Creative Nation

Street artist uses digital signage as a backdrop for his art!

2009-11-27T17:53:00.002-05:00

Street artist Posterchild turns digital signage into a backdrop to his art. He calls his latest project "New York Sunsets". It's pretty simple actually. Posterchild covers the front of digital screens with black and white drawings of the New York skyline. The video content displayed on the screens gets completely diffused by the white areas of his drawings, only showing as colorful, moving and flowing sunset behind his art.

It's quite an original idea but I don't think the people who are actually running this New York Subway screen network will appreciate... nor will the folks who's content is being turned into a bona fide Lava Lamp.

Posterchild even used his latest installation as a marriage proposal.

Good news for him... It worked!

So perhaps in a few years Mr. and Mrs. Posterchild will live in a house full of little baby PostIt Notes... but until then I'm sure we haven't seen the last New York Sunset installation.

So what's the lesson here?

It's true a lot of folks in our space are totally focused on technology...

Is my network secure?

Can a hacker get in and publish obscene material or somehow manipulate the display?

Well now we can add to this list "Can someone mechanically or physically alter the display and affect the visibility of what's shown on screen".

No one will deny Posterchild is very creative when he uses digital signage as a backdrop for his artwork. But the end result is someone else is paying for this backdrop and that's kind of problematic, to say the least.

It's unfortunate that no matter how smart digital signage operators can be, someone will eventually figure a way to mess with their installations.

You try to locate your displays at the most visible location. You wrap your equipment in vandal-proof enclosures and then someone comes along and tapes a picture over your screen, essentially blocking from view the content. Content that is paid for.

At least in this case the physical impact is benign. The material can be removed easily but what happens when someone starts to permanently deface screens? When taped canvas becomes spray paint or worse.

Anyone in this business needs to take a good look at the environment where they are mounting their screens. Sight lines are important but so is preserving the integrity of the display.

Otherwise it's all just pretty colors...

Swiss software publisher Navori to open North American Office

2009-11-13T15:54:00.002-05:00

Today, Navori SA announced the opening of a new office to be located in Montreal, Canada. This office will be called Navori Canada Inc. and will service customers across Canada and the United States. Shawn Rozansky will oversee the operations of this office with the main objective of growing the North American market by providing the ultimate customer service experience through a local presence.

“The opening of our North American office demonstrates Navori’s commitment to this very important market.” said Jerome Moeri, Chairman of Navori SA. “Over the past 5 years, Navori has seen its revenues increase an average of 60% per year, which is double the market rate and we remain very optimistic about the future.”

A proven digital signage solution

The Navori digitals signage software platform is used for all types of screen based communications: Advertising networks, retail applications, corporate communications, public space signage, wayfinding, fast food menu boards and much more. Since 1997, Navori has focused all its resources on the development and marketing of professional digital signage software applications. Navori is a Swiss Company, with its Head Office in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Skycandy does content

2009-10-16T11:07:00.002-04:00

Winnipeg, Alberta based Skycandy is a new (at least, new to me) digital content company that specializes in custom content for digital signage network. From what I could glean from their web site, it looks like this is an offshoot from an existing AV production house. No idea how long they have been in the business but its always nice to discover a new Canadian company operating in this space. Especially as we hear from well established local guys exiting the business (see David Hayne's note on Artisan Live).

It is sad to see these DS veterans disappear even more so now that the economy is showing signs of recovery. Lots of experienced folks out there will be looking for new opportunities so it's good to see new players coming in to fill the void.

The sky's the limit... or is it?

2009-07-22T12:38:00.003-04:00

Sky Factory is a US-based company offering "fake skylights" to brighten up interiors using various techniques. One of their products, called SkyV, seems to use digital signage technologies.

According to the company's press kit...

"The Sky Factory is a unique business that develops realistic illusions of sky for interior spaces. In the past several years these illusions, called SkyCeilings™, have been installed in thousands of ceilings worldwide: healthcare, commercial, hospitality, and now, increasingly in private homes."

The effect (at least in the simulated content on their web site) is quite interesting and there are probably many sites that can benefit from this type of digital wallpaper. The company claims their SkyV product can display "terrabytes of HD content". The specifications call for 3 - 47" LCD screens that weigh 71 to 74 pounds each, all mounted into a "faux skylight" frame.

The screens are driven by what is described as a "Hard drive based dedicated multi-channel HD player" but no other mention of software or hardware specifics.

This could become an interesting project for commercial digital signage network operators. Run a generic, "environmental" content loop intermixed with occasional messaging or advertising. If done tastefully, this could prove to be quite effective and bring displays into environments that would not normally lend themselves to digital signage.

Here is their video presentation...

Syndicated content (News, Sports, etc...) for your digital signage screen network

2009-07-14T09:45:00.002-04:00

Having a fresh and interesting content mix is key to any digital signage network's success. It gives the audience a reason to look at your screens.

Here are a few services that I found on the web (some are free but most are commercial services):

AccuWeather - A big player in this space, AccuWeather has a complete Digital Signage offering that includes a wide range of feeds (not just weather related).
All Headline News - Offers: news articles, weather forecasts, financial market data and more with many feeds composed for digital signage use.
Associated Press Digital News - Customized content from the Associated Press.
EasyByte Newsfeeds - Customized RSS Service.
News Feed Maker - Free feeds feature ads, huge catalog of feeds to choose from.
News Knowledge - RSS Feeds mainly for web site use. Lots of topics to choose from.
Screenfeed - Content tailored to Digital Signage Operators.
SPG Media Feeds - Features technology and industry news feeds.
The Canadian News Press - Customized news feeds available for digital signage use.
The Weather Network Commercial Services - Offers custom data feeds for various uses.
Thomson Reuters Digital Syndication - Neews feeds from Thomson Reuters.

This list is by no means exhaustive but it provides an example of what's available out there. You would expect most content syndication services are aware of digital signage by now and many offer content packaged for this specific use.

One word of advice when using free or advertising-based news feeds. Read the fine print. Some services are aimed at web site owners and therefore may have significant usage restrictions that make them unsuitable for digital signage use.

Some news feed aggregators will include a clause in their terms of usage that forbids embedding their feed in a scrolling text banner of any kind, making their feed pretty well useless for digital signage.

It's a good idea to familiarize yourself and respect all usage terms and conditions for this type of material. When in doubt, contact the feed aggregator directly and explain the intended usage for the material before publishing it on your signs.

Royalty Free Digital Signage Content Service

2009-07-13T09:02:00.003-04:00

I recently found the web site from a company called BuyDSContent.com. The company is located in Denmark and offers royalty free HD video content specifically designed for digital signage use. There is quite a large selection of topics and themes you can choose from and they even have a few portrait mode (vertical) clips available.

Their web site lets you preview the content simply by placing your cursor over any thumbnail image. It's a nice way to zero-in on the right clip for your next project. Content is available in MPEG4 and many clips can also be ordered in Adobe After Effects format so you can edit and modify the content to fit your project.

In order to drum up business, they currently advertise free customization with every clip purchased. Simply e-mail them your logo, text, product shot and they will send you the results in the file format of your choice.

This is a great service for any company that lacks the ability to produce their own custom content.

Royatly free video for your next digital signage project

2009-07-08T08:52:00.002-04:00

Digital signage network operators looking for high quality video content should check out Motionsream. This A/V production company offers a catalog of high definition royalty free videos that target specific sectors.

Categories are:

Amore (Valentines Day)
Genome (Medical)
Holiday-Maker (Christmas, etc...)
Luxe (Jewelery)
Superstars (rotating 3D stars)

Each category has multiples volumes of high quality content that can be purchased online. Content is delivered on DVD but Motionstream has teamed up with Thought Equity Motion to offer selected clips that can be purchased and downloaded directly from their web site.

This video content is generic enough for a wide range of uses and the material can easily be repurposed for your retail signage project.

Motionstream also offers custom and semi-custom content if your project requires it.

High quality content helps attract and retain viewer attention. Signage network operators who don't have the in-house expertise to produce this type of material should consider adding some royalty free content to their playlists and liven up their signs.

More Atom PCs for your digital signage enjoyment!

2009-07-06T15:24:00.002-04:00

PC Mag.com recently reviewed the Polywell Poly ITX-9400B, Ion based small form factor PC and had lots of good things to say about it. The unit tested featured a Blue Ray drive pushing the suggested retail price in the $700 US range. PC Mag found the unit performed quite well as a home entertainment PC partially due to the fanless design.

At this price you also get Windows Vista Ultimate so this helps soften the blow as $700 is not cheap for a digital signage box. PC Mag also reports...

"Flash still needs to be optimized for the ION platform for HD videos, but standard-definition Web video played back fine"

This probably means anyone planning to run Flash based content on this box should test their media extensively before deploying out in the field.

On the plus side: Small form factor, fanless, energy efficient processor.

On the minus side: Not as powerful as dual core based PCs, expensive (with a Blue Ray drive).

Shuttle announces new smaller form factor PC

2009-05-27T15:16:00.004-04:00

As reported in The Inquirer... Shuttle, best known for it's "bread box" shaped PCs, is about to launch a new small form factor unit that breaks from tradition. The Shuttle XS29 Slim series will be significantly smaller and quieter than Intel and AMD powered boxes. These units will be powered by a VIA Nano, Ultra-Low-Voltage CPU and feature a fanless design.

These PCs may be suitable for digital signage use as their onboard video is the VIA Chrome9 HC integrated chipset which supports DirectX 9 and VIA claims this chip accelerates MPEG4, WMV9 and VC1 at the hardware level. Also interesting is the Serial port located at the back of the unit, greatly simplifying communication with RS232 equiped flat panel displays.

No word on how well these boxes will run Flash content but the specs are decent.

According to The Inquirer, pricing has yet to be announced but the units will be shipping in June.

Royalty Free Content... For Free!

2009-05-22T12:07:00.003-04:00

Finding royalty-free content on a tight budget is aways difficult. Some of the stuff out there is pretty bad and often comes with strings attached.

Well, cheapskates can now rejoice as there is a new "free" service for users who don't require lots of static image content for their projects. This service is called Photo Xpress and you can find decent quality, royalty-free content for personal and commercial use. Users must register with the service first and then can download up to 3 free images per day.

Users can increase this to 10 free downloads per day by providing more information (to get access to the higher download limit I am told users must register their mobile phone number so they can receive SMS messages... not really my cup of tea but it may be ok for some people).

Bottom line is you get access to a steady stream of content that you can repurpose and best of all... it's all FREE!!!

Granted the selection is a bit limited at the moment but the image quality ain't bad and... did I mention it's FREE?

VIA's small form factor PCs

2009-05-15T16:44:00.002-04:00

Via Technologies is offering several small form factor units suitable for Digital Signage use. There are touch screens with embedded PCs and small form factor boxes set to compete with all the lower end units on the market.

The Via VM7700 Ultra-Slim VESA mount PC (quite a mouthful) has some interesting specifications.

Meant to be mounted directly behind your screen, the thin case is quite compact and easy to hide. WIFI is optional.

Windows XP, XP embedded and Linux are supported.

Features:

1.5 GHz VIA Eden Processor
Supports up to 1 Gb of RAM
VIA Unichrome Graphics processor with MPEG 2/4 and WMV9 Decoding capabilities.
Gigabit Ethernet
DVI connector
4 USB 2.0 ports

This type of PC may not be able to play multiple HD video channels but it may be quite sufficient for many typical DS applications.

Advantech's Atom based digital signage PC

2009-05-15T16:00:00.002-04:00

Advantech has expanded it's small form factor DS PC offering with the relatively new DSA-3020. This is an Intel Atom based PC that uses the Intel GMA 500 onboard video card. Advantech claims support for a wide range of resolutions all the way up to 1080p and there is a DVI connector.

Pricing should be slightly higher than consumer grade Atom based PCs (like the Asus Eee Box) but this is an industrial PC so it's to be expected.

It's always more difficult to justify the extra expense for purpose built PC hardware as budgets get tighter. Users should perhaps look further than just the initial cost of the PC hardware since replacing a defective unit will add cost in the long run. It should also be noted that purpose built PCs like the DSA-3020 offer additional capabilities such as a built-in watchdog timer to restart the PC in case of a software lock up. These units use metal cases, not plastic and are designed to operate in harsher environments compared to your typical "retail" PC.

Advantech offers a complete range of purpose built digital signage PCs.

NVIDIA's ION Hardware Platform coming out soon!

2009-05-15T15:27:00.004-04:00

With NVIDIA about to release their new Atom-based platform (called ION), DS industry observers are eagerly awaiting to see how these units compare with the current Atom based PCs already on the market. Everyone is hoping for better preformance than current Atom offerings based on the Intel graphics chipsets.

Units such as the Asus Eee Box and have been quite popular due to their low cost and small form factor but video performance has been "hit and miss"... While some DS operators have had success deploying these units, others have had performance issues.

With NVIDIA enterning the market, things are sure to get interesting. Hot Hardware has a review of the upcoming Acer Aspire Revo on their web site. They claim a 10X video performance increase over competitive solutions.
ION will support Intel processors up to Core 2 so there will obviously be many products based on this chipset. This may very well be the first in what will become a flood of new affordable ultra small form factor PCs from Asian manufacturers later this year.

Season's Greetings

2008-12-23T11:19:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

The past year may have been challenging but the digital signage industry is still young and growing (albeit at a slower pace than in the past...).

Looking forward to posting more digital signage related articles in 2009.

See you in the New Year!

New easy to use Flash authoring software from Swish

2008-09-25T16:19:00.002-04:00

I've always been a big fan of a rapid Flash development product called Swish Max2. The people behind this product have now released an even simpler version for casual business users which makes it ideal for Digital Signage content creation.

The product is called Swish miniMax2 and is now available for purchase on the SwishZone web site. The price is right ($99 USD) and comes with templates and over 100 precanned media effects.

If you're a corporate or small business end user looking for a better solution than PowerPoint... look no further!

Digital Signage Association

2008-09-25T08:52:00.002-04:00

I ran into David Drain who is the Executive Director of the Digital Signage Association at the DSE East show last week in Philadelphia. David gave me a quick overview of their organization and I think it's a grest resource for anyone interested in Digital Signage. Doesn't matter if your're a provider of DS technology or if you are a potential customer. This is an excellent way to get up to speed in a hurry.

Good article on Wireless Ronin

2008-09-25T08:38:00.002-04:00

The "DailyDOOH" industry blog has ongoing coverage of the Wireless Ronin situation as it unfolds. I guess someone will write a book on this one day and call it "How NOT to run a business".

Meanwhile, the saga continues...

Innovations in projection technology

2008-09-24T13:15:00.002-04:00

I was lucky enough to see the Image Mill installation in Quebec City this summer. This show was conceived as part of the city's 400th anniversary and made use of the grain silos in the Port of Quebec where a huge video and animated show was projected.

This is an impressive installation that uses 27 high end projectors from Christie Digital to cover the surface of the silos (600 meters wide by 30 meters high). Spectators line up on the opposite side of the Marina's basin to experience the show. The "digital canvas" to achieve this monster projection measured 28,187 pixels wide by 1,400 pixels high. The installation required 29 video servers from a French company called ETC France and 6.7 km of fiber optic cabling.

The installation won a Guinness award for the largest projection ever.

I mention this because I ran into a software company at the Digital Signage Show East that enables users to blend and correct images from multiple projectors so the effect appears seamless to the viewer. Images can be projected onto curved or irregularly shaped surfaces and the software blends and corrects the result to eliminate distortion. It even provides color correction across all projectors.

The company is called Scalable Display Technologies and it is based in Cambridge, MA. No idea on pricing but for some installations, this is a must-have.

Wireless Ronin CEO resigns - replaced by ex-Target executive!

2008-09-24T12:59:00.002-04:00

This just in... Wireless Ronin CEO Jeffrey Mack has resigned and will be replaced by Stephen Birke as interim CEO. Mr. Birke is an ex-Target Corporation executive and was on the Wireless Ronin board.

Here is a link to the official press release.

Digital Signage Expo East

2008-09-22T14:37:00.002-04:00

I attended Digital Signage Expo East last week as an exhibitor and I will post updates on some of the new technologies I discovered while working the show. The first day (Wednesday, September 17th) was very busy until late afternoon. By then things had quieted down significantly but this simply meant exhibitors could spend more quality time with visitors and fully answer their questions. The second and last day of the show was fairly quiet but there was a steady stream of visitors. Let's hope things pick up for the Vegas show in February '09.

The venue was great but one can only wonder if the recent finance crisis scared off potential visitors at the last minute. The show was not as ambitious as last winter's Vegas event with many established companies missing from the show floor. But the usual suspects were present (NetKey, Wireless Ronin, Scala, to name a few...).

Next year, the DSE - East moves to Washington DC so stay tuned for more details!

Digital Signage Expo Las Vegas

2008-03-11T18:13:00.003-04:00

Well it's been a while since my last blog entry so it's time to give my impressions on the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas which ran from Feb. 26th to the 28th. I was fortunate enough to attend the show this year and it was nice to see the number of exhibitors and attendees climb since last year's show in Chicago. David Haynes has a nice article on his blog that goes over the numbers.

It was my first time in Vegas so I was quite impressed with some of the installations around the city. I didn't have time to do much sightseeing as I was working the Navori corner of the BroadSign booth but I did see lots of interesting stuff.

I must begin by commenting on the poor performance of the content displayed on the screens at the hotel we were staying. There were several Plasma screens hung around the Casino area and every screen was displaying the same Flash based content. The content itself was quite sophisticated but the app running the show was dropping frames at an alarming rate. It looked like the Flash content was too complex for the PC it was running on. You would expect a tech-savvy Casino would test these things as it was quite noticeable. It marred what was otherwise a very nice installation.

The Digital Signage Expo floor was the place to be (at least for me since I worked the show and missed all the seminars). All the usual suspects were there... My new bosses (BroadSign), Scala, Planar (CoolSign), C-Nario, etc... Not much new that I could tell from my spot. Actually, I was paying more attention to hardware. There was an interesting offering from a company called MediaVue Systems. Small form factor, fanless PCs able to display multi-screen - 1080p HD video. The system uses an innovative design which converts part of the case into a heat sink. Built in the US too... more to come, I'm sure.

A company called NetFaze Technologies was schlepping a HD resolution LCD screen/PC combo unit in various sizes. Very interesting design. The unit can let you play TV content separately from the Digital Signage application running on its PC. You can do the picture in picture thing or split the screen vertically so half the screen is playing live TV and the other half is running the DS application of your choice. It's quite refreshing to see common sense solutions to the whole "how do I play live TV and run my advertising" problem. The company is based in Las Vegas but also has an office in the Toronto 'burbs. I'm sure we'll be hearing more form them.

LG was displaying some interesting screen formats but I wouldn't want to be asked to create content for that puppy... It's bad enough we need to deal with multiple standards, portrait and vertical but now we're looking at "half" screens!

I am not going to talk about the various 3D screen technologies that were displayed everywhere because they just gave me a headache. I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would want/need this technology. The image quality is poor. The visual effect is not all that great and you must be right in front of the screen to see any depth to the image. I would much rather see manufacturers concentrating on thinner, cheaper and more energy efficient screen technologies. Personally, I think 3D is a non-event.

Handy web based tool

2008-02-12T17:07:00.000-05:00

It's quick, it's easy and it does what it's supposed to. This web site will display the screen resolution of any PC that loads its home page. Of course you can find out by right-clicking on the Windows desktop, select properties, etc... but this is a quicker method and it works!

Navori Digital Signage Software acquired by BroadSign

2008-02-05T09:59:00.000-05:00

This is big news (at least for me, since I work for Navori...)

BroadSign has announced the acquisition of privately held Navori SA based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Navori's software offering should be a good fit since there is little overlap with BroadSign's products. BroadSign is mainly a service provider while Navori sells software to people who wish to run their own networks.

Here is a link to the official Press Release.

David Haynes also wrote an article about the announcement on his personal blog.

Stay tuned as more info is released!

Customize your Windows install

2008-01-06T13:27:00.000-05:00

Have you ever tried re-installing Windows XP from an early CD (pre-Service Pack 2) and then had to suffer through endless updates? If so, I have found a neat utility called nLite.

This application lets you create a CD image that contains the exact components you want/need for your Windows install. You can suppress some components or add new ones. Here is a blurb from the nLite web site:

"nLite is a tool for permanent Windows components removal and pre-installation Windows configuration. After removal there is an option to make bootable image ready for burning on cd or testing in virtual machines.

With nLite you will be able to have Windows installation which on install does not include, or even contain on cd, the unwanted components."

This will certainly my life easier next time I have to reinstall Windows XP (not that I do this often...) Best of all, it's free!

Look Ma! No Wires!!

2008-01-06T12:26:00.000-05:00

CNN had an interesting article recently on the latest trend in flat panel technology: wireless technologies for high definition screens. The latest buzz has a couple of competing "standards" duking it out (can you say HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars all over again?).

Anyways, the outcome of all this is sure to be of interest to anyone deploying digital signage. After all, running and hiding all that wiring is never easy and it can be quite expensive. Wouldn't it be nice to bring power to the screen and have the video signal "beam" to the TV without the need for additional cabling?

However, don't expect to be able to position the "transmitter" hundreds of feet away. Preliminary specs mention a 30' range but this is for consumer products. Wait for commercial grade products from companies like Minicom to eventually release wireless technologies of their own that take advantage of any emerging standard.

As with every new technology, wireless displays are going to cost way too much for large digital signage rollouts but there are projects where this technology will be used (regardless of the cost). Think of all the locations where you just can't run all the necessary wiring to every screen.

We may see wireless digital signage installations sooner than you think.
So what's next? Holographic displays?

Free Photoshop!!! (not really)

2008-01-03T15:54:00.001-05:00

Need to edit pictures or create original graphics quickly and no budget for Photoshop? Try Splashup! It's an online photo editing tool that gets the job done quite nicely and best of all, it's free. The results are quite professional and you don't need a degree in graphic design to use it. You do require an internet connection but this is a great tool for re purposing graphics for digital signage if you're on a tight budget.

Advantech delivers powerful digital signage PC hardware

2008-01-02T11:49:00.001-05:00

I've been testing a small form factor PC from Advantech.

The DSA-3300 series XP Embedded unit has a very small footprint (think roughly 3 DVD movie cases stacked one on top of one another). There is a small fan inside this unit but it is extremely quiet (and very effective). The case never gets hot, just a bit warm to the touch and this even after a solid 48 hours of running mixed content which included 720P HD video.

Performance is excellent and the unit can be ordered from Advantech with various options line wireless and TV Tuner. Advantech also has an Intel Dual-Core model but mine came with an Intel Pentium 1.6G w/512 Mb of RAM and a 40 Gb HD. You can also order the unit with a Celeron CPU if you don't plan to run any HD content.

Highly recommended!

Free video converter

2008-01-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

I recently discovered a really nice "freeware" video converter called MediaCoder. This application will let you convert between various audio and video formats. I am impressed with the wide range of formats that are supported and I will be putting the app through its paces within the next few days. This application was also mentioned in a report on C-Net TV.

Digital Signage in Quebec

2007-12-29T13:12:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to post a quick comment on a couple of interesting digital signage installations I noticed during a recent visit to Montreal and Quebec City. A Quebec based drugstore chain called Jean Coutu has digital signage installed at each cash register. The screens are at least 17" and quite visible. There was a "Videotron" sticker on each unit's casing and I suspect there is at least one more company involved in the deployment. Videotron must be providing the network and support but since they are part of the Quebecor Media group of companies, I'm sure another Quebecor division takes care of the content development.

The screens were ensconced in a metal case that had a very "Mr. Roboto" look. They were quite sturdy but not the most elegant devices to look at. Each unit was mounted on a tube that raised the screens to a decent viewing height (about 2' to 3' above the counter). The big metal boxes were hard to miss so I guess that was part of the logic behind the design. At least the content was decent and to the point but I wish someone would have spent a bit more time on designing a more elegant case.

On another note, my favorite hotel in Montreal used to have a couple of 19"-ish digital signs located next to the main elevator. I noticed in November that one of the screens was blanked out. The screens were replaced by a larger unit (a single 32" unit) running a very simple layout with local weather and meeting room info. The people running this network also provide the hotel with wireless internet access for its customers. The company is called Intello Technologies Inc. (used to be called i-hotel). They seem to have a nice list of installations but it's not clear if each location uses digital signs.

Lastly, I finally saw a OS-X based digital sign installation in a fast-food restaurant. How did I know it was running on OS-X? All the signs were showing the Apple desktop and there was a nice big error message right in the middle of each screen. I should have jotted down the exact info on the application but unfortunately I was way too involved in eating at the time... All I can tell is it was a Digital Signage Player application. Too bad I didn't have a camera with me. Anyone out there know who is running the signs at Lafleur's?

Interactive digital signage

2007-12-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

The folks at BlueFire Digital have developed a system called uTV that connects viewers with bluetooth enabled cellphones to digital signs. Users of this technology can let their patrons upload and display their own content (photos, SMS messages, etc...) directly on BlueFire enabled digital signs.

This is a great product for social venues like bars and clubs but I can see this also used in other areas like on big screens at the football stadium, in trade shows or even in retail stores (for example, in a food court).

I'm sure some of you may think... great! Now anyone can put up offensive or obscene material on my screens! But the folks at BlueFire Digital already planned for this. The system allows you to pre-screen all material before it is displayed and you can even block a "repeat offender".

The whole idea behind these products is you can engage your audience so viewing a digital sign is no longer a passive activity. By interacting with the sign, viewers tend to look longer and pay more attention to the content. Any advertising being displayed with the interactive content will get noticed more than if you only displayed full screen advertising.

I met with a BlueFire rep at the Chicago Digital Signage show last June and they are really "fired up" about it (pardon the pun). Seems like an interesting twist that is sure to attract the younger crowd, but don't discount the concept for more traditional advertising.

Here is why you should consider digital signage interactivity as a useful tool for a much broader audience...

Think about the digital sign hanging in a car dealership. The advertiser displays a reference code at the bottom of a video ad. You dial this code and automatically bring up more info on the vehicle like specifications, JD Power ranking, colours available, etc...

Same scenario in an appliance store. You're standing in front of a Maytag display enhanced with a digital sign nearby and can bring up specs, options, pricing... all by yourself and without any assistance from a sales person.

Interactivity is not just for touch-screen kiosks anymore. Remember this... It's one thing to install a shiny new 42" touch screen plasma screen and another to keep cleaning up the finger marks over its surface. These days, pretty well everyone has a cell phone capable of sending SMS messages or communicate via Bluetooth connection. Vendors are starting to come up with tools that will let people interact with your displays as needed.

Until we all get implanted with RFID chips (à la Minority Report), consumer interactivity will be the next big thing in digital signage. The PC hardware and IP is already there... why not use it for more than a passive user experience?

Easy File Sharing

2007-12-19T16:31:00.000-05:00

This isn't completely on-topic but digital signage often requires you to exchange large files with your clients (PDF proofs, Flash SWFs, etc...) and giving access to you FTP server is not always practical.

Enter the file sharing services. Some require a commitment (like a monthly account, think BOX.NET) and others will let you use their services for free up to a size limit after which you need to pay a monthly fee (YouSendIt).

I just read about a new free service called file.io. This service lets you set up private folders and gives you a personalized URL you can share with clients, colleagues and friends so they can download your files for free. Each folder is limited to 150 Mb of storage (but you can set up as many as you want) and your files are kept for up to 21 days. It's quick and easy and best of all, it's free!

Another similar free service is called drop.io (what is it with all those io's anyways?). Those guys offer less storage (100 Mb) but you can reserve your storage for longer periods. No accounts to set up, no info to exchange...

Great for those quick and dirty file transfers when you're stuck because the file is too large to e-mail!

Stealth Computer has some nice small form factor PCs

2007-12-14T13:04:00.000-05:00

The folks at Stealth Computer have been cranking out some nice small form factor PCs for 17 years and they keep adding new, improved models all the time. Their latest is the LPC-450 that is built around the Intel Core-Duo processor.

This is a powerful box and the specs make it a real candidate for digital signage deployment. They do tend to be pricey but you can probably do better if you purchase in quantity. I can see these being used in mobile installations too!

What I'm wishing for...

2007-12-14T11:22:00.000-05:00

It's been a big year for digital signage. Lots of stuff going on in '07. Large deployments, industry consolidation, new technologies... and many new companies entering the market.

But even with all the positive things going on, I still see room for improvement. So here is my '08 wish list:

Content that doesn't suck. No matter where I go, I see stuff that's been thrown together without any regards for the screen resolution or there is too much material displayed on too small a screen. If it's showing more than one crawling ticker, I look elsewhere.
PC hardware that is adapted to digital signage and easily upgradeable. It's really hard to find good hardware to support your digital signage rollout. Some of the equipment out there is not suited for 24/7 - 365 use. This is partially due to the higher cost of ruggedized equipment but good, single purpose PCs are hard to find. When you do find suitable equipment, it's very hard to upgrade the components since these are mostly small form factor, fanless boxes. The better the integration, the more difficult it is to upgrade them. Someone should come up with a solution to this problem.
More OS choices. Lots of people are building their digital signage solutions for Windows and Linux but OS X based solutions are still not available. You would think that the Mac Mini would make a great little digital signage player. How come Apple isn't on top of this? Don't get me wrong. I'm a Windows weenie but competition isn't a bad thing. It forces everyone in the business to innovate.
More content choices. I still haven't found a DS software application that supports native Photoshop files. A few applications will let you display PDFs but it's never easy. Some are beginning to support Microsoft's Silverlight (Flash-killer app). Come on guys... give the content authors what they need. It's not all about showing video.
Better, smarter implementations. It's one thing to hang a big-ass screen above a cash register (because it's easy to see) and another to actually position each screen for maximum ROI. It's not always about the size either. A smaller display at eye level also works. Come on people... think outside the box!

That's it for this year!

Lenovo Introduces ThinkCentre A61e Ultra Small Form Desktop PC

2007-12-13T16:01:00.000-05:00

Another new ultra-small PC enters the market, this one is from Lenovo and it has interesting features for digital signage network rollouts.

Here is the company's press release:

"Lenovo reinvigorates the desktop PC space with the introduction of the ThinkCentre A61e, an ultra small form factor desktop. As the company's smallest, quietest and most energy-efficient desktop yet, it has a footprint the size of an average telephone book, whisper quiet performance and choices of energy-efficient, 45-watt AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 dual core and AMD Sempron™ single core processors, all at an affordable price tag starting at $399. The ThinkCentre A61e desktop marks Lenovo's first product with EPEAT Gold status, the highest designation a product can achieve in the ranking. Operated by the Green Electronics Council, EPEAT ranks products on a variety of environmental attributes from energy efficiency to materials use to recyclability."

Pricing is right on the money but I've seen pretty big phone books so I'll wait until I see the official specs before passing judgment. No word on the video chipset either but it sounds like a decent box for the price.

What digital signage can do for political campaign advertising

2007-12-13T14:48:00.000-05:00

David Haynes who writes the sixteen:nine blog had an interesting take on politician's use of digital signage technology. His focus is on attack ads which are sure to be popular with our friends in the US as they enter an election year. I think there is more to it than attack ads.

Political campaign money will be spent on digital signage this year because the networks are sufficiently large to attract advertisers. Just don't expect this phenomenon to be limited to federal elections. Digital signage is sure to become an equally important platform for municipal and provincial politicians seeking election. Since digital signage provides complete control over the timing and location of each ad, smart politicians will leverage this technology to get their message out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Don't expect it to stop with politicians. Special interest groups are sure to notice the potential of digital signage and start advertising on local screens too.

Remote control for dummies (and cheapskates)!

2007-12-13T09:27:00.000-05:00

I've been using TightVNC for a few years now and I think it's a great addition to your digital signage toolkit. It's powerful, stable and best of all, it's free!

The latest release even support file transfers. Highly recommended.

The most useful keyboard shortcuts (Windows and Vista)

2007-12-13T08:31:00.000-05:00

This is a bit off topic but it is very useful to anyone who uses Windows (XP or Vista). A C-Net blogger posted a list of powerful (but obscure) keyboard shortcuts that speed up your work.

You can find the article here.

I've been a Windows user since forever and even I learned a couple of new tricks.

A good read for anyone spending their life attached to a keyboard!

Retail digital signage rant!

2007-11-30T11:57:00.000-05:00

The company behind the Digital Signage rollout in Tim Hortons restaurants has started to install displays in Wal-Mart stores across Canada. EK3 Technologies Inc. has been doing a fantastic job with these installations and it's interesting to see big retailers finally taking notice.

I only have one beef with the Tim Hortons screens and it has to do with the content. Picture this. I'm standing in front of a display case full of fresh donuts. I can smell the coffee. I can almost taste it. Why just show ads for coffee and donuts????

I mean... Nothing says "visual Muzak" like a continuous loop of rehashed product ads right in front of the product.

Don't get me wrong. The production quality is great. It's all very professional but enough already with the short video loops schlepping coffee and donuts in a donut shop.

Why not show some useful information? Sports scores, weather, anything but not just the same donut and coffee loops. I don't think anyone minds the ads but you need to give viewers a reason to look because so far, I don't see anyone paying attention.

I hope it's not just a ton of money going into "digital wallpaper" because if this project tanks, it will give the digital signage industry a black eye. I'm sure someone is looking very closely at the sales statistics for each store since they launched the project and I hope they are selling a lot of "double-doubles" with that kind of investment.

Which brings me to the Wal-Mart digital signage project.

What I find amazing is the Wal-Mart displays are much less annoying (and there quite a few to look at in every store). I don't know if it's because they have a bigger product assortment or if someone is tweaking the content so the loops are more varied but I actually like watching them.

They have the usual row of screens hanging behind the checkouts (why they do this, I don't know...). Perhaps they think you'll run back into the store to pick up that pair of fuzzy slippers they're pitching for $9.98, but I doubt it. I think the screens scattered around the store are much more useful and have more impact on sales.

Now, if someone could also inject some wayfinding into the content mix...

Yet another PowerPoint to Flash converter hits the market

2007-11-09T11:03:00.000-05:00

Seems every week brings us a new PPT >SWF converter. The latest comes from Crystal Graphics (the people behind PowerPoint "Power Plugs"). The product is called PowerCONVERTER and Crystal Graphics claims it preserves all of your presentation's characteristics such as any embedded audio, video and animations and transitions.

Surprisingly, the converter does not support Crystal Graphic's own Power Plugs animations. The company claims the resulting Flash files would be too large so we'll have to wait and see if they add this feature in a future version.

I'm no fan of PowerPoint myself but there is no denying it's a quick and dirty way to create content for digital signage use. In most cases the resulting Flash files look way better that native PowerPoint files and that's a good thing.

New Digital Signage hardware coming in November

2007-10-18T09:27:00.000-04:00

The people at AOpen are launching a new product line in November which will be called "Digital Engine". These small form factor PCs will be fanless with support for a wide range of Intel processors (from Celeron to Core2Duo). You can configure the units in various ways to achieve the best cost/performance ratio for your specific project.

This new product line is said to be priced competitively and official release date is November '07. It's nice to see AOpen pay more attention to the DS market since their consumer grade products are used by many integrators.

The Digital Signage Paradox

2007-10-11T09:38:00.000-04:00

The digital signage industry is full of contradictions. On one hand we have extremely well informed multimedia and IT professionals who wish to leverage their skills using new technologies to reach out to their clients.

On the other hand we have less technical users like corporate executives, marketing professionals and administrative staff who also want to use digital signage to reach their respective audiences.

Both want to get to the same place but each has his or her means for getting there. This poses a big problem for digital signage solution providers. Their solutions need to be easy to use for the novice but at the same time they need features that appeal to a more technically advanced user.

Its not an easy task and the marketplace clearly demonstrates there are as many user interfaces as there are users. The key is matching the solution to the project while remembering who will be responsible for interacting with the application on a day-to-day basis.

It's normal for technical staff to be involved in the installation, configuration and deployment of a digital signage project. Having said that, you should also involve at the research stage some of the people who will ultimately be using and interacting with the application on a regular basis.

Chances are this won't be the technical staff who will be responsible for "babysitting" the equipment. This responsibility will surely fall on creative or administrative personnel and they must be able to get up to speed and become productive quickly. Your whole project may be in jeopardy if they don't understand the interface or if they can't work with it.

Remember that we all approach these projects with our own bias based on our background. For example, A/V professionals, Flash animation devellopers and graphic artists will all revert to the tools they know best. Most video and animation products are timeline based so digital signage solutions that have a similar interface will appeal to these users. Graphic artists are more familiar with layers so a "Photoshop" style interface will grab them. This logic also applies to marketing and administrative staff where PowerPoint is a familiar tool used by all.

It's up to each digital signage solution provider to come up with products that appeal to technical and non-technical users alike.

Failing to do so will relegate their products to a smaller share of the digital signage pie!

Digital Signage Networks

2007-07-18T16:12:00.000-04:00

Anyone contemplating the launch of a digital signage network should be ready to do their homework. There are many solutions on the market and it is sometimes difficult to find your way through the maze of options. Suffice it to say that not all digital signage solutions are equal and spending time with each product will go far in helping you make the right choice.

Here are some of the major features to look for when planning your digital signage network.

The software should…

be easy to use and configure
able to handle small to large digital signage networks
support all current popular multimedia file formats
support live content via the Internet
be able to run on an embedded OS
operate securely even on the Internet
alert you if something goes wrong with a unit out in the field
be reliable and able to perform flawlessly 24/7, 365 days a year
provide detailed content playback reports
be reasonably priced and well supported by a network of distributors and resellers.

Hotel Signage

2007-07-18T16:11:00.000-04:00

Hotels lobbies are prime locations for digital signage. They offer an excellent advertising opportunity for the hotel operator while providing guests with practical local information.

It’s always a good idea to mix of advertising with public information as this gives viewers a good reason to pay attention to your digital signs. The savvy digital signage operator will mix local weather and airport information with advertising for the hotel’s services and facilities. Add to the mix local paid advertising and you have a revenue stream that will help finance and grow your digital signage network.

Use crawling text banners in your layout to provide a permanent message area to keep your guests informed about hotel events throughout the day.

Best locations for your digital signs are the main lobby, hallways leading to meeting and conference rooms, fitness facilities and near the restaurant or bar.

Educational TV Systems

2007-07-18T16:09:00.000-04:00

Schools, colleges and universities are discovering the benefits of digital signage networks. Recent drops in large flat panel displays and PC hardware have made these systems affordable for even the smallest schools. Now practically any institution can rely on digital signage technology as a means to reach out and inform their student population.

Whether a school needs a system to alert students in case of emergency or simply a way to promote various school activities, digital signage (or, School TV) is a cost effective alternative to the old closed circuit TV systems.

Also, digital signage software applications like Tycoon from Navori can push PowerPoint content and display it across your network so schools don’t need to hire additional personnel to create original content. Schools can also schedule the playback of web pages, which could be used to display local information from the school’s own web site.

Retail TV Networks

2007-07-18T16:05:00.000-04:00

Retailers have always understood the power of signage and for many, point-of-purchase material represents a major expense which gets recycled every season. With the advent of affordable large format panel displays and PC hardware, digital signage is gaining in popularity at the expense of traditional “static” media.

Call it out-of-home advertising or call it narrowcasting… by any name, digital signage has come of age and it is coming soon to a retail store near you.

Now, retailers have a new tool which can reach out to their clients right at the point of decision. By leveraging the power of digital signage, retailers are finally able to react quickly to new consumer trends and adjust their message in a matter of hours, not weeks. Pricing can be adjusted to respond to competitive needs and not a single courrier charge is encurred. Try to do that with a printed poster!

There is also the matter of digital asset repurposing. Currently, advertising departments have amassed vast libraries of digital photos and artwork which is used for everything from printed flyer creation to the company’s e-commerce web site. These assets can be repurposed for digital signage purpose easily, providing much needed content at a low cost.

As digital signage asserts itself and networks grow across the country, many of the larger retailers will find themselves in an enviable position. They will have their own privately owned networks of screens with thousands of viewers dayly. By then, these savvy retailers will be in a position to dictate who gets screen time and their vendors will compete for access to this valuable new advertising channel.

By then, we will all have said goodbye to those portable VCR/TV units that show up on so many retailer’s shelves (and they won’t be missed…)

New Flash Utilities

2006-11-08T08:11:00.000-05:00

Here are the latest Flash utilities to hit the market. First, Wildform has a new "Lite" version of it's popular SWF development tool. WildPresenter Lite is a stripped down version of their rapid SWF development tool called WildPresenter Pro. The "Pro" version will continue to offer the ability to convert PowerPoint files to SWF and create original Flash content from scratch. The "Lite" version will be capable of producing SWF content only. It will be interesting to see if Wildform eventually develops a separate PowerPoint to SWF converter for the corporate communication market. There are many PowerPoint users who don't want (or need) the authoring features that WildPresenter Pro or Lite offers. They just want to convert their PPT files.

On the Flash to Video front, Sothink has just launched a Flash to Video converter. This new product aptly named "SWF to Video Converter" lets you select a capture area inside a Flash file and export the results to several video file formats (including an iPod compatible format). One other useful feature is the ability to add a "watermark" to the video output. I plan to test this utility and report back on the video quality. Needless to say that this product could be quite useful to DSN operators, providing a new way of repurposing multimedia content for their screens.

Free PowerPoint to Flash conversion tool

2006-10-04T18:26:00.000-04:00

I've just stumbled upon a nice PPT to Flash conversion tool and best of all, the "lite" version is FREE! The program is called FlashSpring Lite and it will let you turn your presentations into easily distributable Flash format.

The program is actually an add-on to PowerPoint so you access it from the toolbar and export your presentation from within that application. It has few options but the results are more than adequate for most uses (though, you will lose your fancy transitions) . You'll notice a small link at the bottom of your presentation linking back to Flashspring but otherwise the software produces a perfectly usable Flash presentation.

Flashspring also offers a "Pro" version which adds several features (like the ability to create an executable presentation that doesn't require the end user to have the Flash Player installed). The Pro version aslo retains your PowerPoint slide effects.

Lastly, there is a server application for enterprise users who need to provide PowerPoint conversion services to a whole team.

There are products out there that offer more than just format conversion but it's nice to see products that concentrate on the basics and perform these tasks well.

Recommended!

Wildform updates its Flash development tool

2006-10-04T18:22:00.000-04:00

The next version (2.3) of WildPresenter from Wildform (now called WildPresenter Pro) is here. The key elements of the WildPresenter Pro update are:

Slide navigation player export – so you can view and navigate your output via a series of slide thumbnails
Slide templates – so you can instantly generate a complete slide layout for text, images, video, and audio
Automatic mouse-over text capability – so you can mouse over text and have it change color which is great for navigation
FLV Streaming object – so you can load a streaming FLV from a server into your WildPresenter project
Improved PowerPoint to Flash conversion including support for WordArt and multiple master slides, prompting for missing media files, and better animation import
Animation and transition preview

I haven't had the opportunity to try out the new version but it is nice to see support for streaming FLV in a rapid Flash development tool.

Content Management

2005-11-08T13:15:00.000-05:00

Digital signage systems offer various mechanisms that simplify content management.

Some of the solutions currently on the market enable very precise playlist management allowing for content updates in very fine timing increments. Other systems may use a more automated approach built on complex algorithms to define playlists automatically.

Each approach has it's pros and cons but I, for one, like having the ability to fine tune a playlist myself rather than have the software do it on "auto-pilot".

On the other hand, you may not care if media clips play at a (precise) predetermined time and place. For those projects you may want to recommend a solution that won't require manual playlist creation or other user intervention. These automated solutions may start making sense in very large (1000 +) screen deployments but you may be sacrificing some precision for the sake of efficiency.

The important thing here is to ensure you can manage the content in a way that makes sense to the viewer.

Ads for breakfeast sandwhiches may not be appropriate for playback mid-afternoon. Automation just for the sake of saving an bit of work may not be worth the headaches if it fails to meet the client's requirements.

Remember it's important to match the solution to the needs of the client.

Rapid Flash content development tool...

2005-08-26T14:20:00.000-04:00

There is a new tool to create sophisticated Flash animations quickly and efficiently. It's called Xtivity from a company called Tivity Software. It looks like quite a powerfull tool and I would probably place it between Swishmax and full bore Flash MX in respect to complexity and sophistication. It uses a different metaphor than the usual Flash tools I have used and seen in the past. I still rely on Swish for quick animations and I use good old Flash MX when the job requires it.

I can see how someone could buy into the Xtivity metaphor and create very compelling content. From what I could glean from my recent test drive, Xtivity uses a more "event driven" metophor which may be quite disconcerting to anyone used to a timeline based product like Flash or Director. On the other hand, I didn't go into too much depth so there may be some timeline based elements in the product that I did not see. Anyone familiar with Toolbooks will probably pick up the interface quite quickly.

It's interesting to see there are more and more products that simplify the whole Flash content production work as the Macromedia continues to push Flash as a platform to deliver interactive multimedia content.

Royalty Free HD Video Source

2005-08-25T08:40:00.000-04:00

Anyone looking for very high quality video content in HD format should visit RoyaltyFreeHD. For a one time fee you get a complete collection of HD footage which you can integrate into your digital signage projects.

Upcoming Digital Signage Conference

2005-08-24T15:57:00.000-04:00

There is an upcoming conference for anyone interested... Tuesday, November 15th & Wednesday, November 16th, 2005 at the Eaglewood Resort & Spa in Chicago, Illinois. Mark your calendars for this conference if you are considering building your own Digital Signage Network.

Check out this site for more!

It's a mad, mad, digital signage world!

2005-08-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

Digital content creators rejoyce!
You now have a new means of publishing your work.

As digital signage networks expand across the globe, a new distribution channel is emerging. Some call it narrowcasting, others out-of-home advertising. One thing is certain... digital signage installations are increasing exponentially and there is a growing need for good digitlal content.

I hope to post some ideas and concepts on this blog which will be of interest to both content creators and digital signage network owners.

As someone who has more than a passing interest in the medium (and who has seen this marketplace evolve during the last 5 years) I hope to share useful information in the following weeks and months.

Stay tuned!