Have you ever spent time looking at the packaging labels on the plasma/LCD boxes? I have about 5 boxes of Plasma  screens near my desk and when I looked at the boxes I noticed that there are quite a number of labels on the box. Some we actually need to pay particular attention to – especially if we were to transport the boxes.

So today, I decided to investigate what do some of these labels mean; some are self explanatory and you don’t need to be a genius to figure out what they mean but then there are some that seem unusual.

Let’s have a look at the images (note:I have provided my interpretation of what they mean – if it’s incorrect then let me know):

	The first image means to always have two people to lift the box since its approximately 40kg – this is normally a OHS requirement so whatever you do and now matter how strong you are don’t lift the screens by yourself. The middle image shows you to remove the plastic clips at the bottom of the box which is used to hold the top and bottom sections of the box. The last image, gives you a breakdown of all the components you need to remove in order to get to the screen.
	The top left corner image means not to stack anything on top of the box. The top right hand corner image means to keep the box upright i.e this way up. The bottom left image is a picture of a glass which obviously means that the item inside is fragile and there’s glass inside the box so take care when transporting the box. There’s also an additional message on the side of the box stating “As a glass product, treat it with extreme care.”. The bottom right image gives you an indication that the weight of the box is 40kg and it’s heavy.
	The first image means not to transport the box  laying flat and to make sure it’s in the upright position (middle image). Also make sure you don’t drop the box because there’s glass in there. Once again, there’s the message “As a glass product, treat it with extreme care.” and the Caution message: “Transport only in upright position”.
	The first two images are the same as above. The last two images indicate how to best clamp the box.

I wonder how many courier or freight companies transporting these goods actually understand these label mean and adhere to the instructions. I have seen some couriers take down the screens and had them in a vertical position… ouch. Fortunately the screen still worked but it’s best to follow the guidelines provided on the boxes.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News

I stumbled across a funny Youtube video titled “How to wall mount a Plasma/LCD WITHOUT a bracket!Exclusive… it really works!!!” Since it’s the weekend, have a look at this video.

Lesson learnt, use a bracket and a professional to mount a LCD or Plasma screen. Once the screen is dropped…. it will never be the same.

Category: Digital Signage Weekend Fun

This seems to be a common dilemma amongst a number of LCD/Plasma decisions in a lot of tender projects and client requirements. Do clients really know what they are asking for, and how important is screen resolution for digital signage rollouts?

Let’s clear a few things up first.

Native resolution is the fixed number of pixels on the screen. For example, if your screen has a native resolution of 1280×720 pixels, this means your screen is physically made up of 1280 pixels wide and 720 pixels high.

Maximum resolution is the highest resolution that the screen is capbable to display.

When an incoming signal to the screen does not match the native resolution, that signal must be converted (or scaled) to be displayed correctly on the screen. So lets use the same screen above, it has a native resolution of 1280×720. If an incoming signal is 1920×1080, the screen will scale this resolution down so that it can fit on the physical dimensions of 1280×720. Likewise if an incoming signal is 1024×768, then the screen will up-scale this resolution to fit 1280×720.

This process is possible because the screen has been programmed to recognise different input signals and to convert them as such. More often than not you will have a list of all the supported input signal resolution sizes, and the highest supported resolution is your Maximum resolution.

Now that we have that out of the way, lets talk about how important is screen resolution in digital signage?

In all my digital signage years until now, I have not had to focus on optimising the quality of the display in regards to picture sharpness and contrast ratio. The general technology of the Plasma/LCD screen makes up for this. What comes out of the digital signage player is just right for the display quality. The general conversation would be on how to most effectively capture consumers attention with the type of content and how it is designed.

However recently in Australia, digital broadcasting of TV networks have become more prominent and consumers are now well aware of terms like HDTV. This presence of high definition television has entered many homes and now the retail store fronts want to show this off also. Because consumers are already aware of such technology, there is an expectation on store owners to provide this service to them.

The question comes back to client requirements. Do most clients have the proper knowledge to determine what screens they want based on what they know or what they have been told? Is it important to match the right resolution of what is coming from the digital receiver into the digital signage player, and out to the screen?

We’d like to hear your point of view on this topic. There is no right or wrong answer, as each requirements are different, but we would like to hear your thoughts.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Techie, Featured Post