Information screen can also provide news and other content

The difficulty in providing information for all these industries is that the information is forever changing and needs updating, for the transport industry, this could be minute-by-minute so finding an effective means of updating information is critical.

Traditional methods such as paper noticeboards and PA systems have their limitations, especially when information forever changes, but using a modern flat screen device is an ideal method of communicating information to customers.

The great advantage of using information screens is the immediacy information can be uploaded. Railway stations have been using information screens for years inside their ticket offices and on their platforms. This enables customers to view when the next train is due and discover any cancellations.

Some locations prove difficult to provide information screens, however. Outdoor locations and areas that receive extreme seasonal weather can cause any installed screen to fail.

To provide an information screen in open, outdoor locations, or in areas that experience extreme weather, requires the use of a protective TV enclosure.

LCD enclosures house normal TV screens but ensure they are kept dry and at the right temperature for use in extreme locations. Built to European IP65 guidelines, an LCD enclosure is designed to prevent moisture and weather elements from getting inside to the display, but the real key to their use in outdoor locations are the components inside.

Keeping the screen at the required temperature, even when ambient temperatures are extremely hot, or below zero, require the use of climatic systems. Cooling fans help carry heat away preventing overheating while thermostatically controlled heaters ensure that the temperature inside the enclosure remains constant, no matter how cold the ambient gets.

By using an LCD enclosure, outdoor information screens can function throughout the year, providing customers with the necessary and relevant information to keep them happy.

Information Screens for Outdoors is a post from: Armagard

Audio is rarely used for digital signage applications but why is this? Surely, as TVs at home provide sound, why can’t out of home TVs?

There are many difficulties and disadvantages of using audio in digital signage, and for many applications, audio offers very little advantage, but there some occasions when audio use is effective.

While most LCD screens have in-built speakers that provide the sound when we watch TV at home, these speakers are inadequate for large open areas full of people, the typical locations for digital signage.

TV speakers are very directional and only effective at close range, in open areas the sound bleeds off very quickly while having the volume too loud can create distortion. Using spotlight speakers provide a better quality of sound, albeit just as focussed, but the difficulty then arises of having to mount and install them separate to the display.

Even in smaller retail units, sound is not always advantageous, especially if the same audio content is being relayed over and over again. It can soon become monotonous and grating for consumers faced with the same jingles and audio calls for action, not to mention driving poor shop employees to distraction by the repetition.

For outdoor digital signage, the difficulties in providing sound are multiplied manifold. Outdoor areas are even wider and expansive, so sound bleed means that other than those standing right next to the device, the sound will be inaudible. Also, the housing of an outdoor LCD enclosure will further muffle any TV speakers inside.

Providing speakers outdoors is also more difficult as they will need protecting from the weather and vandalism.

For some indoor applications, sound can boost an effectiveness of a screen if used cleverly. Occasional sounds, spaced several minutes apart, used to attract attention can work if relevant to the product that is being promoted. But overdoing it can lead to repetition and annoyance.

Using Audio with Digital Signage – Good Idea? is a post from: Armagard

The transport industry, in particular the railways, have uses LCD screens for providing information for years. A common sight inside railway stations, screens let passengers know of departure times, delays and cancellations.

The speed of uploading information is the great advantage of using LCD screens for railway and train companies. Once a train is delayed, relaying the information to passengers takes seconds, reducing frustration and complaints.

Traditionally, screens placed inside, in locations such as the ticket office, could provide this information, but increasingly, more screens placed on the platforms themselves are providing news of cancellations, delays and arrival times.

Of course, the difficulties with placing screens on railway platforms is that they are essentially outdoor environments so train companies require a form of protection for the display, to prevent damage caused by the weather, and particulates and debris blown across the platform by fast-moving locomotives.

While waterproof, outdoor screens don’t usually have adequate protection against dust, and lack physical protection needed for railway platforms.

Increasing, railway platforms use LCD enclosures as a means of screen protection. LCD enclosures several advantages for use on railway platforms, firstly, the comprehensive protection defends against weather, dust and physical impacts. Secondly, it allows the train companies to use the same sort of screens as they use indoors.

The temperature systems fitted inside LCD enclosures provide another advantage for train companies. As most nations have railway systems, the temperature ranges of platforms from country to country varies wildly. Some locations that experience high levels of heat require an LCD enclosure with cooling fans or even air conditioners, while areas that experience low temperatures need heaters inside the LCD enclosures. And in some locations where heat varies to both extremes depending on the season, may require both.

Generally, outdoor screens don’t offer the same temperature flexibility, which is why so many rail companies now use LCD enclosures.

LCD Enclosures at Railway Stations is a post from: Armagard

Not everything can be done outdoors, however, and often if there is something good on TV, perhaps the big game or a film premiere, you have to leave the sunshine and head back indoors.

Outdoor TVs are available but as they are highly expensive and perhaps only affordable to a select few and perhaps only be justifiable in locations where outdoor living is more than just for a few weeks a year. Outdoor TVs are also extremely vulnerable and make a tempting target for thieves so if you do install one it has to be properly secured.

For those of us unable to justify the many thousands of dollars for an outdoor TV, there is an alternative solution that enables you to watch TV outside, securely, safely and for a fraction of the cost.

An outdoor TV enclosure, as the name suggests, is an enclosure that allows standard TV devices to be taken outdoors. As these waterproof and weatherproof cabinets can house almost any make or model of modern flat screen TV—either LCD or plasma—you can choose to use either an old TV knocking around the home, or buy a new one, just for outside.

And whatever option you decide, the total cost of the outdoor enclosure and TV will be many times less than that of an outdoor screen. Furthermore, outdoor TV enclosures not only protect the TV from the elements, ensuring it stays dry, they also maintain a steady internal temperature so the screen can be left out throughout the year.

LCD enclosures are also tough, made from steel, with shatterproof screens that can be securely mounted making the outdoor TV resistant to both vandalism and theft.

Outdoor TV Enclosure

Backyard TV – Household Luxury on a Budget is a post from: Armagard

Obviously, not all these locations are as clean, warm and dry as your average office – and many industrial locations are regularly hosed down or cleaned making them precarious areas for devices like PCs, monitors and other computer peripherals.

And in locations like hospitals and clean rooms where infection control is essential these devices have to be cleaned regularly – and washing computers can be fraught with difficulty. It’s not just the electronic devices either, the peripherals like keyboards and mice are virtually impossible to get clean as all the nooks and crannies are ideal places for bacteria cultures to grow.

Fortunately, there are many methods for allowing computers and other IT equipment to not only work in locations where water is used liberally, but there are also specialist devices designed for use in hospitals and clean rooms.

Medical keyboards and washable mouse pointing devices are designed to prevent bacteria from growing. Often manufactured from germ resistant silicone, these devices can be washed without fear of damage.

Computers however, are a different animal and most office PCs can neither be washed down or can provide a barrier against pathogens; however, waterproof computer enclosures are available that can house standard devices, including the monitors, can be used. These house the standard PC but as the enclosure can be washed and hosed down they are an easy way of using computers in wet and wash down locations.

For medical areas, restricted breathing and airtight computer and monitor enclosures do a similar thing – but have the added function of preventing pathogens from getting in, or out, of the enclosure.

Even printers can be protected in wash down environments as waterproof printer enclosures are available that protect the printer (and paper/labels) from hose down, as can touch screens.

And if only monitors are used, waterproof monitor and LCD enclosures are also available allowing standard display devices to be placed almost anywhere.

Waterproof Computer Products is a post from: Armagard

One industry that has constantly been at the forefront of the digital signage game has been the transportation sector; one of the first industries to take advantage of this modern and flexible advertising and information system.

Railway Stations

Railway stations were very quick on the uptake of digital screens for advertising and information. Part of this reason has bee their use of screens to provide timetabling information and digital signage has just been an extension of that.

But screens often used in concourses and ticket offices were soon taken on platforms to provide passengers with information, such as delays and cancellations, but also to provide an advertising platform to generate income from third parties.

Outdoor digital signage is really advantageous in this sort of locations because not only do you have a captive audience on the platform, waiting for the next train, but passengers that go through the station onboard the trains will also see these messages.

Airports

Airports have had a similar need to provide information to passengers as railway stations and screens soon began appearing in airport terminals, but as the railway sector soon learned the value of advertising and the potential revenue generated by third parties, so did airports which are now filled with digital signage and other advertising mediums.

Bus Stations

While bus stations have similar need for digital signage as other transport hubs, the true benefits of digital signage are not realised until you actually board the bus itself. Due to the captive nature of an audience placing screens inside buses was a way of generating additional income in this budgetary constrained industry.

Digital screens and outdoor digital signage has played a key role in the advancement of the transportation industry – not only providing a more modern and dynamic form of providing passenger information – but also allowing such industries to increase revenues without increasing passenger fares.

Keeping you on the Move – Digital Signage and Transportation is a post from: Armagard

And even outside these screens are replacing the billboards and signage commonly associated with outdoor advertising. However, outdoor digital signage does require some highly specialised TV devices to ensure they can withstand the outdoor elements.

An outdoor TV has to be waterproof but also it has to endure cold winters as well as hot summers, and furthermore – any outdoor screen needs to be bright enough to cope with direct sunlight.

All this can add to the cost of an outdoor screen which is why these specialist outdoor LCD TVs, can cost many thousands of dollars.

As with any advertising campaign, a return on investment has to be achieved to make outdoor digital signage worthwhile, but with such a high initial investment – this can take a seriously long time to recoup.

For this reason, many people are put off embarking in outdoor digital signage – despite the many benefits it can offer. However, it doesn’t have to be this way as there is a cost effective, practical and simpler solution to outdoor digital signage.

Outdoor LCD enclosures

LCD enclosures for outdoor use can house standard off-the shelf LCD screens (like the type commonly used for indoor TV use). The advantage of this is the huge cost savings involved. Even with the enclosure, the combined cost will not be a fraction of the price of an outdoor TV screen. But the advantages don’t just stop there.

If anything, an outdoor LCD enclosure will provide even better protection than an outdoor screen. Not only are they waterproof, as an outdoor TV screen is – but an LCD enclosure also contains environmental controls such as heaters, cooling fans and even air conditioning to ensure the optimum conditions inside the LCD enclosure is constant.

LCD enclosures are also more vandal and impact resistant than an outdoor screen meaning the potential for replacement due to vandalism or accidents is reduced –ensuring a quicker return on investment.

Outdoor Screens Made Simple is a post from: Armagard

And while this is good news for the tourist trade and retailers in general (people tend to spend more during the warmer months according to shopping surveys) it could cause many problems for outdoor digital signage installs – especially if they haven’t been designed to cope with prolonged high temperatures.

In many installations of outdoor screens the main concern installers have, particularly in mild climate areas, is ensuring the signage screen is protected from the rain. Rainfall is often the primary concern as any water that ingresses inside an LCD enclosure and penetrates a screen will most likely disable it.

Problems of Excessive Heat

However, overheating is one of the major causes of screen failure in outdoor digital signage, and being unprepared for a hotter than average summer could lead to many outdoor screens being disabled during a heatwave.

Ensuring LCD screens are kept cool is a vital part of any outdoor digital signage system. Even the most rugged commercial screens will need to be kept cool if they are operating outside – particularly if they are kept on 24/7.

The normal heat produced inside an LCD enclosure that is generated by the screen is often removed with cooling fans. These transfer the heat away from the screen and eventually the hotter air finds it way out of the enclosure through the vents.

However with outdoor digital signage the waterproofing nature can often mean it is difficult for this hot air to escape. This means as the ambient temperature rises the build up of heat inside the LCD enclosure can exceed the screens manufacturers recommended level.

Keeping Screens Cool

There are several different methods for keeping outdoor digital signage screens cool including:

Additional internal fans – installed inside the LCD enclosure to help transfer more heat away from the screen – suitable for areas where the temperature exceeds the optimum but not by much.

Thermostatic cut off switch – will turn off the screen if the heat inside the LCD enclosure gets excessively high – more suitable fro areas where high temperatures are possible but for only short periods.

Air conditioning – For extremely high temperature areas where a cooled air is continually circulated inside the LCD enclosure to ensure the temperature is kept below he maximum – often an expensive solution used in areas that regularly has exceptionally hot temperatures.

Will Your Outdoor Digital Signage Cope with a Summer Heatwave? is a post from: Armagard

But he challenges faced by outdoor digital signage installations are numerous and it can be a daunting task to negotiate all the pitfalls.

There are so many decisions to make; choosing the screens, ensuring readability, waterproofing and other weather protection. Often, many of these challenges can be overcome with using the right enclosure for the screen.

Choosing what type of LCD enclosure or other protective housing can go a long way in cutting down the need for other protection.

For example, a waterproof LCD enclosure will prevent the need and high costs of requiring a waterproof TV. The enclosure will do all the work protecting the housed TV from water and moisture, allowing a standard commercial grade screen to be used instead.

But protection in outdoor locations requires more than just weatherproofing. Most outdoor digital signage screens are left exposed in unsupervised areas and can therefore become a tempting target for vandals.

Steel is the perfect material for an LCD enclosure because while it can be manufactured to be weatherproof (often to international standards such as NEMA 4 or IP65) but also it provides the best solution for all round physical protection.

A steel LCD enclosure will offer a rugged solution that will ensure that your outdoor digital signage screens don’t fail due to impact damage caused by vandalism. This in turn will ensure that added investment is not needed to repair or replace the screen, which can decrease the likelihood of getting a return on your investment.

Advantages of Steel Enclosures for Outdoor Digital Signage is a post from: Armagard

However, as with any new technology, digital signage has received its fair share of both positive and negative reactions. While many laud the effectiveness and flexibility of digital signage, there are those that have drawn criticisms of this new technology.

Most of this technology is centred on outdoor digital signage but indoor systems have come under attack too. The main criticisms centred on digital signage are:

• It is power hungry and therefore environmentally unfriendly; adding to climate change.

• Outdoor digital signage is ruining the look of traditional high streets making them look gaudy and tacky.

• Roadside screens are a distraction to drivers and can cause accidents

• The brightness of outdoor screens adds to light pollution and can be a nuisance to local residents

While many of these criticisms are genuine concerns from people, many of them are simply unfounded or misguided:

• Yes, digital signage does require a power source but so do traditional forms of print media. Every billboard, poster and sign on a high street has toe be erected and replaced by a technician in a van, this too of course consumes energy. Furthermore, with modern backlit LED TV systems the power consumption is incredibly low

• Digital screens can hardly be said to be lowering the tone of our high streets especially when you compare the modernity and dynamic nature of them in comparison to shabby, ripped or faded print media

• There is little or no evidence to suggest roadside digital billboards and other outdoor digital signage is anymore of a distraction to motorists than other types of advertising. And with regulations already in place in many State’s and counties, limiting the content changes and number of signs, motorists should be adequately protected.

• Whilst digital signs do are illuminated, they can be set to be switched off at night, once the high streets have emptied but if advertisers want to take advantage of late night revellers the screens can be tilted to prevent the light pollution escaping upwards.

Digital Signage and Controversy is a post from: Armagard