Volume 9, Issue 2 — February 24, 2017

Digital signage has many purposes: It can be used to advertise, to educate, to entertain. But there’s one application that isn’t getting paid enough attention — and that’s wayfinding.

What do we mean by a wayfinding solution? We’re talking about a tool that helps users navigate through a physical environment. On a macro level, you can think of the satellite navigation in your car and the Google Maps app on your phone. But smaller scale, when you’re looking for say a shop in a retail complex or a meeting room in an office block, what aids are out there?

For the wayfinding service provider, choosing a digital solution has a huge upside. Crucially, maps and routes can be updated with minimal hassle. That means not having to completely replace the traditional laminated maps in your shopping center every time a shop or restaurant closes, or a new one opens. For the facilities team at a business park where hotdesking companies come and go, this feature is logical and rather necessary.

As digital signage is not restricted to indoors (thanks to the wide availability of high bright and weather resistant screens), outdoor wayfinding can be digital too. For large external spaces like university campuses — even somewhere novel like the zoo — navigation is a fundamental aspect of visitor experience. Digital interfaces that offer wayfinding assistance are a welcome improvement on vague and dated maps. A temporary solution might even be deployed for special one-off events like festivals, where act timetables can be combined with maps of the stage set up to ensure festival goers get to see their desired performances.

Like any wayfinding signage, a digital solution calls for careful planning and a deep understanding of a building or landscape’s functionality. The most effective wayfinding aids focus on the user experience and appreciate how different users have different navigation needs. Thanks to integration with digital signage, these needs can now be met like never before. Wayfinding can be personalized, with a tailored journey transforming the task of navigation.

Guest post by TrouDigital, a digital signage company fascinated and passionate about wayfinding. TrouDigital developed our own software to revolutionize the user experience.

The market is flooded with online look-a-likes. Sadly, most people will just “rubber-neck” their way through it as the salesperson talks right over their heads in hopes that they’ll just get exhausted enough to press the “buy now” button and move on.

I love the quote from the movie Tommy Boy as he is trying to sell his product against another company that has the word “GUARANTEED” stamped on the box. He basically responds, “Well, I could take a “poop” in a box and put the words ‘guaranteed’ on it. But wouldn’t you rather buy a quality product from me?” There is a message here for sure and I often find myself in an educational role in this industry, though it’s a delicate position. I don’t want to sound like a hardcore AV Bend salesman and I definitely don’t want to talk down to anyone when they admit, “I can buy this thing on Amazon for a fraction of the cost you have quoted me.”

Effective vs Efficient – Buy Correctly or Buy Quickly?

A Lifehack blog post shares, “Are you doing the right things? The key to effectiveness is that you’re doing things that lead to results in the realm of your responsibilities. Meanwhile the key to efficiency is getting your things done in a manner that consumes just the appropriate amount of energy and resources.” So, yes Mr./Ms. Customer, you are right. You can be efficient and quickly buy this “thing” somewhere else for less money. But what will you be sacrificing?

The smart CEO states, “…efficiencies offer opportunities, but keep in mind that one of the fundamental economic principles is that people face trade-offs. When you take action, you are always choosing not to do something else — you make a trade.”

Two AV Myths That Sabotage Effectiveness and Are Terrible Trade-offs

I would like to take this opportunity to reveal two myths that have a direct impact on your ability to be effective:

1. “All displays are basically made in the same factory in China and so they are pretty much the same. And if they are not, the difference is not a deal breaker for me if I can save money.”

The truth is there are a group of manufacturers that get their displays from the same place, but there is a lot that goes into displays besides the source of the manufacturing. For instance, there are manufacturers that take the time to re-engineer the display to optimize it and make it perform better than it came off the assembly line.

Real Life Example: Color. Read the spec sheet! Make sure your display meets sRGB Color standard, not Adobe RGB Color Space. This is key when you consider displaying your marketing presentation in the conference room versus your desktop monitor. Save yourself the embarrassment of buying a cheap monitor or TV to show off your marketing plan.

2. “I have to get a 1920×1080 display because if the resolution is 4K (3840×2160), then the people in the back of the room won’t be able to view it since the text will be too small.”

There is an equation for viewing distance and choosing the right size but we are talking about resolution. The same age old rule applies — “garage in, garbage out.” If you have a laptop or media player that has a native output resolution of 3840×2160, then purchase a display with the same. The viewable size of the image to cover your audience is not about the resolution exclusively. Seek the counsel of a commercial AV designer and he/she will help you navigate where you need a single large display or a video wall, which is a more common solution these days to get a larger viewable area.

My Primary Goal – Customer Satisfaction

The biggest deal for me is that I want my customers to be happy for a long time, not just for a few days or month. I only recommend displays with commercial three year warranties. This covers me and you. The nice thing is that if the display does go bad within the warranty period, the manufacturer pays me to remove, box-up and replace. There’s no hassle or liability for my customer (deep sigh of relief!), and what a sense of satisfaction that brings to us all!

Hope you enjoyed this post and like always, you can add your comments and questions here to continue the conversation.

Live your life in full color.

ISE 2017 saw 1,192 of the world’s leading AV equipment vendors and service suppliers showcase the latest  technology for the digital signage, unified communications, audio, smart building, residential and education sectors.

On the show floor the atmosphere was decidedly upbeat. Exhibitors, including 202 making their ISE debuts, were seen increasingly to present their products and solutions in ‘real world’ scenarios, designed to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of end users visiting the show.

Registered visitor attendees to ISE 2017 were at an all-time high at 73,413. This represents an 11.7% increase over the 2016 edition. Attendees came from 150 different countries, reflecting the show’s global reach and influence, while almost 600 registered attendees were from the press and media.

Integrated Systems Events Managing Director Mike Blackman commented on the event’s continued success: “We listen to the industry and we listen to our exhibitors. We invest in the show and, importantly, we have the people in place to produce the type of exhibition that they tell us they need. It’s a real collaborative effort and I’d like to thank everyone that’s been involved.”

The exhibition began and ended with two inspirational keynote addresses. These came from award winning architect Ole Scheeren and Cirque du Soleil President and CEO Daniel Lamarre. Both speakers respectively explored how creative thinking and innovative technological development is needed to drive forward architectural design and live event production.

Across 14 halls in the RAI Amsterdam, ISE 2017 delivered four record-breaking days of product launches, press briefings, awards, conferences, seminars and networking opportunities. ISE co-owners CEDIA and InfoComm International produced two packed education programmes for the residential and commercial installation market sectors. These proved to be both their most comprehensive and successful European professional development programmes to date.

“ISE2017 has been the biggest and best year yet for CEDIA. We expanded our education offering and doubled bookings to more than 800,” said Vin Bruno, CEDIA CEO. “ISE 2017 also gave us a great opportunity to connect with so many of our members from around the globe. Our booth was continuously busy especially during the CEDIA Talks. The show was a huge success and we can’t wait for next year.”

Numerous exhibitors used the show to launch hundreds of new products and services and many also took the opportunity to present their exhibition stands in the most innovative and dramatic manner possible. The results were both eye-catching and inspirational.

“It was a fantastic ISE 2017 for InfoComm, but more importantly, it was an industry-affirming show for the AV industry as a whole,” said David Labuskes, CTS, CAE, RCDD, executive director and CEO of InfoComm International. “As ISE and all our InfoComm shows worldwide demonstrate, this is a vibrant, growing, global community. We’re committed to being a catalyst for market growth, and this week has shown we’re on the right track.”

ISE 2018 will take place at the RAI Amsterdam from 6-9 February. It will feature one more additional hall to accommodate new business.

To see all of our LIVE ISE coverage, go here.

We shot 1,300+ product videos, recorded over 50 podcasts, wrote up more than 300 news stories and blogs and even shot 2,100+ photos of the show floor. No one, not even ISE themselves, has this much show coverage and we hope you find it helpful! Here are just a FEW of the highlights:

• Cisco Launches the Spark Board Collaboration System
• Barco Got the Court to Remove KanexPro’s MyTurn from Their Booth Claiming It Was a Copy
• Biamp Embraces Dante
• NEC Debuted InfinityBoard Collaboration Board Integrated with Sennheiser, FlatFrog and Huddly
• The SDVoE Alliance Debuts an AV-over-IP Standard
• Crestron Debuts AV-over-IP System
• Epson Showed a New L-Series 4K Capable Laser Projector and Augmented Reality Glasses
• Nureva Launched a Mobile Cart Version of Span

There are over 1,000 more new products here on our website so be sure to check it out.

Combining a 3.5” SBC form factor motherboard with an optional 10.1” touch panel screen, the VIA VAB-630 is aimed at applications in kiosks, signage displays and factory automation HMI systems. Functionality can be further enhanced with the integration of optional wireless communication modules, including a combination USB Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module or miniPCIe 3G module.

Features include:

• Compact 3.5” SBC form factor measuring 14.6cm x 10.2cm
• 1.0GHz dual core VIA Cortex-A9 SoC
• Support for smooth 1080p video playback
• Rich I/O support, including HDMI, Mini-PCIe, USB 2.0, UART, SIM Card slot and DIO
• Support for 3G, Wi-Fi and BT wireless connectivity
• Optional 5V or 12V power input
• Android 5.0 BSP with VIA Smart ETK comprising a number of APIs, including Watchdog Timer (WDT)
• GPIO and UART access and a sample app
• Optional 10.1″ LVDS LCD touch panel available

Here are all the details.

Available with 15A NEMA or 20A Neutrik PowerCON receptacles, the Controlled Wall Plate has an internal power supply that completely removes reliance on external input voltage, which is susceptible to voltage drops on the wire, furthering the system’s reliability. Both models feature LED indicators and low-voltage, integrated contact connections at the rear of the unit, which alleviate the need to run exposed control wires to the front of the wall plate. The PowerCON receptacle option provides the additional security of locking the power cable to the device and wall, mitigating the risk of the powered device becoming unplugged.

Its compact, decorator-style single-gang form factor fits standard wall or floor boxes as well as within a partitioned, multi-use box. You can check it out here.

Their ultra-short throw projector design with an embedded reflective mirror allows for a projection size of 80” to 150” diagonal image from a mere 40cm away from the screen, an extremely close distance to the projection surface. With the native 1920×1080 DH765Z-UST and the native 1920×1200 DW763Z-UST both have laser phosphor light engines, are spec’d at 3,500 ANSI lumens and a 12,000:1 contrast ratio. Inputs include two HDMI, VGA and component video.

Both using TI’s DLP and BrilliantColor technologies, the new models have a sealed optical engine and an enhanced ventilation system that’s designed to minimize the impact of dust.The DH765Z-UST and DW763Z-UST will be available in Q2 2017, with a list price respectively of £2,199 MSRP (ex VAT) and £1,899 MSRP (ex VAT). The Ultra Short Throw Laser Phosphor models come with a warranty on projector for three years or 10,000 hours on the Laser Phosphor illumination source (whichever comes first).

Here are the details.

With the addition of BrightSign’s market-leading player lineup, customers will have even more flexibility to select the right player and display for their budget and needs. The ONELAN CMS supports both the latest and legacy player versions so companies with existing BrightSign networks can also take advantage of ONELAN’s Enterprise CMS.

The new integration gives BrightSign players access to the enterprise features of the ONELAN CMS, including management and control from a central location.

Perfect for large retail networks, the ONELAN CMS partnered with BrightSign players uses a ‘Store and Forward’ content-delivery mechanism. This delivery method ensures that all BrightSign players will play content even if the Internet connection is lost. Within a retail network requiring local content differentiation, metadata tagging can be used to hyper localize based on any number of different tags. This allows local content to be delivered from a central location, thus saving on admin and IT maintenance costs required to control large networks with local content differences.

Continued uptime is critical for maintaining a network within a public-facing retailer or QSR. The ONELAN CMS includes the ability to fully maintain, monitor and remotely configure all players. This player-management facility ensures central control over content distribution and player health, and results in maximum network uptime. With the use of sophisticated role- based permissions within the CMS, content can be managed and approved by the appropriate users and ensures enterprise-level workflow management.

rAVe founder Gary Kayye recorded a podcast with BrightSign CEO Jeff Hastings earlier today and he explained the partnership — you can hear that here.

For details on BrightSign, go here. If you aren’t familiar with ONELAN’s digital signage CMS, go here.

Designed to create convex or concave curved video walls, TrueFLEX offers a wide range of pitch options for high-resolution and creative LED video content. Its slim and ultra lightweight construction provides a low-profile installation that needs very little space for wiring and mounting and provides single module replacement for easy onsite service. Using magnetic LED modules and set screw ports, TrueFLEX can easily attach to virtually any surface, and the external sending and receiving control, paired with quality connectors, guarantee safe and reliable module connections.

Here are the details.

The new OverView HVD5521 now joins this portfolio, with a screen diagonal of 55” and a brightness of 700 cd/m². Its narrow total bezel width of only 1.8 millimeters (measured between screens) enhances the visual consistency of the video wall.

To counter the classic problem with color and brightness level shifts in LCD video walls, Barco says the new line has something they are calling Sense X, automatic color and brightness calibration system based on integrated color sensors. This technology automatically balances the video wall at all times, eliminating the need for expensive and time-consuming manual calibration.

In addition, an optional redundant external power supply automatically switches to a new unit if one should fail, eliminating downtime due to power supply failure. And because the power supply is located remotely, its maintenance can be performed without disturbing operations. The specs for the OverView HVD5521 are here.

With the iFPD screens have 20-point touch capabilities (10 writing), the range is easy to use with common gesture interactivity; simply use a finger, stylus, glove or other opaque edged item for interactivity and touch control, and with three interactive pens included, users can actively engage with presentation materials to bring meetings, brainstorming or training sessions alive.

Pre-configured with Vivitek’s NovoConnect Solution, the screens bring wireless, cable-free presenting. With its Bring Your Own Device concept, the new range of iFPD screens offer users complete wireless connectivity to a variety of devices.

The NovoTouch equipped with the NovoConnect Solution allows for up to 64 users to connect wirelessly and display up to 4 screens simultaneously on the large format display. With on-screen annotation, mark up and wireless file sharing, NovoTouch offers a collaborative solution in the meeting.

Pricing
The LK6530i, LK7530i, LK8630i and LK9830i are available at £2,190, £3,690, £5,390 and £17,090 excluding VAT respectively. And here are the specs.

Its USB port allows for displaying images and videos seamlessly and business owners will also benefit from optimal content control with added lockout features including IR Remote, Power, Channel, Volume, Input, OSD disable and LED disable. It also includes a unique, low-power Wallpaper Mode that displays virtually any image on the screen at a reduced light level, mirroring museum conditions so the screen blends beautifully into an installed environment.

The PN-LE901 commercial LCD display will be available for shipping in late February 2017. Here are the specs.

BrightSign’s new Built-In HD module resides on a single board that measures just 70mm x 100mm. It is based on BrightSign’s market-leading media platform, boasting a hardware- accelerated HTML5 rendering engine that supports Full HD (1080p60) video. The BrightSign Built-in HD module offers Gigabit Ethernet, S/PDIF digital audio, USB 2.0, Serial connectivity as well as IR control for expanded interactive options. It also offers GPIO and UDP to enable engaging, interactive control capabilities, as well as an optional Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module for wireless connectivity and BrightBeaconTM support. The BrightSign Built-In HD module is compatible with all BrightSign software, services and supported CMS platforms.

The first two companies to integrate the BrightSign Built-In HD module (BrightSign HS123) are AVNU Digital and Industrial Image. Both will showcase their new displays, sizes ranging from 10” to 32”, in BrightSign’s stand 8-K240 at ISE 2017.

BrightSign can be found here. And, you can see the videocast launching this, LIVE, here.

The new NovoDS-4K is a wireless 4K resolution (3840×2160) digital signage player that is capable of outputting 4K@60 and includes what the company is calling an easy-to-use software content creation package. The NovoDS-4K has both HDMI input and output, built-in Wi-Fi, built-in internal storage, playlist creation, dynamic content generation (Twitter, RSS, YouTube, Google Calendar, Dropbox, weather, HTML, etc.), centralized device management over the network with remote monitoring.

The NovoDS-4K lists for £699 and will ship in March. Here are the details.

Acendo Book scheduling touch panels are standalone scheduling panels that integrate directly with popular room scheduling software like Microsoft Exchange, Office 365 and Google Calendar without additional system software or hardware requirements. The user interface background color and built-in room availability bars change between red and green to show room availability, enabling users to easily locate and book an available room directly from the panel. If that room is currently booked, the “Browse Rooms” feature allows users to quickly locate the nearest available room or the next available time from either Acendo Book or Acendo Core.

Using the Modero S Series Touch Panel look, the Acendo Book touch panels use swipe gestures to look through the room’s calendar to check availability and they can be mounted on any flat surface, including drywall, gang-box, glass, or stone, inside or outside a conference room or huddle space.

Here are all the specs.

The DX30 has built-in Intel i211 Gigabit LAN and supports Wake On LAN to provide high speed data transfers. Designed for commercial applications, the DX30 includes USB 2.0, USB 3.0, M.2, COM ports, and SATA 6Gbps. The DX30 provides two RS232 ports (one RS232 and one RS232/422/485) and one PS/2 port.

It also has built-in one DisplayPort and one HDMI as well as one optional VGA (XPC accessory PVG01) port for supporting three independent displays. With a thickness of only 43mm with a 1.3L size, with VESA Mount standard support, the DX30 is easy to integrate into small spaces. It provides continuous 24/7 operation and uses a fanless cooling design, making it silent and stable, for long-term operation.

The DX30 lists for $200 and here are the specs.

Built to withstand adverse weather conditions, FLEXStorm has adjustable sensors that communicate directly with the cabinets control system, so that variable brightness (from 6,500-7,500 Nits) changes can be made, automatically, to look the same day or night. Additionally, using a content management system, the FLEXStorm can be changed via a web-browser. The front-serviceable panels allow for quick access to the electronics and data control for any onsite service. Available in multiple cabinet sizes to best fit unique outdoor LED displays, FLEXStorm data and power connections are 100 percent water tight creating stable and reliable connections between each cabinet.

Here are all the technical details.

The new room sign appliance comes in a widescreen format with red and green availability lights on each side to show whether a room is busy or open. The unit has low power consumption, and can be powered via POE network switches, optional POE injectors or by included DC power supplies.

Connect signs show room names and interactive icons for AV tools available in the space. If there is a problem with a resource in the room, clients can report the issue to their administrator at the screen through pop-up dialogs. Once the issue has been reported, the resource icon shows as out of service until the issue is resolved. Clients can also include a logo, and show digital signage messages using an image reader.

Here are the details.

From today users can connect their TIZEN-powered SSSP displays to embed signage and benefit from:

• Dramatically improved SSSP performance including better HTML content playback and CSS animations
• Remotely change display orientation — landscape, portrait, reverse landscape and reverse portrait
• Remote firmware updating
• Real-time device management including screenshots, rebooting, on / off timer schedule, set time and date and adjust volume
• IPTV (http/hls only) and Source input (HDMI, DVI, etc.) support
• Benefit from all the previously supported features of SSSP including external storage expansion (via USB), multi zone content, advanced scheduling, conditional play, widgets and much more

Similar to previous generations of the platform, the partnership between embed signage and SSSP provides users the ability to publish multi zone digital signage content directly to the Samsung displays, without an external media player.

Here are the details.

The Hiperwall solution features software with a simpler user interface designed for non-technical users which does not require specialized servers or switches. This helps the customer to reduce costs, complexity and power usage while providing the greatest configuration flexibility. The software features an ultra-high resolution display capability with scalable size that can support a combination of objects including still images up to 1GB resolution, HD and UHD videos and streaming content and PC applications. Hiperwall says its software enables enabling the connection of unlimited number of sources via an Ethernet network to an unlimited number of displays in a video wall. It’s also expandable so a user can start small and expand later.

The user can also place content anywhere on local or remote video walls. Sizing the content within the video wall via drag-and-drop, and adding transparency, rotation or shading is simple and intuitive. When making changes on the user interface, the same thing happens on the video wall with no lag.

The  company says that Hiperwall Premium Suite software offers the following features that make it more cost-effective:

• Hiperwall is now fault tolerant delivering full active-active fault tolerance capability at a price that was until now out of range except for the most mission critical video wall operations.
• Hiperwall Premium Suite’s software-only platform will work with future technology and hardware advancements. A customer can update or enlarge their existing video wall with Hiperwall’s software upgrades and off-the-shelf hardware.
• There is no limit to the source resolution customers can display or the number of screens they can use for high resolution output. Hiperwall Premium Suite is the only software product that can display high-resolution content, even gigapixel content, at a resolution of more than one billion pixels.

Here are the details.

“Bell Media – CTV contacted us to help design a video wall that would bring a unique and fresh look to the new show,” said Advanced President David Weatherhead. “We first helped them to determine exactly which type of display technology would be best for their filming style, and then we built a stunning plasma display that is truly one of the most interesting video walls on television.”

Before selecting a display to install, Advanced tested several models in CTV’s studio. Since “Your Morning” uses many “off-axis” shots — opposed to shots captured solely from straight ahead — the video wall had to have extremely small bezel to appear seamless on television. After extensive testing, they concluded that the Plasma technology proved to be the best option, with the smallest bezel of 2.7mm. “Plasma display technology allows for really great off-axis viewing, which is important for the immersive experience that they sought to create through the display,” added Advanced Vice President of Engineering Kevin Linton.

After the decision was made, Advanced installed an Orion display, made up of 24 panels in a 3×8 panel configuration to enclose the set behind the studio’s central table and chairs. The display offers the producers the option to broadcast one unified graphic, or split the separate sections into three different graphics. The middle, right and left side wings can be divided into 2×3 and 3×3 panels, respectively, which allows producers to flank the center panel’s content with accompanying graphics, like logos or text.

And, in addition to the stunning display that’s seen on television, Advanced installed four Orion panels behind the video wall to serve as back-ups in the event that any of the front panels need replacing. “Over time, a display’s color naturally shifts, causing color balancing to become a little more complicated if a new panel needs to be installed,” explained Linton.

“Since having a unified color balance is imperative on television, we installed spares that run the same content as the front panels and degrade in color at the same rate,” he continued. “Now, if a panel needs replacing, they are ready-to-go without having to take a new panel out of the box and carefully color balance it to match the rest of the wall. This swap-spare functionality really comforts the producers, and provides them with serious peace-of-mind.”

Advanced also installed 28 custom-designed mounts that help to achieve tight seams in between each display panel, causing the panels to appear closer together within the display. Additionally, during the installation process, Advanced worked diligently to ensure that the set’s new LED lights provide ambient lighting, but do not interfere with the quality of the picture. After the video wall was installed, the team performed one final broadcast color balancing test to make sure that it looked perfect on camera.

“The video wall truly turned out to be a fantastic addition to the show,” Linton concluded. “Between the small-bezel Plasma technology, and the custom-built mounts, we were able to really achieve a spectacular final product. ‘Your Morning’ certainly achieved what they had hoped to with this investment.”