Digital signage can be a great asset, reducing production times and increasing productivity, but LCD screens whilst not a substantial investment are certainly not cheap– especially if they have to keep being repaired or replaced due to the nature of the environment they are situated which is why most digital signage in harsh conditions is kept in an LCD enclosure.
LCD’s are fragile pieces of technology, designed to work at optimum conditions and temperatures; the opposite of the conditions in most warehouse, factories and production plants.
Dust can clog the filters causing it to overheat and often short circuit. Whilst the cold can freeze circuits destroying processors and data stored on drives while the heat can be even worse as it can actually melt the processors and sensitive screen.
Even if your warehouse has adequate heating and air-conditioning, knocks and bangs from fork lifts and pallet trucks could easily wreck a LCD or plasma whilst spilt fluids can cause instant short circuits and even fires!
Fortunately, there are plenty of solutions available. Specialist industrial LCDs are available but can be very expensive, particularly when they eventually fail, however, by far the best way of ensuring trouble free digital signage even in extreme conditions such as freezers and even ovens, are to use specially designed industrial LCD or plasma enclosures. These are often air sealed and completely water and dust proof and often contain heaters or air conditioners to assist in temperature control. They also have the benefit of being able to house conventional LCDs or plasmas so there is need to keep buying specialist equipment.
Made from durable metals including food grade stainless steel, a decent LCD enclosure should be able to withstand even the most ineffectual forklift driver. Many companies opt to store all their digital signage in these enclosures even when the working environments are not particularly hostile, ensuring the protection of all their LCD and plasmas.
