ESPN unveils interactive digital signage game to promote Monday Night Football

Posted on Oct 14, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Today.com ’s Bill Yackey has the scoop about ESPN’s new Monday Night Football digital signage GAME!  While you’re on their site, be sure to watch the video about it!

ESPN is creating buzz around Monday Night Football’s 40th season by allowing millions of pedestrians the chance to play on an NFL field using interactive signage.
ESPN is promoting the football season by creating an interactive digital signage experience that allows anyone walking past the displays to engage in a one-on-one challenge with a selected quarterback. The goal of the street-level game is to catch as many footballs as possible, and high scoring game players are able to submit their scores in real-time and see how they measure up to users in other cities.

The quarterback selection capability is paired with real-time updates and shows a countdown to next Monday’s game.

To present ESPN with this digital experience, Monster Media teamed up with Wieden & Kennedy and MacDonald Media. Each display uses the combination of four technologies, including: touchscreen activation, full-body responsive user tracking, real-time application, and a gaming function.

The displays are strategically located in highly-trafficked areas in New York, Boston and Chicago. Users are drawn to the displays by static signage surrounding an interactive custom LCD wall that entices users to approach the unit and interact with the game.

Vanten And Quividi Team Up in Japan

Posted on Aug 31, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Chris Phelan at the Daily DOOH has posted an article about the first integrated digital signage  measurement service in Japan:

Vanten K.K. (Tokyo, Japan, CEO: Neil van Wouw) and Quividi (Paris, France, CEO: Olivier Duizabo) recently formed a strategic partnership where Vanten will act as an integration and sales partner to assist Quividi’s entry in the Japanese Digital Signage market with its automated audience measurement solution.

As part of this strategic partnership, Vanten will add audience measurement metrics to the existing Ad reporting in EngageMedia, Vanten’s Intelligent Signage Platform. The new service will be available starting Sept. 30, 2009. Both technical teams will work together to increase their competitive advantage in the market and investigate further options such as localizing and jointly operating Quividi’s VidiCenter service in Japan.

EngageMedia currently stores playback information in a database for all content and includes location, time, and actual duration as well as a time-stamped screenshot of each content playback. Customers can easily create reports for any content, time period, or group of displays. New functionalities will add information from Quividi’s VidiReports, keeping track of how many people looked at each content item and for how long. It will also record how many people in the vicinity of the displays have an Opportunity To See (OTS) the screens and how long they remain in range (dwell-time).

Vanten started testing Quividi’s audience measurement system at Yodobashi Camera’s in-store media, YodobiTV, in December 2008. The test period showed impressive results with a very high data collection accuracy and remarkably low requirements in terms of computing resources.

Until recently, audience measurement systems have been slow to detect faces and have used significant amounts of computing power, often requiring special, dedicated computing hardware. The accuracy was also insufficient for producing reliable metrics or quality customer reports. The high price tag also proved to be a major barrier to widespread adoption of the technology. Whereas alternative systems are usually deployed only in key locations, Quividi’s affordable pricing model makes it possible to consider audience measurement with each and every display.

“We’re very excited to be working with Quividi”, said Neil van Wouw, CEO of Vanten , “Our evaluation showed them to be a best-of-breed solution. Quividi showed commitment to standardization by quickly demonstrating consistency with the OVAB audience metric guidelines, and in our estimation, Quividi is currently the only practical way to bring true audience measurement to every display in a large scale deployment. Together we can leverage EngageMedia’s ability to bring more content and advertising variations than ever before, and Quividi’s ability to provide automated and precise metrics at fine grained, single content play level. This is the vision we are striving to realize.”

“Vanten is rapidly emerging as the leading player in Digital Signage in Japan, and we’re delighted to be teaming up with a such a visionary company”, said Olivier Duizabo, CEO of Quividi. “Vanten’s plan to include audience measurement in its standard offer is perfectly tuned to our own vision: ubiquitous real time metrics will generate trust and sharpen the execution of marketing campaigns to ultimately boost the performance of Digital Signage networks. We’re confident that, jointly, we will deliver a superior solution to the Japanese market”.

About Vanten

Vanten has been operating since September 1998, and currently delivers a full suite of digital signage services and solutions. Vanten’s Intelligent Signage Platform, EngageMedia, offers world class digital signage advertising and content management, data network management, security and dynamic content feature modules. Vanten also makes award winning content for Digital Signage, and with its AdChoice division, is a leading DOOH Agency in Japan.

Capital Networks Targets Campus Markets

Posted on Aug 21, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Gail Chiasson at the Daily DOOH has an excellent post up today about Capital Networks LTD’s new market initiative:

Markham, Ont.-based Capital Networks Ltd., a major provider of broadcasting and dynamic digital signage software, has launched a new market initiative into the Canadian educational sector.

CNL’s Audience.Campus offering has been designed specifically for educational installations, enabling high schools, colleges and universities to improve communication with students across multi-site campuses, as well as within individual faculties or departments. The Audience.Campus solution can run up to 100 channels simultaneously through a single deployment which ensures that individual departments can control the content on their digital screens and deliver local information such as room schedules, or class notifications – all of which can be uploaded easily by staff or students.

“While the university may want to control the general and emergency notices on screens, many university departments want to control their own information,” says Blake Reeves, CNL’s manager of business development. “They also often each control their own budgets so the system has to be flexible as well as powerful.

“Our system works on a contentious scheduling module, so all content is ready to go at a certain time. Emergency messages are ready to run and preempt as necessary whether in one building or right across a campus.”

CNL already has a range of high profile clients in the education sector, including the University of Waterloo, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University, UCLA and University of Regina.

“We know CNL has a good product for the the campus market so decided to specialize on the educational vertical sector as one of our key targets,” says Reeves.

Among others, CNL also works with the BBC, the US Marines, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,Pan Pacific Hotels in Singapore, Cablevision and OBN.

Reeves says, “The digital signage market now stands at over US$800 million according Digital Signage Resource, and is the broadcasting method of choice for a range of industries. It’s not surprising that it’s also becoming popular in large educational institutions, like colleges and universities, because it is designed to cope with the complex layout of the buildings and the wide-reaching audience. “

CNL, founded in 1991 and a privately held company headed by Bill Trainor, president, provides its broadcasting and dynamic digital signage software to 35 countries worldwide through authorized re-sellers. educational, broadcast, cable, retail, digital signage, hospitality, military and medical applications.

Digital advertising growth drives new kiosk application

Posted on Aug 19, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

SelfService.org’s Caroline Cooper has posted an article about how savvy kiosk makers are now seeing digital signage and digital out-of-home advertising as part of their marketing mix:

As advertising continues to go digital, some kiosk makers are realizing a unique opportunity to combine a simple self-service concept with digital-out-of-home applications.

“Savvy advertisers now see digital signage and digital out-of-home advertising as part of their marketing mix,” said Digital Signage Association executive director David Drain in a contribution to USA Today earlier this year. “With an 11.2-percent growth in 2008, making it a $2.43 billion industry in the U.S., according to PQ Media, digital out-of-home is forecasted to have a 12.9-percent compound annual growth rate through 2012.”

In recent years and months, kiosk companies such as Hercules Networks and Nuvo Technologies LLC have watched the DOOH growth. Now the two are offering kiosk deployers a chance to leverage that growth to create an entirely new revenue stream.

Both companies offer cell phone-charging kiosks that feature LCD screens on which ads or brand promotions can be run. The kiosks feature as many as 10 to 24 charging tips, depending on the company and the model, and are compatible with at least 90 percent of mobile devices on the market.

Where and how to deploy the kiosk

Scott Calhoun, managing partner of Nuvo Technologies, says kiosks can be ideal for many different deployment environments. For instance, Nuvo has worked with Six Flags, United Airlines, college campuses and bars around its hometown of Baltimore, Md., in addition to convention centers and hotels. But the company is narrowing its focus.

“In the past, what we’ve done is placed them in different types of environments to see what we thought would work best,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun says airports, hotels and convention centers proved the best environments and, thus, will now be areas of focus for Nuvo.

Hercules Networks also has worked with Six Flags, and recently completed a deployment with AT&T in the Boston Celtics’ TDBankNorth Arena.

Paul King, Hercules’ CEO, says the kiosks also can make an impact in a retail setting.

“For a retailer, it’s a vehicle for them to stand out among the competition — to draw traffic into their store for a different purpose than they normally would,” King said.

A charging kiosk deployer has myriad options from which to choose. Deployers can either sell ads themselves to outside entities or to run their own branding messages and promotions on the kiosk displays. King says the choice depends on the specific goals of the business.

“Are they going to make more revenue from outside advertising or from their own advertising?” he said. “It’s case-by-case, and it ultimately comes down to a balance between customer service and revenue.”

Deployers also have the option of running the ads through a Hercules-operated network or updating the content manually via USB or Flash drive themselves. With Nuvo, deployers are provided access to a Web-based system that provides tools to manage the content independently. Deployers can access online training videos or particpate in a user blog for service and maintenance instructions.

Deployers also can associate fees with cell phone charges, or they simply can offer it as a free service. Ryan Doak, another of Nuvo’s managing partners, says more often than not, offering the charge for free is the best option for a deployer.

“Most people will find that when they deploy these, to charge a fee is probably not always the best idea,” he said. “You’re going to generate more revenue by selling advertising. We’ve found that a lot of companies will sell advertising, and now instead of making two bucks, they’re making 2,000.”

Interactive options

Both Hercules and Nuvo have also experimented with interactive applications.

“The bigger request lately has really been for touchscreen applications,” Doak said. “They use them at tradeshows, so the charging aspect would pull people into a tradeshow booth and then while they’re waiting for it, they can do an interactive application to learn more about somebody’s product or service.”

The kiosks also can incorporate text-messaging or Bluetooth capabilities. King and Hercules are working with one retail department store on an application that will detect Bluetooth-enabled devices in range and push out promotional offers from retailer to the devices’ owners.

Nuvo’s application also allows for text-message interactivity, and Doak says it can open up new avenues for deployers to engage with their customers.

“We can go back to the customer and say, ‘Hey, you’ve had 500 people text in this month,’ and not only do they know they have interest, but they have all the cell phone numbers of these people who they know are interested in their product or establishment, and they can directly communicate with them at that point.”

Cabela’s Wins 2009 Self-Service Excellence Award for Interactive Retail Kiosk Program

Posted on Jul 29, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From Digital Signage Expo.net comes the news that Cabela’s has won a KioskCom 2009 Self-Service Excellence Award for Netkey’s digital signage software in its retail stores:

Cabela’s won a KioskCom 2009 Self-Service Excellence Award for the comprehensive software solution Netkey provided for the interactive kiosks in the outfitter’s retail stores.

Netkey announced that its customer Cabela’s Inc. recently won the KioskCom 2009 Self-Service Excellence Award for “Best Overall Software Solution” for its in-store interactive kiosk program, powered by Netkey software.

Known as “The World’s Foremost Outfitter,” Cabela’s operates 30 retail superstores in the U.S. and Canada, some as big as 250,000 square feet. It also has a popular mail order catalog. The company’s Web site offers more than 200,000 items and is considered one of the leading online sites for outdoor retailing.

Cabela’s has moved aggressively to synchronize its retail channels and enhance the customer experience by extending online e-commerce capabilities into its stores using interactive kiosks. Powered by Netkey software, the kiosks also support several other customer-facing applications including product information, inventory availability, promotional registration and the ability to join Cabela’s CLUB, its popular loyalty program and Visa credit card.

“Our customers have told us they want more convenience and more options in their shopping experience at Cabela’s, and that’s exactly what the kiosks give them,” said Kari Blankenship, retail programs manager for Sidney, Neb.-based Cabela’s. “We are now able to extend our entire product selection to customers at any location, regardless of store size.”

More than 250 kiosks have been installed in Cabela’s retail stores. Kiosk application and remote management software is provided by Netkey, offering Cabela’s customers a rich interactive user experience and giving the company the ability to remotely monitor, track and update all kiosks in its stores nationwide from a single PC.

“Cabela’s is demonstrating the power and value of multi-channel retailing by bringing their online assets into the store using kiosks and giving their customers access to more products and services,” said V. Miller Newton, CEO of East Haven, Conn.-based Netkey.

To view a video demonstration of the Cabela’s kiosk, click here.

Digital signage aggregator ADCENTRICITY announces four new partners

Posted on Jun 10, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From Digital Signage Today comes the following post about ADCENTRICITY’S new partnerships:

• 01 Jun 2009

NEW YORK — ADCENTRICITY, aggregator and strategist for digital out-of-home media, today announced a new set of partnerships that will expand on its capabilities for advertisers to effectively reach more consumers in the places they frequent most. The expansion includes additional restaurants and bars, golf courses, convenience stores and various forms of public transportation. These partnerships expand ADCENTRICITY’s reach within the digital out-of-home space, providing marketing executives and agencies with the most extensive and innovative opportunities to reach consumers where they live, work and play.

Additions to the network include:

• TargetCast Networks — a network found in bars and restaurants in venues like Applebee’s, TGI Friday’s and Chili’s
• 4G Metro — provides screens in public transportation locations along with a free WiFi network for consumers
• WESEE Digital — screens are located in hair salons, coffee shops and other hospitality venues
• Hercules Networks — a network operating unique kiosks in malls catering to cell phone users, as well as screens at various Six Flags theme parks

“With these networks, ADCENTRICITY crosses the 150,000 screen threshold, delivering 275MM monthly audience impressions,” said Rob Gorrie, CEO of ADCENTRICITY. “Upholding scale and quality are two important elements of managing our digital out-of-home capacity. These new partners are a welcome addition in creating hyper-targeted and effective digital out-of-home campaigns for our advertising clients.”

ADCENTRICITY launched its AdVenue platform in 2008, a robust solution that helps marketers plan campaigns based on business objectives and goals and target by region and venue type, along with specific demographic information. ADCENTRICITY is also a member of the Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau, The ARF and POPAI and recently won an award for best local campaign given by MediaPost.

NEC Corporation Unveils New LCD Display Model

Posted on Jun 1, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Virtual Press Office has published an excellent article about NEC’s new LCD display model:

NEC Corporation unveils a new LCD display model enhanced by more than 30 advanced features of the Digital Signage Technology Suite that allow it to stand out in heavily-lit environments.

With a brightness measurement at 1500 cd/m² and remarkable contrast ratio of 3500:1, the MultiSync X461HB boasts 110% higher brightness than NEC’s previous-generation displays. The MultiSync X Series display is ideal for environments heavy with ambient light, such as corporate lobbies, atriums and restaurants.

The MultiSync X461HB includes ambient light sensor technology, which automatically adjusts the backlight depending on the ambient lighting brightness and maximizes the power management feature. Its advanced thermal protection begins with an extra thermal layer on the display panel to diffuse heat and follows with a fan-based technology specifically designed to work in both landscape and portrait modes. Internal temperature sensors control self-protective circuits, while special self-diagnostics communicate the status of thermal characteristics. The thermal protection can be monitored and controlled both locally and remotely.

The MultiSync X461HB includes the following features:

* Professional-grade LCD panel and components for the most demanding digital signage industry requirements
* 1360 x 768 WXGA native resolution in true 16:9 aspect ratio
* Brightness of 1500 cd/m2
* Contrast ratio of 3500:1 (typical)
* Built-in expansion slot, which allows for seamless integration of current and future NEC accessories and third-party components
* Sealed panel design, which provides protection against dust, grease and steam in less than optimal environments
* Carbon footprint meter, which informs and motivates responsible use of the display by calculating and tracking carbon savings
* Ethernet Control and Communication technology, which provides the highest level of remote display management and includes such features as automatic email notification for diagnostic purposes
* Diverse input connectors, which allow for maximum compatibility and flexibility during product implementation
* Improved auto-detection scheme, which quickly finds new connections and allows for user customization of input selection
* Optional speakers and stand

The MultiSync X461HB is backed by a 3-year parts and labor warranty including the backlight and will be available for July 2009 shipment with estimated street price of $3,899.

About NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc.

Headquartered in Itasca, Ill., NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc., is a leading designer and provider of innovative desktop LCD displays, professional-grade large-screen LCD displays, a diverse line of projectors, and integrated display solutions. NEC Display Solutions develops leading-edge visual technology and customer-focused solutions for a wide variety of markets, including enterprise, professional, education, medical and digital signage. For additional information about NEC Display Solutions of America, consumers can call (866) NEC-MORE, or visit the Web site at www.necdisplay.com.

Media Contact:
Philip Anast
Tech Image (for NEC Display Solutions)
(847) 279-0022, x238
philip.anast@techimage.com

Content is King: Part Two

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Today’s Paul Flanigan went to the Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit in Las Vegas last week, and has broken down his insights, thoughts, and discoveries into two posts. Day One can be found on the May 27th post here, and on the Digital Signage Website. Day Two is featured on the Digital Signage Today website, and right here:

Day Two of the Content Strategies Summit seemed to be two things overall: First, a practical application of some of the best practices (Target’s Mark Bennett showed a dozen clips that emphasize his best practices) and a much deeper dive into theory and research.

It’s not point of sale, it’s point of experience.

In 45 minutes, Al Witteman, managing director of Retail Strategy at TracyLocke, showed me that the next step in understanding the impact of digital signage and DOOH is to leverage the incredible research behind shopper marketing. It is widely known that approximately 70 percent of all purchase decisions are made in the store. Mr. Wittemen’s argument is that the emtire environment is the sales pitch, not just a sign on a shelf. Instead of creating “Digital Signage,” he would like the industry to use the term “Digital Experience.” (This may be a late entry into Dave Haynes’s post about what to call ourselves.) The environment has morphed into a holistic engagement device designed to ensure that your decisions are certain, perfect, and will have a positive impact on your loyalty in the future. It’s not “point-of-sale” any longer. It’s “Point-of-Experience.”

What I learned: This is the next phase of digital signage/experience. The industry has spent the past several months grinding away at the basic foundation of what it takes to put the content in the environment, but has yet to really work on impact – what makes the customer tick, and how we can create interactive and engaging experiences. Al asked which one of us would go into work, apply shopper marketing insights, put a stake in the ground, and drive the industry to the next level.

I will. I hope others will too.

Target is spot on. (Pun intended.)

Mark Bennett, group manager of Media Production for Target, presented Target’s best practices for Channel Red, Target’s in-store multi-channel network. His points confirmed much of how we should conduct our process for digital signage (I echo several of his points in managing my own programs). But what struck me about Mark’s presence at the conference was not so much the presentation, but the fact that another major retailer is coming forward to learn and educate on industry best practices.

You can find a detailed account of his presentation on Bill Gerba’s site here, written by Christie Liu. The article opens with, “In a rare appearance…” I think Target’s presence will be much more frequent. Like Peter Müller-Brühl’s discussion on Mercedes-Benz during Day 1, major brands will help shape the future of this industry and lay a foundation that all retailers (even the small ones) can model after. I hope that Mark and Chris Borek will continue to drive the industry forward.

What’s more valuable? CPM or REM?

Paul Ryan, President of Retail Engagement Architects, in collaboration with Retail Media Consulting, presented a solid argument for understanding the value of a message. By creating a grounded process by which measurement is achieved (not just imagined), we can move from measuring reach (CPM) to Relevance, Engagement, and Measurability (REM), or Impact.

What I learned: Building the understanding of impact starts in the process, not at the store. By creating a process aimed at a measurable result, you not only get your desired results, but you will also set the standard by which other content impacts the viewer. Plan for measurement now, not after it hits the store. An important lesson, indeed.

The five items you need in a supermarket

Remember that I asked you to list those five things you need tonight at the market? I’ll take a stab at what you wrote: bananas, milk, juice, eggs, cereal. Those were my five. Here’s the question: How many of those are listed as brand name items (instead of “juice,” you wrote “Tropicana”)? Chances are you wrote very few, if any, brand names on your list.

Hearing Mr. Witteman speak about shopper marketing research opened the door for me to see where I think the industry needs to look to build impact and value with content. Christopher Gray, Psy.D., vice president, Shopper Psychology with Saatch & Saatchi X, signed, sealed, and delivered that message.

Dr. Gray explained how we have the potential with Digital Signage (Experience?) to fill in that brand name blank. With the shopping exercise, he was, “demonstrating that brand preferences are not guarantees once a shopper is confronted with all of their choices at shelf. The fact that we tend to write down categories of items rather than specific brand names is significant and suggests that on some level, consciously or subconsciously, we are not fully committed.  As a result, there is room for influence. How to do that successfully is where the real work begins.” When we walk in a store, we not only have a frame of mind about what we want, we spend a considerable amount of time “deselecting” extraneous brands and products. That deselection state is a death knell for brands.

How can Digital Signage help brands avoid the deselection phase?  Dr. Gray presented a compelling series of arguments on how digital signage can keep a brand at the forefront of the customer’s mind when shopping.

Echoing Mr. Wittemen’s statistic that 70 percent of all purchase decisions are made in the store, and with a time span of approximately three seconds for the shopper to move into that area of impact and make that decision, how can we utilize digital messaging to cut through the clutter? Thought provoking, to say the least.

Quite frankly, Dr. Gray’s entire presentation is a series of blog posts on its own. His insights on shopping behavior and how Digital Signage relates to those behaviors was nothing short of fantastic. I hope we hear much more from Dr. Gray, Saatchi and Saatchi X, and TracyLocke.

What I learned from this: With the need to understand evolving customer desires in an ever-changing environment, we must embrace the experience and expertise of marketing insights. We can then truly begin with the end in mind.

Oh, and I need to get Tropicana 100% Pure and Natural Orange Juice with Some Pulp at the market tonight. In case you’re wondering, that’s one out of 64 Tropicana Juice and Drink varieties I can choose from. My head hurts. A little.

Context comes first

Rob Winston, senior account manager for Arbitron Out-of-Home, explained that if content is king, context is emperor. Without context, you lose the efficacy of content.

Mr. Winston noted that our culture has moved from content consumers (watching ads on a program pre-TiVo) to content customers (actively deselecting those pieces of information we choose not to see/hear). It warrants a discussion on what we consider engagement. Mr. Winston believes that engagement is where the audience makes a commitment, not just a response.

All of this wraps into context, something that seems obvious, but in reality is very difficult to achieve. How many of us have hung a TV somewhere in a public space because we knew viewers wanted to see something cool on it, and how many times did we actually consider the space around it? I’m guessing all of us have been down that road before.

Mr. Winston provided a set of simple questions that we should be able to ask and answer in any given situation where we plan to provide the customer with a digital experience:

1. Who is your customer?
2. What are they doing?
3. What do you want them to do?

If you apply these questions not only to the screen but the environment around it, it’s easy to see Mr. Winston’s compelling argument that research lives inside context, and even the best creative won’t work without it.

What I learned: The paint on the wall is much more serious than just a color. It could very well be a deciding factor in whether or not you sell anything with your screen.

The summit – Final thoughts

This was the first slide of Mr. Wittemen’s presentation, and I understood it as soon as it popped up on the screen.

The industry has seen its fair share of “how to” white papers. I have read dozens of them myself. But I believe this summit called attention to the “why behind the buy,” and the need for the industry to leverage that information. Regardless of the presentation or source, every single person the stage brought more than just a pretty piece of video to look at. We heard insight on why content was created, why the customer needed to know something, and why something worked or failed.

What was refreshing was not hearing suspicions about the agency’s role in the process of content. Historically, agencies have been trying to find their place in the industry, and they (and we) are still working out the kinks. But having them at the same table as technology experts, retail experts and industry insiders makes me believe their role in the future of this industry is extremely valuable and growing.

There was a strong contingent of retailers and agencies in attendance, and a few production houses as well. What I saw was a common thread to understand that content can only be king when we have the following: Absolute mastery of the audience based on meticulous research and shopper insights; completely streamlined technology that allows us to create unique experiences and distribute to specific channels of interactivity; and common measurement metrics that work for both large and small environments alike.
And finally, that none of this can happen without everyone at the table.

Easier said than done, I know. But doable.

Paul Flanigan is the producer of in-store digital media for Best Buy and author of the Experiate blog.

This article in its entirety can also be found on Experiate.com.

Panasonic Lowers Price of Full HD Plasma Display

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From TechShout.com we find an excellent article about Panasonic’s new pricing for its 103-inch full HD plasma display:

Cost-efficient customers come one step closer to owning a 103-inch full HD Plasma Display.  Panasonic has lowered the price of its 1080p display device from $69,999.95 to $50,000.  It was the initial price when it first debuted in December 2006.

The company claims that its Plasma displayl is the industry’s leading large-format display.  It can be used for commercial or home theater applications such as digital signage, high-end home theater and higher education.  More than 6,000 of these devices have made its way into the customers’ homes and offices since its release.

The full HD Plasma display makes watching sports, action movies and video games a delight.  It produces smooth and crisp pictures on its 7-1/2 x 4 feet viewing space.  Also known as the TH-103PF10UK, it boasts of superior panel longevity with a 100,000-hour service life.  The display also comes with a 3 year warranty and ProPlasma Concierge Service.

Andrew Nelkin, President of Panasonic Professional Display company, explained, “The combination of advancements in Plasma production technology and the tremendous worldwide success of the Panasonic 103-inch Plasma HD Display over the last two plus years have enabled us to increase range of customers at a lower price point.  When our 103-inch Plasma first debuted, it was a made-to-order product.  It soon became obvious that in ultra-large screen sizes, nothing comes close to the Panasonic 103-inch Plasma in delivering crisp, clear, blur-free images in 1080p High Definition.  D emand for the 103 exceeded our initial expectations, and its popularity continues.”

Along with its other properties, the device is also able to support up to 5 x 5 video wall natively.  The display incorporates new video processing capabilities which help achieve clear and sharp images.  Picture clarity is also observed while displaying low resolution content or zooming images in video wall applications.  With the Portrait Zoom function, a horizontal image can be displayed across three vertically placed 103 inch plasmas.  This gives users wonder visuals of more than 90 square feet.

The 103-inch Plasma display is widely used for high visibility commercial applications in the U.S.  Some of these places include CBS network’s The Early Show set, NBC  network’s Sunday Night Football studio, and 2009 Beijing Summer Olympics studio.  Other places include New York’s City Hall,  Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, and Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula.

Black Box sales manager to teach Digital Signage 101 at The Digital Signage Show

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From Digital Signage Today comes this press release about The Digital Signage Show in Las Vegas on May 6:

PITTSBURGH, Penn. — Black Box Corporation, a provider of voice communications, data infrastructure and product solutions, announced today that George Borden, Digital Signage National Sales Manager, will speak at The Digital Signage Show in Las Vegas on May 6. The title of his talk is “Digital Signage 101: 7 Key Considerations to Identify Where and How to Start.”

Digital signage is a rapidly growing market, and businesses of all sizes are benefiting from it. Whether they are a small business selling hand-made goods, a fast-food restaurant, or a public service agency, digital signage provides an affordable and effective method to deliver communications in real time.

Among other topics, Digital Signage 101 will address:

-Strategic Planning: Defining goals, objectives, applications, and action plans.

-Content creation, management, maintenance — who is responsible for what?

-Identifying and educating stakeholders on the value of digital signage for the organization and to the individual stakeholder.

-Demonstrating the value proposition of digital signage, including examples of the most commonly used applications and the problems they solve.

-Common pitfalls and problems, and ways to avoid them at the start.

-Interactive technology: Should I be using it? Best practices on implementing it.

The full line of Black Box’s digital signage solutions will also be featured at the trade show, including the latest addition to digital signage technology: iCOMPEL. Featured in the USA Today digital signage pullout special section, iCOMPEL is a complete, “out-of-the-box” solution that can boost sales and improve communications for any size organization.