Monday, July 06, 2009

Universiade 2009 Information Systems

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The second biggest sport venue on the planet – Universiade – is taking place this year from July 1st to 12th, in Belgrade, Serbia. The name of this event is a combination of “University” and “Olympiad”. Since we are talking about academic citizens, the creme de la creme of every society, I am not surprised at all to see the latest technology all around the University Village, where the future world’s opinion leaders are placed.

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Information systems are placed in conference rooms…

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mensas….

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accomodation premises and sport arenas…

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as well as, offices dedicated to decision making and publishing sport results.

Fine view for a digital signage eye.  Well done, Belgrade!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

HD Digital Signage called TripleSign

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Digital signage content over IP set top box – the solution that TriplePlay provides. See below some pictures of their installations.

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

La Biennale di Venezia – Art & Technology

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Art Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia started this year on June 6th, and will last until November 22nd. Its slogan this year is Making Worlds and, according to the already shown installations, the worlds in making definitely have a lot to do with our industry. See below some of the installations:

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

The French Star

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In the month of big transfers, when Kaka and Ronaldo are moving to Madrid, we got a star of our own. Let me introduce you Emmanuel Canizares, Sales Manager France & Benelux.

“Minicom Digital Signage offers me the opportunity to fulfill expectations of pre-sales and distribution channel management challenges. I want to be a part of this fast growing sector”, says Emmanuel.

Welcome!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Digital Signage @ Wimbledon 2009

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(source: wimbledon.org)

Two weeks of the best planet tennis can be seen from Monday in Wimbledon. Pretty disappointing is that the new Court No. 2 has no big screens installed.

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The weather is still cooperating, so there are no scenes like the one below.

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Monday, June 22, 2009

Digital Signage - Where do I start?

One of the prevalent attendee questions floating around last week's InfoComm 2009 Show in Orlando was - digital signage - where do I start? It is still a very confusing application to many integrators as well as end users. Unfortunately, many times the answer to the questions you ask as you contemplate designing or installing a digital signage network is, "it depends."

It depends:
on the environment you a placing the network/signs into;
on the number of locations;
on the type of business you are in;
on the type of content you create;
on whether you are creating an ad based (revenue generating) network or an informational (return on objectives) network;
on the number of screens showing the same content;
and many other factors.

One of the thoughts I've had is to create a place where folks can go to learn about the different puzzle pieces in a non-biased way and then learn about all of the questions they need to either ask or answer in order to properly design or install a successful digital signage network. As a review - the basic elements that make up a network are:

Content creation - the obvious root or building block for the network/install - some questions to ponder -
What is the message? What do you or your customer hope to accomplish? How do you know when you've been successful? Who is going to create the messages? How often will you need to change them? How long do they need to be?

Content Management - another key element in your total picture. Content management software companies all have different niches they fill or different ways in which they approach putting your content in the right place and the right time. They also have different ways of coming to market. Some questions to ponder - do you want to own the software? Will a software as a service (SAAS) model work for you? Is the software you are looking at scalable if you add different content streams or players? Can your staff operate the software? Does the software allow you to create your own screen designs? Does the software require a server? Does the software allow for local input and management? Are there levels of authorization built into the software? Do you need to have a player at each screen with the software package you have chosen? Does the software support the type of files you want to display on my screens?

Distribution Technology - In a multiple location network, you need to consider how you want to deploy your content to your various locations. This is also a factor you need to consider in the content management software you select. How does the software get the content to where you need the content to be? Do you use a sneaker net? VPN? Satellite? Cable network? Do you have choices?

Players/Content Servers - a piece of the puzzle in many ways determined by the software you choose. Many content management software packages come either embedded on a player/server or come with specific specifications on what type of player is necessary to maximize the performance of the software. Player types are also determined by the content you are using. Do they support the type of graphics you want to display? Do they support the resolution of the screens you think you want?

Distribution Technology - in location - Once you have gotten the content on to your players - servers in the locations where you want the content to play - how do you get it to your screens. There are several choices you can make to get content to your screens and they all affect the total cost of ownership of your digital signage network. We have several white papers on both the type of technology that exists and the Cost Ramifications of Player placements in a Digital Signage Network. You can download these white papers from this link. Some questions to ponder: How many different screens do you want to show the same content on? How far apart are they? Are your screens accessible during the day? Is there existing infrastructure cabling you can use for your players? Can you run CAT5 cables?

Display Technology - this is obviously the most visible aspect of the digital signage puzzle. The display technology, whether LCD, LED, Plasma or projector, is what your audience looks at. What you may or may not know is the critical questions to ask and rules to follow to help insure a successful outcome from your digital signage network. Size and distance from viewer and player play a part in your selection. The absolute requirement to use commercial grade rather than consumer grade screens in Digital Signage deployments for a host of reasons including control ability, warranty, positioning and durability. Native resolution or resolutions supported is a determining factor for both software and screens. Some questions to ponder: How far away is the audience from the screen? How big is the area you need to cover with one screen? Will a video wall work better for you? How much information will there be on the screen? Will a projector work better for you in your environment? Do you need a touch screen?

Mount Technology - Sometimes one of the most overlooked aspects of the digital signage puzzle, but one of the most important factors in determining the success of your network. Can I use a mount where I need use one that will not only support the screen you are hanging, but also meet all of the building codes required in your location? Do you need a wall mount? Ceiling mount? Floor mount? Where is the power coming from? Does the mount include cable management and a place to mount your player or CAT5 Remote Receiver?

Deployment - a critical element in the cost of a digital signage network, depending on the location and numbers of installations needed in the network. Infrastructure cabling, power requirements, displays and mounts used all affect the cost of deploying a digital signage network.

So as you can see, there are many factors that help determine the success of your digital signage business or the installation of your digital signage network.

Many of the vendors who service the digital signage market play a key role in your education on the subject. There are forums you can participate in, blogs you can follow, associations you can join and newsletters you can subscribe to that are all focused on the Digital Signage Industry.

Many of the software vendors allow for free trials of their software, including Scala and Rise Vision.

The Digital Signage Group and JB&A are specialty Value Added Distributors that focus solely on the digital signage market.

Minicom Digital Signage and others host webinars on how to get started in a digital signage business.

The first step is get started - by learning as much as you can.

Post-It Revolution

This is a project of some Savannah College of Art and Design student. It reminded me a lot on last week’s hit from RiseVision’s blog:

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Piece of art.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Sony+DVD = Digital Signage??

Some of the Infocomm information booths were sponsored by Sony. As always, I have the bad habit of peeking behind the screen and see what runs it. I was very surprised and amused to find a simple DVD connected to the beautiful Sony public display....
Is this Japanese state-of-the art technology to be showcased at the leading ProAV show??? We'll be more than happy to help out next year...

Infocomm - Info YES come NO

The first day of Infocomm is behind us. Lots of expectations were built up towards the show - to be said the central event of the ProAV industry. After the first shock of landing through one of the most fierce thunderstorms I ever flew through (was this a bad omen??) and being hit by 35 degrees with 99.9% humidity, I went to the convention centre with lots of hope and expectations, which were soon disappointed. Not only are hundreds of m2 showfloor empty (some not sold, even more exhibitors who bought space not attending), but the aisles which in previous years were full and crowded were half empty. Prominent companies like Samsung, NEC and Sony cut down their presence dramatically. We were told, though, that the quality of visitors is high and very focused. But if one wants to visualize recession... that's how it looks and feels.

On the positive side I am impressed that our Digital Signage industry is now a real industry, filling a significant part of the hall. Most of them small booths, but very diversified and broad offering. Infocomm did a good job in embracing our young industry and actually position it as one of the growth areas. DS is all over, like we wrote already about ISE, any ProAV vendor which can somehow relate his offerings to DS proudly declares that they do DS.

No groundbreaking innovations on the showfloor.

So bottom line is that as always it is an excellent platform to learn, collect information, feel the pulse, but this year definitely not that many spent the dollars to come.