I always get disappointed and frustrated when I see a residential screen installed in a retail store or restaurant. But more importantly I always wonder whether the store owner had any idea of what they were getting themselves into when they decided to purchase a residential screen (yes… it’s obviously cheaper!!!) but can you really use it in a commercial environment?

What most people don’t know is that if a residential screen is installed in a commercial environment the warranty may become void. So check the warranty before installing residential screens. Another big difference between Commercial and Residential Screens is that most commercial grade screens do not have internal TV tuner cards – you’ll generally need to purchase this as an additional module or item. What I find most interesting is that most restaurants with screens just display live TV rather than promote their products or menu items. This could be a reason why these types of businesses would want to use retail screens or maybe they don’t realise what they can use this real estate for.

As I mentioned before retail screens are cheaper. Most businesses use price to make their final purchasing decision so when submitting your next proposal keep in mind that your competitor’s prices could be cheaper than yours. Commercial screens are designed to be left on for long periods of time and will last longer.

I also believe there is a myth that using retails screens means you can install the screen yourself and that for commercial screens you need a skilled and professional installer. Both are equally the same and if can install a retail screen then you will most likely be able to install a commercial screen but we highly recommend you have a skilled professional install the screens.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News

digital signage is one of the most cost effective ways to market your restaurant or store. We were recently engaged to provide and install a cost effective solution for Thai Riffic (obviously a Thai restaurant) based in Randwick Australia.

Although the requirements were very simple (to display images with transition effects) we delivered a solution that was simple and easy to use but most importantly one that had value added benefits.

Uploading content to the player is easy. The store owner needs to open up a locked compartment on the side of the screen and plugs a USB dongle into the port. The player automatically synchronises the content from the USB port to a CF card. Once the synchronisation completes, the store owner just removes the USB dongle and closes the compartment. Yes it’s that easy!!!

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Category: Digital Signage Blog News

I was walking past several shops the other day and noticed that most of them had a plasma screen at the front of their shop  – facing out on the street. Now if you asked me what was displaying on these screens I would not be able to answer this because it was a sunny day and there was too much glare on the screen.

So in this situation, should the store owner have paid the extra money and went with sunlight readable screens? Did the installer mention this to the store manager? Was there a site survey conducted and did someone analyse the environmental constraints?

I guess these are some of the questions you need to ask yourself or the installer before proceeding with purchasing a screen.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info