Armagard will have several exciting new products on display including a stainless steel LCD enclosure, designed for wash down areas, and their double landscape enclosure, which is already proving popular for information delivery on train station platforms and other service provider locations.

These new products will be available to look at on stand #10R116 in Hall 10 of the digital signage area, and Armagard will be displaying them alongside their existing range of portrait, landscape and totem outdoor digital signage enclosures, and several other digital signage solutions.

Armagard’s new stainless steel LCD enclosure is available in sizes ranging between 24” and 42” and is designed to NEMA 4/IP 56 guidelines. A waterproof and corrosion resistant unit, the stainless steel LCD enclosure is manufactured to the same high quality engineering standard as the rest of Armagard’s existing LCD enclosure range.

Armagard’s double landscape enclosure protects side-by-side dual screens. This is already proving popular with information providers as it provides a way of delivering dual information. The twin enclosure maintains a stable internal temperature and can operate in a whole host of outdoor areas and environments where temperature and external elements may be a concern.

Armagard will also have samples of their existing digital signage and LCD enclosure range on display at ISE 2012. Their LCD enclosures are available in both portrait and landscape orientation, and they provide comprehensive protection against temperature and the elements.

Also on display are two digital signage totem solutions. The outdoor digital signage totem is a stylish and prominent outdoor display unit that is ideal for entrance areas and front of building displays. Armagard’s indoor retail totem can encompass brand messages on the enclosure unit itself, maximising branding potential.

ISE 2012 is expected to be one of the largest shows of its kind and Armagard will be among over 750 manufacturers, distributors and integrators from the AV industry, from over 100 countries, that are exhibiting at the event. For more information about ISE 2012, details are available on the ISE website. Armagard hope to see you there.

Armagard LCD Enclosures at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2012 is a post from: Armagard

In the United States and other areas, religion plays an important part in people’s lives, but increasingly, churches and

Digital signage provides effective communication for religious buildings

other buildings find themselves serving much larger communities and communicating with these more fragmented congregations requires effective outdoor messaging.

Outdoor digital signage provides religious buildings with an effective method of providing details of events and services to the local community. Furthermore, it provides an effective tool to spread religious messages.

Many religious buildings are fairly large and cater for a whole host of local events. From weddings, funerals, christenings and bar mitzvahs to Sunday schools, crèche facilities and other community services. Religious buildings, therefore, need a method of communicating what sort of services are being offered, stipulating times, places and locations, which is why outdoor digital signage is so effective.

Inside religious buildings digital signage displays are increasingly being used too. Wayfinding and use as electronic bulletin boards, a screen can replace the traditional noticeboards that many churches and other religious buildings employ to communicate to congregations.

Digital signage also offers the ability to transmit services from the pulpit to other areas of the church and even to outside areas, helping priests and other religious leaders communicate their messages to a wider audience.

Digital signage also offers churches and other religious buildings, often seen as old and stuffy, with a contemporary image, which helps engage with younger members of the community. This modernization also benefits the building organisers too as messaging becomes far simpler to disseminate to a congregation and local community with an immediate and remote method of uploading of information.

Digital signage systems are not necessarily complicated either, with simple digital signage posters or LCD screens protected in LCD enclosures, content can be uploaded with USB drives making it unnecessary to embark on an expensive and complicated networking system. A lot of content is easily home generated too with many software packages available to help generate messaging for event the busiest of church organiser.

With digital signage displays both indoors and out, modern religious buildings are finding an effective method of communication with parishioners, congregations, the young and local community in a modern and efficient manner, which helps to keep the church or other religious building relevant in today’s ever-changing technological landscape.

Growing Use of Digital Signage around Religious Buildings is a post from: Armagard

 Outdoor environments differ in weather elements, temperature and seasonal extremes. Different locations can have dramatic swings in temperature, while freak weather occurrences can also occur, so any LCD enclosure protection system for an outdoor screen needs to consider all these variables and encompass systems to cope for the extreme and unexpected.

The difficulty with protecting a TV screens from different weather variables is that often that can mean using contradictory methods. For instance, any screen, even in the mild climates can easily overheat if measures are not taken. This often involves using cooling fans that move the hot air way from the screen to replace it with cooler, fresher air. However, having vents to expel and allow fresh air in, also creates problems when you consider other weather elements such as rain, which need to be kept away from the screen.

A similar contradiction occurs when you try to counter the extreme variables in temperature that many locations experience during different seasons. In summer, it may well be that a screen is vulnerable to overheating and needs methods of cooling, while in the winter, freezing temperatures may require heating methods to prevent the screen from freezing.

Other contradictions exist for outdoor screen protection too. Any screen left outside will need protection from physical impact such as caused by vandalism. This requires a solid structure housing the screen. However, because an audience needs to view a TV screen, the screen face requires transparency, and most transparent material such as glass are fairly brittle.

Outdoor TV enclosures utilise some ingenious and sophisticated methods to counter these contradictions and ensure comprehensive protection regardless of the environment they are located.

Temperature is controlled by a combination of cooling fans, insulation  and heater systems, with exhausted hot air and access to cool air, permitted through intricate venting systems that prevent elements such as rain from permeating inside the enclosure while still allowing free movement of air. This enables an outdoor TV enclosure to cope with severe heat of summer–even in the hottest of locations–whilst also coping with the freezing temperatures of winter and Arctic locations.

Furthermore, the steel housing that protects the majority of the TV enclosure is accompanied with shatterproof screens that ensure maximum visibility of the display, while still protecting the screen face from impact.

Outdoor TV enclosures utilise some innovative and sophisticated engineering solutions to counter the various challenges that outdoor environments pose. Few other outdoor TV systems offer such comprehensive protection, which makes TV enclosures the preferred choice for most outdoor TV applications.

Sophistication of an LCD Enclosure for Outdoor TV Protection is a post from: Armagard

 From educational institutions to public galleries and churches, outdoor digital signage provides many advantages for communicating with the general public, congregations, students and local people.

 Visibility

 Perhaps the most obvious advantage of using an outdoor screen is visibility it offers. Moving images, traditional captions and bright, HD technology mean that outdoor screens are highly noticeable. While many people will walk past a noticeboard and not pay it much heed, an outdoor LCD or plasma screen will grab their attention, making it more likely passersby will read the messages.

 Because of the ability to use moving images, stream video and even provide sound, an outdoor digital signage screen also has the ability to provide content that is far more dynamic. Also, unlike noticeboards where notices can get ripped torn or become faded, messages on digital signage remain vibrant throughout their use.

 Ease of Communication

Unlike noticeboards that require somebody to go around and paste up new content, a screen placed outside can have messages uploaded remotely. This is really beneficial for those organisations where buildings are scattered around a city or large area. Universities for instance, which may have several campuses, can upload the same information on networked screens no matter how far apart they are.

 For religious buildings that often run appeals for donations, an outdoor screen is also able to relay progress in real time, helping congregations understand how much more fundraising is required for the church, synagogue, temple or mosque to reach its target.

 Immediacy

 Disseminating information quickly is another advantage of using an outdoor screen. Often, especially in emergency situations, getting the information out to people as quickly as possible is crucial. This was never so evident than during recent campus shootings in the United States, where students stumbled into the emergency, because the institution had no way of warning students of the impending danger. With a digital signage display, as soon as news of an emergency is received, the information can be uploaded immediately, warning anybody arriving at the site of the situation.

 This also means that public buildings can react to changes of information. If a building has to alter its opening hours, change schedules, information is able to be disseminated instantly, preventing frustrations from the service users.

Benefits of Outdoor Screens for Public Buildings is a post from: Armagard

While it’s important to ensure any outdoor screen is waterproof and protected from the weather, it is equally important to ensure that the signage can handle the variable temperatures of an external environment.

The temperature in outdoor areas can vary from one extreme to the other. In summer, an outdoor screen may have to cope with sweltering temperatures, which can lead to overheating and eventual failure of the screen. In winter, the opposite problem occurs and the need to prevent screens from freezing is also essential to prevent failure.

Whether designed for outdoor use or standard devices housed in outdoor LCD enclosures, all LCD screens have a limited temperature range. Once exceeded, a screen will soon fail so for continuous operation, keeping the screen within this temperature range is critical.

Outdoor digital signage is particularly vulnerable to overheating in hot climates or throughout summer. Screens, as with any electrical appliance, produce a certain amount of heat throughout their operation. Not only does this heat have to be transferred away, but the effects of ambient heat also require consideration.

For a screen designed for outdoor use, there are different methods of heat expulsion employed, but the display will have a finite maximum as of ambient temperature it can operate in. However, the difficulty with estimating ambient temperature is that you never know for sure exactly what the maximum temperature will be. In some locations, while summer may generally be mild, heat waves and freak temperature could occur, and possibly disable a screen, so erring n the side of caution is always advisable.

Freezing temperatures, especially during wintertime are also disabling for an outdoor digital signage display. In some locations, extreme cold is more common, and outdoor digital signage needs protection especially from sub zero temperatures. Again, erring on the side of caution is always the best option, with areas that regularly receive sub zero temperatures requiring heating systems that automatically switch on whenever temperatures drop too low.

With an LCD enclosure containing heaters, cooling fans and other temperature control components, an outdoor screen can function safely throughout the year, without becoming disabled by freak weather occurrences that can quickly disable the display.

Importance of Temperature Control for Outdoor Digital Signage is a post from: Armagard

The sun can cause several problems with an outdoor screen, which lead to viewing problems. And any screen where the audience can’t see the content is not accomplishing the intended requirements. Coping with the problems caused by the sun is not easy, and requires different methods depending on the problems caused:

Screen Glare

Screen glare is something that may be familiar to most people. If you’ve ever had to shut the curtains whist trying to watch TV at home during the day, then the reason was probably due to screen glare. Screen glare is when the sun is reflected off the surface of the screen face and can make it impossible to see the content.

The simples cure for screen glare is to make sure the screen is not facing the direct path of the sun; however, this is not always possible especially for south facing screens (or north facing in the southern hemisphere).

Using an anti-reflective glass is one of the only solutions to prevent screen glare, but this has the drawback of tinting and dimming the screen, so a screen of higher brightness is needed.

Brightness

High brightness screens are a prerequisite for outdoor use. Because of the sun’s brightness and the problems caused by screen glare, standard indoor screens often struggle when it comes to readability.

Screen brightness is measured in candelas (sometimes called nits) and an indoor screen typically has a candela value of around 500. For outdoor digital signage, to ensure the screen can cope against the brightness levels of the sun, candela values of at least 1,200 are needed—the higher the better.

Screen Heat

Another problem caused by the sun, especially when the screen faces the sun’s path, is overheating of the screen face. Continuous sunlight bearing down on a screen may result in the hotspots developing, which in turn can lead to permanent burn marks appearing on the screen. While tints and anti-reflective glass can alleviate this problem to some degree, often the only solution is to provide a curtain of cool air across the screen face, transferring any heat build-up away.

Problems with the Sun is a post from: Armagard

Outdoor LCD screens come with a high price tag, and they mark a significant investment for any purchaser, especially considering that it’s nearly impossible to calculate an accurate ROI (Return on Investment) for outdoor digital signage.

Quite often, these screens while well-suited for operation in all sorts of weather systems, being waterproof and with wide temperature ranges, can fall short of other protection that is just as necessary for use in outdoor locations.

Brightness

High brightness screens are essential for outdoor use. Sunlight can very easily overpower a screen’s brightness making it virtually unreadable, so any outdoor screen needs the ability to counteract the sun’s brightness. Typically, a standard LCD or plasma screen comes with a nit rating (measure of luminance) of around 500, and many LCD displays built for outdoor use have similar nit ratings; however, for outdoor readability, a screen should really have a nit rating above 1,200 otherwise on a bright, sunny day the screen will become unreadable.

Temperature

While many outdoor screens have a wide temperature range, often it is not adequate to cope with extreme variations some locations experience during the different seasons. Temperatures exceeding 30 degrees in summer and falling below zero in winter can easily disable an outdoor screen. Any screen placed outdoors needs to cope with the extremes that a location may have to endure, no matter how rare.

Physical protection

One aspect of protection often not afforded by outdoor screens is physical protection. Because outdoor digital signage is often left out overnight in unsupervised locations, the risk of vandalism and accidental damage mean the screen is incredibly vulnerable. Housing the screen in a protective digital signage enclosure is, therefore, essential; however, as outdoor digital signage, enclosures provide all the weather and temperature protection a screen needs for outdoor use, there is little need to invest in an expensive outdoor screen at all. Simply place a standard screen in an outdoor enclosure and ensure protection whilst saving money.

There is More to just Waterproofing for Outdoor Digital Signage Protection is a post from: Armagard

Cathode Ray Tube televisions (CRTs) like this, while bulky and heavier than modern flat screen LCD or plasmas, certainly had longevity that modern TVs do not.

The lifespan of a modern television is measured by its half-life, when the screen fades to half its potency and, therefore, needs replacing. Most consumer-grade screens used around the home have a half-life of about five years. For digital signage, things are a little different. While most digital signage applications use commercial-grade screens, which are designed to last longer than consumer-grade screen, the conditions in which they operate is more demanding.

The backlight of an LCD governs its half-life, and a commercial grade backlight usually lasts for about 60,000 hours. Because digital signage displays tend to run continuously, 24-hours-a-day, this means that most commercial-grade screens will need replacing after about six years; however, in outdoor locations, this length of time is greatly reduced.

To function outdoors, outdoor digital signage needs a high brightness screen. As the backlight of an LCD generates its brightness, this means a more powerful lighting system, which reduces the lifespan of the display. Furthermore, because outdoor environments have variable temperatures and conditions, this further reduces the lifespan of the LCD, requiring the screen to be replaced more often.

Outdoor digital signage displays are expensive commodities. Because of the waterproof and weatherisation requirements, outdoor LCDs can cost five to ten times the price of indoor screens, making replacing the screens an expensive prospect.

By using protective outdoor enclosures, the cost of screen replacement is dramatically reduced. As they allow standard screens and the same protective enclosure can be reused time-and-time again with several generations of screen, the savings can be substantial, even when using high brightness screens. As screen replacement is an ongoing cost of running outdoor digital signage, over time, the cost of an LCD enclosure soon pays for itself.

How Long Does an Outdoor Screen Last? is a post from: Armagard

This works perfectly at home as a landscape screen is what all TV programs and DVD makers produce content in and has similarities (but not the same) to the aspect ratio used in film. Using a screen outside of the home, however, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stick to landscape mode.

Portrait mode

Portrait Mode

Many digital signage displays seen around shopping malls, retail stores and places like airports, are often positioned in portrait mode, with the screens placed vertically, often flat against a wall. This 9:16 orientation has some benefits, namely in space saving. As digital signage screens need placing on a wall at eye-level, placing them in portrait mode takes up less space than landscape mode and enables the placing of more screens on any given space.

Portrait mode is also good for providing content with long images such as people, as it enables the lengthier images to be larger than in landscape mode.

Landscape Mode

Perhaps the biggest advantage of landscape mode is that people are more used to seeing a screen in this orientation. As it is the same orientation people view televisions at home, they are more able to take in large quantities of information on a landscape screen. Most information screens at airports and train stations use landscape mode, enabling them to provide large quantities of information such as timetables and schedules.

Landscape mode

Best for Recall

While surprisingly, very little research has ever been conducted into which is more effective for outdoor digital signage, landscape or portrait. What research there is points to landscape being the better solution for recall of an advert, and is perhaps due to people’s familiarity with landscape mode screens; however, for advertisers, portraiture seems to be the orientation of choice for indoor installations, but for outdoor digital signage, billboards in landscape mode seem to be the orientation of choice.

Outdoor Screens – Choosing Landscape or Portrait is a post from: Armagard

No longer do these types of businesses or institutions need to hire specialist digital signage integrators, as erecting your own outdoor screen can be fairly straightforward. And with the amount of software available, which can edit content too, and some, such as the new You Tube video editor are also free of charge, so people can take control of their own content too.

Just because you can, however, doesn’t necessarily mean you should, especially if you are using an outdoor digital sign to increase sales via advertising and promotions. But for many users, keen to provide information or raise company awareness with a branded message, generating your own content can save a fortune.

Generating content does require some thought, though. Simply cobbling together a few slogans, images and messages, may not be effective at getting across the message you want to convey.

There are 5 key points to remember when generating content for outdoor digital signage

Keep it simple—Audiences don’t spend long looking at outdoor digital signage so content needs to be simple and to the point. Cluttered and complicated content isn’t effective and anything on the screen needs to be big and bold.

Make it Engaging—Keeping things bold, bright and clear also helps make keep a sign engaging. Use bright colours and bold imagery, try and capture an audiences attention.

Meet your Objectives—make sure you know what your objectives are—what you want the screen for—if it is to draw attention to a promotion, make sure the message isn’t hidden behind fancy transitions or other content.

Suit the Environment—try and make sure the style of content is appropriate for the environment. A screen outside a religious building such as a church will need a different style of content to a screen outside a bar.

Suit the audience—similar as above, remember who the audience is and try and tailor the content to suit their needs and expectations.

Another important aspect to generating you own content is testing and trying new approaches. The great thing about digital signage and generating your own content is that it is easy to upload new messages; so if something isn’t working, try a different approach.

Outdoor Digital Signage – Making your Own Content is a post from: Armagard