Different types of display screens.

Domestic home TVs.

Using a standard domestic display screen is not ideal however this is how some people start in digital signage, the challenges are that a standard domestic TV will not allow the screen to be mounted in a portrait position, will not have the connections required to connect a media player and if you have a problem with the TV set the manufacturer will void the warranty if they know it is being used for commercial use.

Waterproof display screens.

These work right of the box and offer a waterproof solution perfect for outdoor use, however the lead time can be extremely long and the prices are restrictive.

Commercial display screens.

The screens are made to cope with being run 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, rather than the home displays, but they a little more expensive (but worth it) as they come with all the connections you need to make your outdoor digital signage system work. Manufacturers such as Samsung and LG offer commercial grade screens with reliability guaranteed, but there is one problem and that is they are not designed to be put outdoors.

So the best solution is to use a commercial grade display and a media player and deploy them in an outdoor LCD enclosure this then can be called an outdoor display screen, these are used by outdoor digital advertising installers as outdoor display screens.

Their solution is a lorry that has a massive video wall on an hydraulic ram that raises the massive screen up in to the air – why? I hear you ask.

Well there is nothing worse than driving to a destination having an arrival time in mind and running late, trying to get in the right lane at the roundabouts and not knowing how far you are away from the destination- you can use a satellite navigation unit but how many times have I entered a sporting event destination only to be directed to the delivery entrance which is normally at the rear of the stadium and does not allow the public to enter!

Well the locations are mostly well known and normally just off a major motorway network, for example when they had their auditions at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club, they had on the last exit heading to Salford the lorry with the X Factory logo and directions on the next screen.

Outdoor digital signage is becoming more commonly used from in hair salons who are using digital posters to outdoors in train stations where all passengers are a target for marketing messages, an outdoor LCD enclosure are being deployed.

The UK is still a way behind the USA in actual digital signage installations, but the UK market is certainly making the right moves to increasing their presence in the outdoor and indoor digital signage arena.

The same video walls are being used by Banks and Churches to promote their services and products to people in specific areas and by targeting them directly they have a larger increase in people taking up their offer.

The static walls (with out the lorry attached) have been deployed at large corporate head quarters so you know you have arrived when you get their and on the entrances to Universities.

LCD Enclosure Global are the leading manufacture of outdoor LCD enclosure, thier range of LCD enclosure range from 17″ up up a massive 80″ solution.

Contact them today on +44 (0)844 3578686 For European enquiries or 888-460-3573 toll free for US enquiries.

LCD Enclosure – anything else is a compromise.

This is a twist on a digital poster, as this unit features 3 screens all 19” and in the landscape position on a special stand, these just like the digital poster are fed with content from memory cards.

The main difference is that this solution can have 3 different ads running at the same time tripling your ad revenue if you are a digital signage advertising agency. These are to be used indoors and the base has the facility to be bolted to the floor to prevent unauthorised removal.

One drawback of digital posters though is the content update issue as you have to physically update the content now this solution can be wired to a HDD so that the content can be streamed to the displays and can also be accessed remotely to update the content.

With businesses looking to develop their market share and looking into innovative ideas to bring more customers to their store digital posters are increasing in popularity, but with this solution it opens up a new level of advertising, as it could be set up initially to be updated manually then if the store owner decides to run it throughout their stores they can then purchase the HDD unit to control them from one central location, reducing travelling time and costs in delivering fresh content.

The totem can also be adapter to be used on buses and even on boats, so passengers can be entertained whilst they are in transit, reducing their perceived wait time.

Or if companies want to have a minimal look they can use a cable solution, the 3 advertising screens are suspended from the cable as in the image below.

This provides a rather stream lined and professional solution and ideal for in window digital advertising.

LCD Enclosure Global specialise in manufacturing outdoor digital signage solutions including their range of LCD enclosure that are deployed throughout the world by a network of integrators.  LCD Enclosure Global also offer a range of digital poster for indoor digital advertising.

LCD Enclosure Global – anything else is a compromise.

AIDS (Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome) is one of the most prolific killers of the new decade. There are many ways in which people catch this through sexual contact, sharing needles, infected blood and even being born from a carrier of it. Now countries such as Africa that have a major problem with this killer, needs to inform and educate people on how to prevent the spread of this deadly disease.

A small project using digital posters of 40” are being deployed in Botswana so that people can be taught how to avoid this killer, so they remain safe. Once this has been proven to work it will be rolled out throughout Africa.

The solution.
The floor standing LCD advertising player has a large 40” screen that has an in built media player, the content is stored on a memory card, normally CF due to their high storage capacity.

Then the commercials are displayed educating the locals on how to avoid the dangers associated with AIDS. Using a floor standing solution is ideal as it saves on floor space due to their tiny foot print and they are very portable.

Currently in Africa, families are made up from older and sometimes younger brothers and sisters looking after their siblings, as the parents may have contracted the disease and died, this way if these children are educated and understand how to avoid the risks they have a chance of growing up into adult hood and they can then pass this information on to their family.

As well as floor standing units, wall mounted digital poster are used in medical centres so that patients can watch the information displayed on the screens whilst waiting for treatment.

LCD Enclosure Global manufacture a range of outdoor LCD enclosure for the digital signage market, as wella s providing digital posters.

LCD Enclosure Global – anything else is a compromise.

Why Pharmacies are investing in digital signage.

This is a brand of customer service where practitioner and patient interactive and occasionally it is of a confidential nature, now chemists are using electronic signage for two very distinct reasons. They will function on two fronts, firstly as an information system and secondly as an opportunity to up sell. When have you been to the doctors for vaccinations for a holiday and you need to purchase some Malaria tablets? The most convenient solution is to call on the pharmacy adjacent to the doctors or near by, to make the relevant purchases.

When you enter the chemists the pharmacist takes your prescription and scans it, this then puts you in a wait queue (there is nothing more frustrating than hanging around the counter waiting for your completed prescription.) This queue list is automatically updated on 36” LCD screens throughout the chemists so that you can see from any where in the store when your medication is ready to collect – this acts as the customer information part of the project.

The second part is to up sell and the best time to up sell is during the holiday season ranging from May to September and not forgetting Christmas.

How do they up sell?

During the holiday season for example people will get check ups at the doctors or vaccinations for an up coming holiday, so when they visit the chemist to collect their medication they may see digital advertising marketing products such as sun screen, travel adapters, flight pillows and flight socks (that go towards preventing DVT on long haul flights.) Most people will see the ads and make the purchase so they do not forget to have them for the holiday (1 less thing to think about).

The same can be said for Christmas, one chemist retail chain actually prints their own Christmas catalogue offering very innovative gift ideas and using this technology, when less mobile people go to the chemists they see the ads and can then buy gifts for their family rather than making another journey into town at a later date, this is ideal for our aged community as well as young mums who are having their babies assessed.

How is it done?

The bar code scanner collects the relevant data and extracts through the terminal the patients name and then passes the data to an external media player, this media player holds the content for the digital adverts and adds the patients to the queue list, once the patient collects the prescription their name is then removed from the list.

On the LCD displays (commercial grade screens), the screen is divided into zones, these zones present news feeds at the bottom with the main content in the main zone, this main zone displays the information commercials and when a prescription is ready to collect the patients name replaces the advertisements in large letters, so everyone can see, now for the visually impaired audio can be integrated into the solution so when the name is displayed, it is also announced.

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LCD Enclosure Global offer digital signage solutions for both indoor and outdoor digital signage, from digital posters and digital menu boards through to outdoor LCD enclosures.

Call +44 (0) 844 3578687

LCD Enclosure Global – anything else is a compromise.

Now with LED advancements it makes putting digital outdoor signage in the reach of most businesses, as the conventional method would be to use as large a screen as possible, then finding an enclosure to fit them offering vandal and weather protection.

So the solutions are either to purchase large LCD enclosures to fit screens up to 80” or to purchase an LED video wall that comes in one metre sections and is as cost effective as purchasing a commercial grade screen of equivalent size.

The LED panels consist an a number of Light emitting diodes that are arranged at 16mm centres these provide a fantastic image that can be seen up to 40 feet away, the result is that the video wall or outdoor digital signage solution is only limited by your budget, normally customers have thought that it was too expensive and are pleasantly surprised when they discover the affordable price.

These panels come in their own weatherproof and vandal proof case; they are fitted into a frame and mounted on to the wall, they then have a controller fitted that controls each panel, similar to tiling software, so you can arrange the panels as you wish to create a jaw dropping impression.

Due to the affordable nature of these LED video walls they will soon be replacing the old printed road sign billboards as they are becoming increasingly popular in the Middle East where extreme weather conditions and the sand will normal put an end to any outdoor digital signage project.

Money dominates most projects (well all actually) now there are solutions that will have a faster return on investment and if you can offer a 10 metre wide x 5 metre high video wall displaying customer ads you will

Outdoor digital signage is a wide term and it covers almost everything, including bus shelter advertising, vehicle digital signage, advertising in car parks and now on the golf club.

When deploying digital signage on to a golf course there are some obvious problems, the first is the potential to the hardware through accidental damage from a golf ball, then there is protection to the screen when the greens are closed to golfers and children call to collect balls (we know they do…). Then there is the weather and if any golfer knows about this it is a British golfer due to the varied weather we get, from freak rain showers to heavy snow and wind.

The only solution is to put the outdoor digital signage into a specially manufactured case call an LCD enclosure, these units offer the protection they need, some units come complete with thermostatic cooling and heater with the option for air conditioning, creating a micro climate for the signage hardware.

Normally manufactured from steel, this solid steel LCD enclosure offer all year round protection, making maintenance a breeze and playing body guard to the hardware when the club house is closed.

The benefit of using a commercial screen and a media player is that the content can be updated remotely, perfect if you own a couple of golf clubs in a certain country, the content can be updated without anyone having to visit site or even mailing the content for someone at the site being responsible for the update, this way you know it has been done and if you need to update content it will take you just seconds.

This solution can also display RSS feeds that include news and the weather, so know when a rain shower is forecast and you are ware of breaking news as and when it happens.

LCD Enclosure Global supply a range of digital posters and LCD advertising screens at very cost effective prices, as well as manufacturing a range of outdoor LCD TV enclosure.

Call +44 (0)844 3578687

LCD Enclosure Global – anything else is a compromise.

1)      LCD display – for outdoor use, the best type of screen is a sun bright screen, these works perfectly in direct sun light with no effect to the screen. A commercial screen is the ideal choice, as these are designed for constant use rather than the TVs we have at home that are only used a few hours per day – a commercial display is designed to run 24 x 7.

2)      Media players – there are three types of digital signage media players, one is wireless, one is hard wired and the other is based on storing the content on to a storage device, such as a memory card. These vary in price from the cheapest, this being the memory card type with the hard wired media player next with the wireless unit being the most expensive. The choice will be dictated by the projects requirements, the most popular sellers are the hard wired and wireless solutions as the content can be uploaded from one central location if you has a medium to large signage network.

3)      Software – this normally comes in two forms, the first is to create the content that will be displayed on the digital signage network and there are many free or trial packages online to try, before you commit to purchasing the media content creation software. The other type of software is normally built into the media player, so many screens can be controlled from one central office through a browser window as if you where on the Internet. The media players for memory cards have a built in menu and is controlled through a remote control, much like a remote for a TV.

4)      LCD enclosure – so without protection, how is your digital signage solution going to work? This is the primary function of an LCD enclosure to protect the hardware from water and excessive heat, this can be in a kitchen or on a beach, out on the streets of New York or in a hospital in North Carolina. These flat panel enclosures offer protection not only from the weather but also potential attack from vandals and thieves.

At the end of the day, it would be futile to spend days laying fibre for the media players to find that the screens had been damaged or even worse stolen. Each one of the above points can help you achieve digital signage Nirvana.

LCD Enclosure Global - manufacture a range of LCD enclosures that are for the outdoor digital signage industry.

Call +44 (0) 844 3578687

LCD Enclosure Global – anything else is a compromise.

Media player.

The first option is whether or not to use a standalone media player or a built in media player, the costs are extreme, however the standalone solutions are the more affordable but this does come at a cost, you cannot remotely update any content, other than by connecting a wireless mobile dongle to the USB port and connecting that way, normally content is updated manually with a USB drive.

Wired or wireless media player.

This will be based around your project and if a wired solution can used this would be the most reliable; however in some instances wireless would be better. As you can imagine a wireless media player is more expensive due to the extra electronics that makes it wireless.

The fundamental difference is that on an all in one unit, the media player stores content on a storage device, normally a CF card, compared to a wired or wireless media player stores the content on its own inbuilt disc drive. If you are looking for a solution that needs little updating the digital poster is perfect, however if you are working on a project for 200 screens you would certainly want to be using either a wired or wireless media player.

Possible solution?

The cheapest solution is a digital poster, as these come complete with a screen and this also has an on screen menu to program so that you can arrange the content as you wish and these all in one units are roughly the same price as a digital media player, depending up on the size of the screen for the poster.

There are other ways to also save money on a digital signage project which we will look at later.

LCD Enclosure Global – specialist manufacturers of outdoor LCD enclosures, these are shipped throughout the world through a network of distributors of outdoor digital signage hardware.

LCD Enclosure Global – anything else is a compromise.

Call +44 (0) 844 3578687

This solution features a special film that adheres to a window and connects to either a computer or projector then the content is then displayed on to the window in such an amazing way – this will for sure get passers by to stop and take note, as well as try it!

This solution is relatively new and only a handful of companies offer it, so as you can expect with new technology, it comes at a price, buy if you want to be the first on the block with this type of advertising it will certainly increase your profile with consumers.

This has already been deployed in New York at several high end fashion designer stores. Not only is it restricted to the window this can also be used on floors to advertise in shopping malls or even a multi touch table, for say a design team, allowing them to work more closely and interact more efficiently.

What makes this unique, is that it is totally consumer interactive, a user can select images and with a flick of their fingers enlarge images, scroll through product information and even send a message to their mobile.

You know about designing your own Nike trainers, now imagine walking into a shopping mall and using the interactive window, designing your own trainers then sending the order with all the specifications of your design to your mobile phone, then going into the store to place the order. This could something to look for in the future as technology never stops.

This technology is simple to deploy, and is simply plug and play, using gesture recognition is something for the future, the only other hardware needed is a projector an computer depending upon your requirement and project.

This solution is available from LCD Enclosure Global, manufactures of outdoor digital signage protection. Their LCD enclosure range has been deployed in almost every country in the World from Australia, America, Canada and Europe.

LCD Enclosure Global – anything else is a compromise.

Contact +44 (0)844 3578687