presentation Button: Closes the running Flypaper presentation.
iii. MRSS Feed: Provides a list of MRSS messages and images associated with each message. You can choose a predefined MRSS feed, or define a custom one of your own. Messages are displayed in the RSS Viewer Component and images are displayed in the Image Viewer Component.
iv. MRSS Scroller: Displays the contents of an MRSS feed in a scrolling text box, including message and image. You can choose a predefined MRSS feed, or define a custom one of your own. Optionally, the MRSS image can be displayed in the Image Viewer Component.
v.  Print Button: Prints the visible contents of the screen (or just the visible Components you specify) at the time it is pressed.
vi. Video Feed: Streams video feeds from various news sources. In addition, you can specify your own FLV, MOV or MP4 feed.
vii. Video Text Mask: Displays the contents of a video file within the text characters of the Component.
viii. Virtual Keyboard: An on-screen keyboard which can be used to populate the contents of Components which accept key entry. The Virtual Keyboard can be accessed via touch, and can also be hidden when not in use.
c.     Updated
i.  CSV Component:
1. More Components can now display CSV data, including Big Text Mask, Zoom, Pan, and Pan & Zoom Components.
2. The Button Component can now select a specific row in the CSV Component’s data file, displaying the contents in associated Components.
ii. RSS Feed and RSS Scroller Components: New data formats available, including international date options.
iii. Timer Component: New “Kiosk Mode” activates timer after period of mouse inactivity.
iv. Image Viewer, Audio and Flash Components:
1. Ability to define remote resources via a URL.
2. Remote resources can be cached or refreshed on each access.
v. Image Scatter Component: Display speeds increased.
vi. Weather Component:
1. Can now display weather information fed from the CSV Component.
2. Ability to add custom SWF icons.
2.    Editing
a. Page Time and Timeline Duration are now synchronized. In addition, the option to update the page time when adding media files such as videos or audio files.
b. Maximum Project size of 4080×4080 (requires Flash 10).
c. AVI Video output option.
d. International Arial Font option including Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese.

General Improvements

1. Improved playback performance for Single SWF file output
2. File Recovery Improvements
3. Web Video Search enhancements
4. FlyPlayer performance upgrades

We are currently using an older version but we’re keen to test 3.3.

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Post tags: Customer Experience, digital signage network, Digital Signage Software, Don Pierson, Enhancements, Flick, Gesture, Inactivity, Interactive Experiences, Killer Content, Kiosk Displays, Mg Digital, New Features, Print Button, Quality Content, Scott Mathews, Swipe, Time Weather Data, touch screen, Virtual Keyboard

There are three components at back of the stand:

1. one is to access the back of the screen which includes the system boards and speakers

2. a small panel to access the network port, CF card and USB port

3. bottom of the panel to access the run the network cable

By removing several screws, and two pins on the power switch you can then remove the LCD screen from the enclosure.

Putting the screen back into the stand was quite straight forward and didn’t take that long. In one of the future posts we’ll show you how easy it is to manage the stand. If you need a digital signage stand or even a quote for your project let us know.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2010. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: advertise, Aluminium, Aluminum, Bott, Cf Card, Desktop Image, digital signage, Digital Speakers, Image Caption, Inner Shell, lcd screen, Network Cable, Outer Shell, Pins, Power Switch, Quote, Reflection, Screen Caption, Screws, Signage Boards, speakers, Tampered Glass, Usb Port

We haven’t had enough time to play with it yet but so far we are quite impressed with the quality and features of the unit. Some of the features are:

• has a massive 240GB internal hard drive
• has a Exmor R technology on a 1/2.88-inch CMOS sensor (I’m not sure exactly what this means but I’m guessing its good to have)
• has a built-in GPS mapping system
• a special Active Mode image stabilization enhancement feature
• at the top of the unit also has a Sony accessory shoe which can be used to connect a microphone to it
• + too many other features that it will take too long to list.

Here’s a picture we took of the Sony HD camcorder by using our Nikon D60 Digital SLR Camera:

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Post tags: Accessory Shoe, Camcorder Sony, Cmos Sensor, digital signage, Digital Slr Camera, Enhancement, Exmor, hard drive, Hd Camcorder, High Definition, Image Stabilization, Mapping System, Microphone, Mode Image, Nikon Camera, Nikon D60, Nikon Digital, Nikon Slr, sony, Sony Camcorder, Sony Hd Camcorder, Sony Hdr, What This Means

So today, we thought we’d look at some of the features of the Samsung LED HDTV and in particular the UN55B8000 (55″ 1080p LED HDTV). Firstly, you’ll probably have already noticed by the description that the screen is 55 inches – yes it’s big but also it’s ultra slim (1.2″ deep). The other great features about this unit is that it is environmentally friendly – it uses 40% less power consumption than the traditional LCD screens.

The other additional features is that it is Internet@TV capable, meaning it allows you to receive content via Yahoo!®, Flickr®, and other online TV Widgets on screen (would this be good enough for digital signage???). USB 2.0 Movie: Multi-Media Center makes it easy to watch movies, browse photos and listen to music on your TV. But wait, there’s more! Just say you feel like playing a game of chess or cooking instead of watching TV. Samsung Series 8 LED TV’s Content Library Flash feature lets you do just that. Enjoy hours of built-in entertainment features, then personalize it by adding content that’s available online. And downloading is easy. There’s so much you can do with te Series 8 LED TVs.

In terms of price… it’s not so bad, it’s actually only US$3,999.99 (who uses 1 cents these days?). Anyways, if you’re intending to capture your audience using the best picture quality – bright and clear images then look no further… LED is the way to go.

We would love to review this product when it hits Australia, so if someone from Samsung wants us to review the product send us an email to review@advertiseme.com.au

With the features of the Samsung LED UN55B8000 HDTV, what are your thoughts about using this as a digital signage player?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

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Post tags: 1080p, Audience, Best Picture, Billboards, Commercial Purposes, Content Library, digital signage, Entertainment Features, Flash Feature, Game Of Chess, Hdtvs, Internet Tv, Latest Technology, lcd screens, led screen, Led Technology, Multi Media Center, plasma screens, Playing A Game, power consumption, Samsung, Samsung Hdtv, Screen Technology, Tv Samsung, Usb 2, Watching Tv, Widgets

And here’s a video of someone actually using the vending machine… I like it how he had to press the right arrow several times before it scrolled to the right and it also has the Pay Pass payment option (I haven’t really seen this been used in Australia):

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Post tags: australia, Coca Cola, digital signage, Payment Option, Poll Id, Right Arrow, Several Times, Vending Machine, Vending Machines

We previously talked about how the iPhone can be used as a digital signage player (there’s already a few companies out there who have created an application on the iPhone) but now how would you like to be served by a humanoid robot with an iPhone attached to it’s head? Watch the funky video and we’ll discuss later:

In the examples in the video, the humanoid robot with the iPhone attached as it’s head, can be used to:

• wake you up – morning!!! maybe even give you a hug or a slap
• entertain – it’s a dance machine…shake it’s robo booty
• teach it new tricks and moves – next thing you know it will start imitating your moves
• and if you’re nice to it… it might even make you a coffee (just kidding – ummmm may be it is possible)

BUT more importantly it can interact with YOU – think about it from a sales and marketing perspective and you’ll start realising that this robot can be used to attract more customers into your store and even possibly serve it’s customers (stick your own photo image as it’s head ). The screen itself can be used even to promote sales, products and specials whilst it’s dancing around entertaining it’s customers (yes it’s  digital signage after all). And yes…. I’ve said it before… the possibilities seem to be endless with the future of mobile phones as digital signage players.

So that’s our weekend fun for this week and we all hope you’re having a great weekend.

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Post tags: Amp, Booty, Dance Machine, digital signage player, Embed Src, Fun Video Clip, Hl En, Http Www Youtube, Humanoid Robot, iphone, Lt, mobile phones, Param Name, Photo Image, Possibilities, Sales And Marketing, Slap, True Width, Type Application, X Shockwave Flash

All we need now is a digital signage Iphone application… and my guess is that someone is already developing one.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 10 comments |
Post tags: apple, Audience, Caption, Digital Id, digital signage network, digital signage player, Guess, Integrated Digital, iphone, Mobile Digital, Poll Id, Sheer Number, touch screen, Video Clips, Watch Movies

Have a look at the technology yourself and let me know what you think.

If you had one of these screens, where would you install it?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

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Post tags: digital signage, interesting screen technology, Lot, nanolumens, Screen Technology, screens, Technology For The Future

This new product is being called “Project Natal” and is basically a sensor for the Xbox 360 which tracks movement, listens and executes commands from the console… don’t know what I’m refeering to? then watch this trailer from Youtube:

If you’re from the digital signage industry you’re thinking to yourself “The future of Digital Signage interaction?”. If you’re like me, when something catches your attention you start brainstorming on how this can be applied to the digital signage industry.  If I was working for Microsoft I would recommend and provide directions to the management team to push this product out to businesses to use as a digital signage console…. and not just a gaming console. Let’s think about this, most digital signage players out there in the market are using desktop PC’s, embedded PCs or some form of a PC – fundamentally that’s what the Xbox 360 is – and soon it will have a sensor. In my eyes,  I can potentially see this used as a digital signage player and not just a gaming console.

In the past, many top digital signage gurus predicted that the next “big thing” in digital signage was going to be interaction and guess what…. they were right.

Lets imagine this scenario:

• You walk into a clothing store and you’re having trouble picking a dress for the night out with the girls.
• Now like in the example in the trailer, you walk up to the dsx (digital signage xbox) and you contact your best friend to get advice on which dress you should wear.
• In the application, you have the virtual product catalog of all the dresses available in the store.
• The application takes a picture of you (measuring your body size, height etc) and you start trying out the different dresses (virtually).
• Along the way you and your friend discuss whether the dress is suitable or not.
• When you found some of the dresses both of you like  you add it to you’re favourite list.
• You then press the “TRY” button or say “Let me try these” and the shop assistant brings in the dresses for you to try.
• All the transactions and  information end up being recorded online so that the next time you visit a store that has the dsx you can retrieve this previous information.

This is one of the many applications I can see working for the digital signage industry and I can’t wait till we trial one of these units.

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Post tags: Best Friend, Clothing Store, Desktop Pc, Different Dress, digital signage player, Directions, Dresses, Dsx, Gurus, interaction, Management Team, microsoft, Microsoft Xbox, Motion Sensor, Night Girls, Signage Industry, Virtual Product Catalog, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Youtube

As you can clearly see, the unit is small… it’s smaller than half of an A4 paper. With this particular unit, there are several connectors at the front:

1. RS232 – this is usually to provide serial communications with another device. It can be used to control and manage an display screen – that’s if the screen supports RS232.
2. Secure compartment to store the SD card – it’s also a quick way to easily swap out the SD card without having to open up the box

At the back of the unit you will notice the following connectors:

1.Video output:  the unit has these typical connections – S-Video Output/Composite Video and Audio, DVI, and VGA.

2. Video Input: Composite Video and Audio. With this particular unit you will be able to connect a video input source such as a DVD player, Foxtel, CCTV camera etc.

3. S/PDIF – for great audio quality

4. LAN port which support 10/100 Mbps

5. Two USB ports for connecting USB Storage

6. Power plug to connect the power supply. This power plug was different from other digital signage players we’ve seen in the past. It basically has a connector which allows you to twist and screw the power cable to the power plug.

Inside the player, all you will find is a circuit board, a frame for a small hard disk and several cables. As you can see from the video, you will not find a fan inside the player – this makes the unit very quiet when it’s turned on.

Would you like to see more videos? Let us know what you’ll like to see and we’ll try to get it done.

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

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Post tags: A4 Paper, Audio Quality, Cables, digital signage player, Dvd Player, Dvi, hard disk, Input Source, Lan Port, Ndsp, Pdif, Postings, Power Cable, Power Supply, rs232, S Video Output, Sd Card, Serial Communications, Usb Ports, video input

There are many software tools available on the market that is able to convert your traditional ppt files to flash but one that we would recommend is Flashpoint from Flashdemo (http://www.flashdemo.net/ppt2flash.html). The software costs US$89.00. There are a couple of demos on the website to show you what the software is capable of doing and they also have a free trial version.

So, rather than redesigning your powerpoint presentations for digital signage compatibility, have a look at Flashpoint – it may save you several hours worth of work.

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Post tags: compatibility, digital signage player, Easy Solution, Flashpoint, Free Trial Version, Powerpoint Flash, Powerpoint Presentations, Ppt Files, Software Tools

Well, you may be thinking “What is Sharepoint?”. Sharepoint is actually a Microsoft Content Management System which allows business to collaborate and share information quickly and easily. Think of it as a website portal which can be used to store files, events, contacts, tasks, forms and most importantly information. Here’s a video tour of Sharepoint:

Now some companies may want to use digital signage as a communication tool and target information to staff and if this information is already centralised in the one location, SHAREPOINT, then how would you integrate your digital signage solution with this?

From our experience and based on products we have used in the past, if your digital signage player/software is able to display RSS compatible feeds then you have a system that is able to be integrated with Sharepoint – in particular the latest version 2007. With Sharepoint 2007, there is a neat feature which allows content, events, contacts, tasks and information to be displayed as an RSS feed. This is particularly useful as you don’t want to manually update the content on your digital signage player. Once you have the RSS feed, you can easily modify and display this information on the digital signage screens.

For the more advanced digital signage players and software, if your system is able to connect to the Microsoft SQL server that stores all the data, then your solution will be able to connect to the database and grab the relevant data to be displayed on the screen. As an example, if one of your clients used Sharepoint to schedule company outings and important company events then we would be able to deploy a digital signage solution which dynamically uses the RSS feed from the Sharepoint server and display this on the digital signage screen located in the main foyer. This will help remind employees of upcoming company events.

Hopefully this post has provided you with better ways on how to integrate existing systems with digital signage.

Have you seen any innovative digital signage integrations?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments |
Post tags: Communication Tool, Company Outings, Content Management System, Digital Communication, digital signage player, Important Company, Insurance Company, Integrating Digital, microsoft, Microsoft Content Management System, Microsoft Server, Microsoft Sql Server, Neat Feature, Player Software, Relevant Data, screens, Sharepoint 2007, Sharepoint Server, Signage Solution, Target, Website Portal

1. CLEARLY STATE THE ROI - Your investors and the client will want to know what their ROI is. Based on the fact that you’re new to digital signage you may not have these figures available. There are several websites on the internet which may provide you with these numbers but my recommendation would be to engage the client to run a trial (for a fee or for free). During this trial you can use various measurement tools or devices to obtain your data. For example, the client may want to know how many people looked at the screen and purchased the product displayed. In this case you can use an audience measurement tool which tracks the number of faces that looked at the screen. One great thing about these tools is that it can help you also track demographic information. You can then correlate this information with the digital signage player logs and the retail management system logs.

In the past, we have been asked whether installing digital signage increases the number of customers walking into the store. The only way to determine this is to compare and track how many people walked into the store before installing digital signage and after. Some stores may already have some measurements tools to track this eg. people counter (uses infrared light to determine how many people entered the store) if they don’t then it may be worthwhile to install one.

2. NEED MONEY TO START YOUR BUSINESS – If your investors decide not to proceed with supporting you financially and your client is still keen to go ahead with your digital signage solution then you may want to consider leasing the equipment through a finance company. Have a read of this article about leasing vs purchasing outright vs rental:

http://www.digitalsignageblog.com/2008/07/20/digital-signage-purchasing-outright-vs-leased-vs- rental/

3. SWOT – All business plans should include the SWOT analysis i.e. clearly analyse your business Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and clearly understand where your business may stand in the current market condition. Keep in mind who your current competitors are and how difficult it might be to enter the market. Also keep in mind that a number of existing businesses who are in the video/audio industry are merging into the digital signage industry. These companies will already have existing clients so it will be difficult to win these clients if you don’t have the relevant experience or portfolio.

4. SCALABLE SOLUTION - if you don’t manufacture your own equipment then you will need to clearly state in your business plan what services or equipment you will be providing. You will need to look for a digital signage solution that is scalable, affordable (also one that will make you a profit) and one that reduces administration costs. A centrally managed solution is the perfect choice for your clients needs.

Browse through our Digital Signage Portal Products pages to get more information about what are some of the products available in the market.

5. GET HELP IF YOU NEED IT – Partner with high profile digital signage manufacturers who can guide you and assist you with winning the projects. Do this even before you execute your business plan. Getting your foot in the door is always hard and working with an existing and experienced business will provide you with that extra support.

6. ROI FIGURES – In the ROI include potential advertising revenues figures from manufacturers. In your business plan, you will obviously do your maths and provide figures and number of how much your business will be earning, even if it’s making a loss in the first couple of year. Sometimes you may have to clearly draw the line and decide when it’s best to pull out from the business but generally, the first 5 years is always the toughest and most businesses fail in this period.

7. UNIQUE – are you providing anything unique in the current digital signage industry? If you are, then your business plan should clearly revolve around what additional benefits your product/solution/service will bring to the industry. Otherwise, the competition will be quite rough with existing established businesses.

Hopefully these points helped you in putting together your business plan.

Do you have anything further to add to this list?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments |
Post tags: business plan, equipment, manufacture, portfolio, services, solution, swot

Some of the additional features of this screen are:

* 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
* 1,360 x 768 WXGA native resolution
* 700 cd/m2 brightness
* 3,000:1 contrast ratio
* 3-year parts and labor warranty
Source: www.slashgear.com. For more additional specs visit the website.

Read more interesting news

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2009. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: multisync, nec, video wall, x451UN

Reviewed By: Advertise Me

Price Range (RRP): AU$700 – $900 (depending on the exact hardware requirements)

What’s black, compact, fast, affordable and can be used for almost any industry environment?
It’s the Synrax Onyx Mini.

We had the privilege to be one of the first companies to review this product. Below is our findings but before we start with our product review here’s the product specifications.

Product Specs

The unit offers the following features:

• Intel Mobile Processor 2.0Ghz Single Core or Dual Core (you can almost run any software application with this processor speed)
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (can be upgraded to 2G if you need to run memory intensive applications)
• High Definition Output via HDMI – (great feature to have if you need high quality video output, especially if you’re deciding to use this for digital signage or multimedia applications. It also has the standard video connectors such as VGA and S-Video)
• HD Audio via Optical SPDIF – (great for capturing your audience using sound)
• 6 USB ports (2 at the front and 4 at the back. Just think of how many USB devices you can connect to the unit)
• Storage Options (the unit supports SSD compact flash cards, IDE and SATA HHD. This is pretty standard these days but it’s definately good to have the flexibility to choose your own storage device)
• Ethernet Port (the unit supports 1Gbps speeds. Once again with this speed, the unit is ideal for streaming high quality video over the network)
• 212mm x 126mm x 62mm Enclosure (It’s small…in terms of size, the Onyx Mini is almost the same size of a DL envelope. Here’s a picture to prove it)

Performance

For the digital signage industry, the Onyx Mini meets the video and processor performance requirements to run almost any high definition video or digital signage application. We tested this by playing a sample 1080p high definition file (the video was downloaded from the Microsoft Site – WMV HD Content Showcase) through Windows Media player and we didn’t notice any lags or freezes. The CPU utilisation didn’t even hit the 100% mark. Here’s a video to prove it:

We also used a trial version of PerformanceTest by passmark.com and ran several performance tests, and here are the results. The unit received a passmark rating of 343.8. Visit passmark.com for further details about this rating.

Our verdict

Bad

• We couldn’t find anything bad about the unit except that the fan noise was quite loud. In any case, this is something minor but we did find out from the vendor that the noise was actually related to the size of the air holes on the side of the unit.
• Another minor issue was that the unit had no labels at the front to indicate which button was the power and reset. It took us a while to figure this out.

Please note that the vendor will address both of the above issues in the next batch of units.

Good

• The Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset video graphics card supports dual screens – this is quite handy to have especially if you intend to run a solution which requires you to drive either the same or different content to two screens. It also allows you to position both screens in different layouts. I love this feature!



• It can be used in almost any industry, whether its the digital signage, medical, home (great for media centers or desktop pc), retail business, KIOSK, and the list goes on.
• You can install and manage your OWN operating system – not limited to a particular manufacturer or system application
• Has very good ventilation – we left the unit on for several days and the casing never got “too hot to handle”
• We like this unit and we have decided to include it in our product range so that our customers can benefit

If you want us to review your product, contact advertise me via email: review@advertiseme.com.au

About Synrax Australia

Synrax Australia Pty Ltd was established in year 2002 initially as a local distributor of embedded computing components, providing the services in Australia and New Zealand. Since it’s inception, Synrax’s dedication to provide quality reliable products was rewarded with great responses from our clients. This helped our company to grow rapidly and establish ourselves into the market despite its young history.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2009. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: onyx, onyx mini, product review, review, synrax

For more product information visit the digital signage portal.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2008. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: digital signage, illusionscreen

Some people might not be aware of this but most commercial grade screens already have this video wall function built in.

For example, the Mitsubishi screens have an RGB input and output port. See the below image:

In order to set up a 3×3 video wall with the Mitsubishi screens, all you would need to do is “daisy chain” all the screen in the following video arrangement:

1. Connect the video RGB output port of Screen 1 to the RGB input of Screen 2

2. Connect the video RGB output port of Screen 2 to the RGB input of Screen 3

3. Connect the video RGB output port of Screen 3 to the RGB input of Screen 4

and so forth.

Alternatively,  there are several other ways of achieving the same result. There are devices out in the market which perform the same function. Below is a short list:

1. Stretcher – this device stretches your monitor among four DVI or VGA screens without the use of software

For information about this product, visit our online shop at the digital signage portal.

2. Xpander – Expand Your Desktop up to 32 VGA Screens with Video Overlay Support

For information about this product, visit our online shop at the digital signage portal.

To discuss this topic further, visit the digital signage portal forum.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2008. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: digital signage, video wall

Now, if we look at some of the features of the iPhones there are many obvious reasons why companies will be looking at integrating the iPhones with digital signage:

• 3G Speeds & Internet access – faster access to the Internet means faster upload and download speeds. So if you’re a digital signage network operator it would mean that staff will be able to manage the digital signage network from almost anywhere. If you’re a content provider, you will be able to take a video or picture and upload the file in real-time.

• Camera and photos with GPS- the iPhone 3G has a cool feature called geotagging. By using GPS and geotagging, almost any iPhone user will be able to become a mobile content provider for the travel industry. Just image you’re on holidays in Sydney and you take a photo of the Opera house and upload this image to Flickr. A content provider does a search for Opera house and because your photo has been tagged with sydney someone may end up using your photo -maybe even for a commission.
• Itunes and wireless networking – I guess digital signage operators may be able to leverage both of these technologies and enable the public to interact with the digital signage network, how you may ask… well I can’t reveal all my ideas in case we use this for our own digital signage technology.
• App Store – my guess is that many application developers will build a small applet to enable interaction between the digital signage network and the iPhone

I can’t wait until I get a hold of the iPhone and see how useful this device will be in the digital signage industry.

I hope that after you read this post, your mind is ticking with new ideas… just like mine!

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2008. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: 3g, camera, digital signage, GPS, integration, iphone

[amazonify]0240809769[/amazonify] [amazonify]0240810414[/amazonify]

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2008. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: digital signage books

In order to expand our audio and video extention product range, we have decided to partner with SmartAvi. SmartAvi are now also blog contributors of this digital signage blog and we look forward to building a strong partnership with them.

About SmartAvi

SmartAVI manufactures and markets DVI extenders, video extenders, video switches, digital signage, kvm extenders, and ir extenders. SmartAVI DVI extenders extend DVI over CAT5 and fiber optic cables. SmartAVI’s video extender solutions are unique because of their long experience in the computer industry. It is this technology expertise that allows SmartAVI to give their customers flexible and unique video swicthes at very competitive prices.

SmartAVI specializes in audio and visual extension, switching and routing. SmartAVI’s products enable DVI extenders, VM extenders, Video extenders and video switches for audio and visual configurations.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2008. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: digital signage extenders

However the true advantage of the SMP-WEB Digital Signage Player is the ease-to-use control panel, absolutely anyone can manage the content on these players and best of all it’s real-time! All these features make this player one of the most flexible multimedia presentation.

Some of the drawbacks we’ve identified are minor but things such ask not being able to schedule the playlist based on date/time or the absence of a power button can be annoying. Other than that we think it’s a great product.

For more information on the SMP-WEB Digital Signage Player visit our Digital Signage Portal or contact Advertise Me who can discuss an appropriate Digital Signage Solution.

© AdvertiseMe.com.au for Digital Signage Blog, 2008. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: digital signage, digital signage player, SMP, SMP-WEB, SMP-WEB Digital Signage Player