The Vatican Museums of the Vatican City have chosen plasma displays from Panasonic to be deployed throughout their facilities to enhance security and the customer experience..
The main lobby, for example, uses a 103in display, which at the time was the largest plasma available from Panasonic, as it has the most traffic and required a screen which would be visible in a crowd. Since the installation however, Panasonic has introduced the 152in Full HD 3D plasma display to its plasma line-up.
The first-floor bookshop uses a 65in display and the front of both ticket offices take advantage of four 50in plasmas on which ticket prices and options may be displayed so that customers can select what they would like to purchase before reaching the attendant.
As well as the plasmas installed for visual and informative purposes, digital signage within the Vatican Museums is used to help ensure a chaos-free, secure environment. As such, the CCTV control room hosts 32 42in displays which have been fitted to create a plasma wall, allowing the security team to monitor each aspect of the museums. This room is also the control centre for the screens located throughout the museums which are connected by LAN/WAN and Panasonic NM Stage signage software from a single computer.
Information can be uploaded to a server and distributed in real-time across the museum network via the internet and distributed to up to 3,000 sites.
“The technology inside the Vatican continues to have an important role to play from the Main Lobby to the Security room. The ability to control the Museum floor screens from a single location is essential to managing our digital signage system,” said Monsignor Nicolini, museum executive. “Our primary goal is to ensure our visitors have an enjoyable experience from the moment they walk through the museum doors to when they leave, and the technology helps us achieve this.”
The Vatican Museums of the Vatican City in Rome were founded in the early 16th century by Pope Julius II. The museums host an immense collection of art built-up over centuries by the Roman Catholic Church, with some of the world’s most renowned classical sculptures and most significant renaissance masterpieces.
Visited by individuals from across the world, the museums provide the opportunity for tourists, as well as locals, to appreciate the collection. Until 2011, the museums were using three year old LCD displays; with continuous monitoring in mind, the Vatican Museums felt it was time to upgrade its technology to introduce directional and informative signage for museum guests, as well as enhance its security control room.
“We’ve had a longstanding relationship with Vatican City and this is yet another testament to that continued support,” said Laurent Abadie, president and CEO of Panasonic Europe. “Our plasma technology allows the Vatican Museums to create and manage the digital experiences its guests receive and ensure they are kept safe despite the constant flow of traffic. We are thrilled that Panasonic was chosen to upgrade the museum’s display technology and hope that we can continue to provide visual solutions to the Vatican Museums in the years to come.”
