Digital View Blog

Digital View media players are designed so companies can write their own server or PC based content management systems. A number of companies have taken advantage of this to create a proprietary system exactly matching their business needs – the results are very impressive.

FTP Concepts a UK company have used these networked ViewStream protocols to provide full compatibility with their SaaS based digital signage content management system.

It is all fairly straightforward for database developers with most command files in simple text format. For security purposes the playlist file is compiled using a server based script.

I have often heard people dismiss the use of presentation software for digital signage content but Apple’s Keynote looks entirely suitable for some applications. For a start it is very easy to use for text, graphics and video as well as creating animation, then rendering out as video. When you start up Keynote it asks for the slide size so for example a size of 1280×720 for 720p video or 1024×768 for 4:3 video are good choices.

So to consider an application example, video for a real-estate display, suitable steps would be:

• Collect the photos and text details to be used
• Create the slides as with a normal presentation
• Add animation to make the display more active but don’t overdo it and make sure details are left on screen long enough for viewers to be able to see them
• Select Share / Export then QuickTime with Playback Uses: Manual Advance and Formats: Full Quality, Large with audio if you added any.

That is it, a high definition video suitable for a Digital View VideoStream or VideoFlyer media player.

Digital screens and interactive digital posters can still present the public at large with a challenge when it comes to using them. It can be tempting to think that ‘If you build it, they will come’, but that’s simply not the case. Read more…

First a quick definition re ‘professional’, I am using it to refer to anyone who creates video for digital signage as a significant part of their employment and has appropriate expertise.

Video may be created either by filming then editing or by working solely on a computer so we will consider both of these.

Filming: Professional video shoots are fascinating exercises in organization. Even seemingly simple shoots can involve scripts, storyboard, director, film crew, the equipment (camera, lights, audio, dollies, cranes, cabling), actors, models, extras. And that is before it gets to the editing suite. Very often, possibly most often some or all of the equipment will be rented.

Computer Creation: At a simple level this will involve authoring and editing and the usual software are any of:

• Adobe Creative Suite: Amongst these After Effects is very popular and seems to be an essential part of the toolkit.
• Apple Final Cut Studio.
• Avid Media Composer

These software packages not only cram in significant functionality but also support plug-ins from companies providing specialist tools. In addition to these there are software packages for 3D modeling and rendering.

I find that some lower cost software provides a subset of the functionality of these professional software systems but is not always easier to use. In this blog we will be looking for software and systems that are easy to use.

Update: Here is an example of an After Effects plug-in, also suitable for Final Cut Pro, this allows speeding up or slowing down of video using interpolation when slowing down: Twixtor.

A couple of our blog posts recently have mentioned making video out of still images so I was interested to see this approach being used by two popular local restaurants:

First there is the local Thai restaurant, they have a large LCD display integrated into the wall at one end of the restaurant. The content comprises still images made into a video using Ken Burns effect and a selection of subtle transitions. The photos are a combination of food, pictures of the menu and a diverse selection of scenes from Thailand – including the highly recognizable Songkran festival. It is not intrusive and works well.

Next is a modern cafe. It has 5 large LCD displays high on the wall behind the main counter used as menu boards. These change for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On some of the displays they had the standard menu which didn’t change – easy to read and choose from. Then on the middle display there were a couple of specials and these did change. In all cases the menu items were in a ‘window’ with a relevant food background made from still images using, you guessed it, the Ken Burns effect so there was movement.

Both these establishments made excellent use of easy to achieve digital signage. The approaches were very different but entirely suitable and matching to their respective styles.

We mentioned the Animoto web-based video creation system in a blog back in a 16 June 2010 but I thought it worth a further mention in order to draw attention to a few of their application examples, namely for Hotels, Real-Estate, Pro-Photography and a Winery. These are shown on their showcase page here. These are all good digital signage applications.

Three of the examples show a mix of still photography, video and audio. For some digital signage users photographs may be as far as they can go without professional assistance which is fine – the winery example is all made from photos. Audio is part of the Animoto offering but very many digital signage deployments do not involve audio in any case.

Animoto is the only example I am aware of an online video creation service and for anyone struggling with video editors it may be worth a try.

There have been a number of blogs and articles recently considering the differences between consumer TV’s and commercial monitors for use in digital signage. Many interesting points have been raised and argued but to jump to the conclusion it seems very clear that for a lot of professionals there remain important differences despite the relentless pace of development in consumer products.

So what are these differences:

• Reliability was a significant issue with some commentators questioning how this was validated. Also in this context it was pointed out repeatedly that the warranty on consumer models does not support commercial use.
• Power supplies were identified as a primary issue affecting reliability. Indeed in the Integre we use over spec’d high quality power supplies with the option of dual supplies with power balancing and fail-over protection.
• Inputs & connectors: There is no question that many consumer models have a reduced number of video signal inputs, this is the sort of restriction that affects complete system design so it is quite understandable that a good choice of signal inputs was identified as important.
• Temperature and Air-flow management: Consumer TV’s are designed to be used in landscape mode for a limited number of hours a day at ‘room temperature’. The expectations of commercial display systems usually go well beyond this.
• RS-232: It was interesting to note that this was raised as an issue, see our earlier blog re RS-232 lives on.
• Remote monitoring and control: This is not a possibility with consumer models that stop a long way short of what is possible with commercial units, for example control and monitoring of fans, backlight, runtime, on/off and a myriad of other diagnostics.
• Panel options: Many commercial applications require high bright panels, something that is simply not an option on consumer models.
• Quality of electronics in the sub-assemblies: We can vouch for the fact that components vary greatly in their specification which in turn will affect their reliability and longevity.

Furthermore with the introduction of 3D (with glasses) and connectivity increasingly focused on other consumer devices the chances are that the differences between consumer and commercial models may grow rather than reduce.

Stock video can be an incredible resource for creating digital signage content. There is a lot of it, it is easy to access and easy to use – prices vary. A quick search on the web for stock video websites produces many results but one we use regularly is iStockPhoto which offers both stills and video.

So if for example the requirement is to make a menu board for a restaurant there is a huge selection of relevant video clips available, this is quickly apparent with a search of a couple of sites using the word ‘food’: Artbeats gave 1,601 clips as a result and iStockPhoto gave 11,401. A purchased clip can be used to create a video background with either a fixed or changing menu display in the foreground – this is an easy exercise in video editing software.

There are certainly many topics covered by stock video, for example searches for video on topics such as dinosaurs or 17th century gave a respectable number of results for each.

One final point – always check the usage license. Even royalty free video is likely to have usage conditions.

It came as a pleasant surprise recently to see AV professionals commenting in a forum state a preference for commercial monitors with RS-232 over alternative consumer models lacking RS-232.

Here at Digital View we have made great use of RS-232 over the years and continue to do so with standardized command sets and various utilities, for example:

- All our media players can be fully controlled by RS-232 commands and can equally send out RS-232 to other devices. This can be data or instructions and allows for remote device monitoring and control. In addition powerful and innovative interactive systems can be created.

- The DV LCD interface controller range has a significant RS-232 command set giving access to the extensive range of functions available.

It can sometimes be hard to explain the possible benefits to users, it is a bit like the rather unhelpful ‘your imagination is the limit’ promotional line – indeed, that is the challenge. One of the more common uses we see is to make custom button sets so a single button executes a number of commands. Another is for communication of monitoring data and our own DisplayMark digital signage display and temperature monitor is a good example.

At times it has looked like RS-232 was going away, certainly seeing it vanish from the consumer market was ominous. It is reassuring the professionals still understand and seek the benefits.

What do your customers think about your product or service?

Was the restaurant to warm/cold/just right? Should there be more accessories available? Was the waiting time too long? Are the facilities clean? Will you return?

Enable customer feedback – the VideoFlyer is an incredibly cost effective way to poll customers and can combine both information gathering and digital signage type promotion in a single easy to use package. Five straightforward steps:

1) Using any touch screen VideoFlyer (10″ or 15″ display size) or add a button bar to a standard VideoFlyer (10″, 15″ or 21″).

2) Create appropriate videos or still images and organize using DV Studio.

3) Deploy in-store.

4) Collect data.

5) Analyze and report.

Looking at each of these in more detail…

Read more…