Deployers and vendors upgrade flatscreens with touch.
*Editor's note: This article is the second in a two-part series of coverage of the Digital Signage Expo. To read part one, clickhere.
The phrase "your finger now acts as the computer mouse" resounded through the Navy Pier Festival Hall May 16 and 17 during the Digital Signage Expo. One of the most popular trends seen at the show was the conversion of existing LCD and plasma screens to touchscreens that use infared or optical touch overlays. The idea: Convince deployers to convert rather than buy new touch-enabled signs.
The following exhibitors featured touch overlays as well as the latest in digital-signage technology.
3M showed its Vikuiti rear projection film, which can be die-cut and placed on a window to allow projected images to show up only on the film. 3M had its logo cut into Vikuiti film and placed on several windows in the booth, with dynamic content rear-projected to fill the confines of the logo.
"Vikuiti film gives people free license to do whatever they want as far as projection goes," said Mark Schuleman, marketing manager for 3M.
According to Schuleman, content can be edited through Adobe Creative programs. The files are then sent to a design company that cuts the film, and then to a Web master who makes sure the projected image is the same size as the film.
C-NARIO, a digital-signage-software company, showed one of its video walls, part of a deployment at JFK Airport. The wall was powered by the Canvasing Tool, which allows one PC to power up to four screens of simultaneous content.
Draping across the back of C-nario's booth was the C-nario Seamless projection screen, which uses software to blend images from two projectors to display an image twice as long with no seam in the middle. The projectors recognize where the middle seam is located and work together to blend the colors.
NEC showed two sizes of Multeos flatscreens, the company's newest line of commercial-grade digital signs. The line is offered in 40- and 46-inch sizes and is offered in three different connection formats: IT for standard connections, AV for audio/video connections, and AVT, which features an embedded digital tuner. The Multeos also features an expansion site for the addition of media cards.
NEXT WINDOW showed a touch overlay for flatscreens that transformed existing LCD or plasma screens into touchscreens. The screen overlays, which operate by using optical sensors, were displayed on flatscreens from Panelworx.
"This is particularly useful for customers who bought LCD and plasma screens several years ago and don't want to scrap them just to get touch technology," said Lori Keenan of smarthinking, Next Window's marketing agency.
Interactive-retailing supplier MTI demonstrated a proximity-based advertising solution using digital signage. In a retail setting, the context-sensitive sign first displays general information about a selected product, but as the customer approaches the display, a sensor triggers a change in content. The message becomes more targeted.
Although it has been available for about a year now, PANASONIC presented its 103-inch LCD screen at the center of its booth. Shannon Vander Giessen, director of business development for Panasonic, said the 1080p 103-inch screen has seen deployments in gaming as well as command and control applications. In fact, Panasonic has a presence at the Miami's Dolphins Stadium. The price tag for the screen: $69,990.
Panasonic also was showing the Envision, a 50-inch infared overlay frame that can be added to existing LCD and plasma screens to give them touch capabilities.
On display at the RICHARDSON ELECTRONICS booth was the company's all-in-one digital-signage solution, sold under the brand Pixelink. Sizes ranged from 19 inches to 46 inches and were capable of supporting Richardson touch technology. The Pixelink brand is manufactured in Asia and features embedded PCs for content management.
Richardson also presented its integration of 3M's MicroTouch DST touchscreen into NEC's new Multeos 46-inch flatscreens. The DST touchscreen, also on display in 40- and 46-inch versions at 3M's booth, is powered by signals that are interrupted by the touch of a finger.
SYMON displayed its line of Target Vision digital-signage solutions, including the LCD600-42 and all-in-one 42-inch digital sign. Above the leather couches in Symon's "lounge area" was a video wall made of four 46-inch flastscreen monitors. Powering the video wall was the SPA400 media player, which divides content among a specified number of screens.
Symon recently acquired Message Link, a hospitality digital-signage company. Message Link has overseen digital-signage deployments in Madison Square Garden, the MGM Grand and numerous Hilton hotels.
VANACOM is the official U.S. distributor of DISPLAX, a Portuguese digital-signage provider. Displax produced an "interactive foil" that can stick to glass and acrylic, making any surface a touchscreen. The foil is particularly effective for giving projection screens touch capabilities, says Sharon Phillips of FMI, Vanacom's maketing agency.
Presently, the Displax foil, which is powered by electrostatic touch technology, is being placed on clear tables or bars for advertising enhancement.
WIRELESS RONIN won two awards at DSE, one of which highlighted the company's "Creative Content for Environmental Design Integration" for a digital sign at Canterbury Park Casino in Shakopee, Minn. The sign was deployed on the baggage claim of the Minneapolis Airport.
Wireless Ronin also won best-in-class for "Creative Content in a Retail Store" for its interactive sign in the Zia Sleep Sanctuary. Zia Sleep is a mattress and bedding store. In the store, a digital sign acts as an information and music kiosk that allows customers to preview meditating music, sounds of nature and other aural sleep aids.
X20, a company that formerly developed TV-broadcasting technology, offered trials of the Xpresenter Remote Manager 2.0, a remote content-management system designed and used by X20's in-house content-creation team. Jay Martin of X20 demonstrated the program, which, in addition to content creation, allows users to view live screen activity on any screen in the network.
X20's chief executive, Dave Wilkins, previously worked as an on-air graphic designer for ABC and CNN. He also developed CNN's scrolling news feed. The Xpresenter, as one might imagine, supports a dynamic scrolling news feed.