Andy Fliss, director of marketing at TV One, advises that commercial displays and a content strategy are crucial for effective digital signage solutions.
What do you think is the most exciting technology in digital signage at the moment?
I would say that the movement away from “flat and square” is one of the most exciting technology developments in digital signage at the moment. There are some fabulous applications showing how mosaic videowalls can be created with displays of varying sizes, as well as curved and non-linear screens in eye catching designs. Although not quite as “exciting”, Cloud-based content management is technically impressive for its flexibility and accessibility.
What three pieces of advice would you give to an integrator looking to move into the digital signage world?
- Use commercial displays – don’t go cheap!
- Strongly consider using fibre optic signal transmission such as the Magenta VOYAGER. Current Cat5/6 solutions are fine in controlled environments, but retail or public spaces create too many unknowns that absolutely kill profit in technical support and troubleshooting.
- Be certain that there is plan for on-going content. Hardware without budgeting for creative solutions is worthless and it’s not even worth quoting a system that is not pre-planned with a serious content creation flow. In the end, the hardware is the least expensive part of digital signage.
In digital signage projects, what factors are most commonly overlooked?
Drawings and system plans often ignore the installation environment. This is potentially fatal. Also, provide a means to provide Content and Measuring ROI.
Tell us about a favourite recent installation your company has been involved with.
The most intriguing installation is the Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT), The Cube project in Australia (pictured). This system combines a host of technologies that range from CGI, touchscreen interfaces, multi-projector displays and videowall processing to create an interactive experience that truly mirrors reality.
This QUT project was awarded a DSE Apex Gold Award in 2014,the highest honour for the world’s largest interactive multi-touch installation. For this project, TV One supplied three CORIOmaster’s to drive 12 edge-blended Panasonic projector displays. The CORIOmaster’s provided ultimate flexibility, as they allowed the ability to send any source to any combination of screens. An independent, interactive window is available for each source PC, which is mapped to a single output window for its respective display device. When projected all windows are blended into a single panorama.
TV One’s CORIOmaster, offers a new, more efficient approach to building video systems. Using tvONE’s latest CORIO3 technology, it gives the user access to new levels of video processing power to achieve new heights of creative and dynamic video displays. All in one 4RU chassis.
