Wednesday 16 December 2009

Kiosk Enclosure –Think Outside the Box for Success.

Image is everything – when a business is selling a product or service, image can attract customers like a magnet or the marketing campaign can be left dead in the water.

When a company has recognised a need for a kiosk and the likely stream of usage without affecting and branding or marketing activity that grabs passing customers, they tend to rely on kiosks to for selling their range of products or services.

Enclosure = Marketing Tool.
When deploying enclosures you have to consider what the hook is and how it is used to attract customers? The enclosure can be designed to catch customer’s eyes and create a buzz.

The way to create eye catching units is to feature bright, bold images that can also be used in branding your products or services. Another option is to integrate speakers into the kiosk and can be used when customers do not notice the digital signage, appealing to other senses.

When designing the enclosure or kiosk it has to be bold and cry out to passers by Use me!

When a Retailer’s workforce needs educating on a new product or service, kiosks can be used for the employees to buy into using the kiosks and in turn those workers then direct customers to the kiosks for any additional information. The only problem occurs when a small minority of employees are frightened of the kiosk thinking the kiosks will replace their position/job.

This is totally wrong, as employers can use those workers in other ways, such as stacking shelves and helping customers in a face to face situation. These workers can be the kiosk ambassadors and even take customers to the kiosk and give them a demonstration on how it works – reinforcing the bond between the business and the customer.

We own the world leading manufacturer of outdoor TV boxes, making them the perfect external enclosure.

Monday 5 October 2009

Digital Signage And Its Hidden Components.

When considering a digital signage project users normally focus on screen size and software packages, for the integrator however there is an important component that the user rarely considers, the distribution technology and platform.

This infrastructure transmits the digital video and audio from the server to the appropriate displays and is a key contributor to actual digital signage performance.

In addition, as the connecting components for all displays, the distribution technology can be a significant part of the project budget. That is why choosing the right distribution channel is vital to ensuring a successful digital signage installation.

The three options open for dynamic signage distribution are:

Data networks
Fibre optic cable
CAT5 cable

Each platform has its benefits and drawbacks as outlined below.

Data Network Platform.
A data network platform uses computer network infrastructure in order to transmit content in the form of compressed multi-media files (such as MPEG), from the management centre to the central server and from there to the computer connected to the display device. The display end computer decompresses the files, then displays them on the displays.

Benefit – This is a god cost effective method, providing there is an existing infrastructure and it can cope with the demand.

Drawback – requires a Central Processing Unit for each display used, as well as needing a sound, reliable infrastructure that is already in place.

Fibre Optic Cable Platform.
Fibre is a transmission medium favoured for applications that need high band width, long distances and complete immunity form electrical interference. Making it ideal for dynamic signs, which requires high resolution and transmission over long distances. Unlike network platforms fibre optic cable does not require CPU’s or special software at the display end. All that is required is a transmitter and receiver unit for each display.

Fibre options come in two forms: either single mode or multimode fibre. Single mode fibre provides a higher transmission rate and up to 5o times the distance than multimode, but it costs more. In general, the difference between the different types of fibre should be the result of a simple cost benefit evaluation: the distance and level of resolution or performance required versus the acceptable investment in distribution technology.

Benefit – Fibre optic provides network independent performance without downtime or transmission lags. It can transfer media over 40Kg and more.

Drawback - However fibre optic is a point-to-point technology, in other words a pure fibre optic cable solution will not allow multiple displays to receive output from a single video source. This is an issue when installing in malls and airports.

For outdoor installations, a good quality LCD enclosure and plasma enclosure are equipped with fibre and Cat5 cable access.

Wednesday 23 September 2009

How Does a Car Dealer benefit from Digital Signage?

With the financial world effecting the automotive industry, we take a look at how the dealerships can benefit from digital signage.

Reinforce the Brand Image.

Digital signage can power your brand forward with consistent, fresh messages for either national coverage or the parent manufacturer.

The colour and clarity of professional grade LCD screens makes watching the Super Bowl awesome and surpasses anything that static poster signs can offer, making digital signage the foremost used marketing tool.

No more fighting with the manufacturer for promotional material, as you can split the screen and feature images of the fleet, with videos and other feeds to contribute success to your signage campaign. You can use the signage to promote the local dealer in the same way a multi – national corporation does.

Increase Staff knowledge whilst increasing sales.

In this day and age, high turnover of staff is common place, digital signage is used for training each new employee, helping them to memorize the statistics and details of each vehicle. With the deployment of Interactive kiosks, this is achieved by referring customers to the displays, sot hey can have a “walk through” for the vehicle of their dreams. The sort of information gained by the customer from these kiosks provides customers with enough knowledge to go forward with the purchase.

Decrease perceived waiting time.

Whilst customers are waiting, they can be made aware of the promotional offers as well as finance details arming the customer with enough information so they are ready to move ahead. Videos used in digital signage are perfect, as potential buyers can see the model they want in action, such as crossing flooded rivers for an SUV or driving fast round a test track for a sports car.

Cost Savings.

Static banners and posters are expensive to keep replacing, especially when you want the content to remain relevant throughout the year, this is one major advantage of digital signage, as the content can be updated at the click of a mouse. No more waiting for the printer to get back to you with a lead time. As well as cost savings there are also environmental savings too, when you move to outdoor digital signage you are proving a greener solution, as the old printed advertisements will not end up in land fill.

Controlling your network from the office.

Nothing else puts you in total control of your signage than dynamic signs, as you can integrate them into your wireless network in the office, no matter if you have a single screen or multi – screen signs these can all be controlled from one central point – the office!

Future proofing your dynamic signage.

A dynamic signage system can easily be integrated into your inventory and POS system, making it an awesome tool that incorporates both branding and sales live on the same screen.

Article brought to you by LCD Enclosure Global - anything else is a compromise.

They are the premier manufacturer of outdoor plasma enclosure as well as lcd enclosure manufacturer and have recently launched a gas pump sign enclosure, for digital signage on fuel retailers forecourts.

Sunday 23 August 2009

More about Industrial LCD Enclosures

With the gaining popularity and exceptional performance digital signage is being adopted in most factories as they feel this to be a cost effective solution. Factories use these digitally signed LCD displays in their floors for various purposes. Some of these include training their staffs, monitor the production activity daily and also to portray the company’s product to the visitors.

This tends to be a cost effective solution as these digital hoarding can hold different information at different time and thus are one time investments. Though this is a great step ahead, it is not without its traditional problems. As with every other electronic equipment these digital signed LCD and LED are prone to damages and even small dust particles or a splash of water could crash them.

In a factory where you can’t control the number of people walking around and also the dust and smoke involved, you got to think of the right methods to protect these displays. It is in this regard, Industrial LCD Protective enclosures come into picture. These protective elements protect the LCD display from vandals and also from environmental pollutants.

Some IP54 LCD enclosures available in the market are the cheapest solution if you got to protect the displays only from dust and minor fluid splashes. You can also go for NEMA LCD enclosures if you want to protect these displays from strong water jet and these can be used in factories that clean their floors regularly with water.

The basic principle behind this enclosures is that your LCD display will be mounted to a VESA plate and the there will be grommets closed that gives a waterproof sealing to your display. Some of these units are also capable of maintaining and regulating the internal temperature and you can go for the one that fits in your budget.

Tuesday 28 July 2009

Digital Signage

Outdoor digital signage is one of the fastest changing businesses in the world, as it revolves around technology and as we all know technology does change over night.

This is why when outdoor digital signage is used, it has to have some sort of protection from the elements and also offer some futureprofing for upgrades of equipment. It is no good if the solution is right for now but will not accommodate future equipment. Dicover the benefits and drawbacks of digital signage.

The post has been brought to you by LCD Enclosures Global - Europe's leading manufacturer of LCD enclosures - anything else is a compromise.

Monday 27 July 2009

Digital Signage & The Travel Industry.

Understanding digital signage is one thing, but integrating digital signage into the travel industry is a real winner.

You see the more people who travel (and there are a lot...) they are entertained whilst they wait for their planes, trains etc with digital signage, this in turn gives a perceived reduced waiting time also known as wait warping.

This makes them more recptive to advertisers marketing messages due to their relaxed mood, ready for their holiday.

This post was brought to you by LCD Enclosures Global - anything else is a compromise.

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Is it the Death of LCD and Plasma TV’s used in Digital Signage?

Well it’s not time to through them in the skip, however a new technology called OLED displays could push LCD and plasma televisions into the background, making them redundant before they should be.

OLED stands for Organic Light Emitted Diode screens, this is not a new technology as it has been around for a number of years, when Sony launched an 11” display last year for $2,500 the industry thought they had gone insane, not now…

OLED’s have a larger colour range compared with LCD displays, as well as being thinner and using less energy than a plasma display.

With the recession hitting so hard, the retail rollout has been held back, the three main players in this field have got products ready to roll; Sony, Samsung & LG.

Samsung have a 14 inch and 31 inch display production ready, LG confirmed they have a 15 inch display ready for shipping in December 09.

Apple are also working with the idea of putting OLEDS into their range of iPod Touch media players by the end of 2009.

One of the reasons OLED’s should become more popular is that they are built with fewer parts than it’s LCD counterparts, making them less expensive to manufacture. With a typical LCD display taking 100 steps to manufacture a similar OLED only takes 86 steps.

Flexible OLEDs will be a product of the future, allowing the displays to be bend or folded and still work, flexible OLEDs will be easier to integrate into any range of LCD enclosures or HDTV case.