So the answer lies with a rugged LCD enclosure, this is a steel television case that protects the display from the air borne hazards. Should over a period of a few weeks, carbon for example is deposited in to the back of an LCD display, this will cause the display to fail, resulting in additional replacement costs. Now the most sensible choice is to house the display in an IP54 LCD enclosure if it’s in a dusty or general dirty environment, alternatively an IP66 LCD enclosure is ideal for areas that are washed down at the end of the shift to clear contaminates.

Their are many company’s that manufacture protective LCD enclosures for the digital signage market, but the question needs to be asked how the LCD enclosure is going to be cooled or heated depending upon the application and the area the LCD enclosure is being installed. For the standard unit we offer positive pressure cooling to the top end were air conditioning units are used to cool or heat the enclosure.

We have various protective PC enclosures that protect to IP65 for protection of dust and fluids, out units will protect the actual computer hardware from coming into contact with hazard elements such as dust and fluid.

We have also developed an LCD enclosure that will accommodate 2 LCD or TFT displays on a factory floor, this is ideal for giving training information on a production line. This unit will accommodate 2 x 21″ TFT displays at the same time and features integral mounting frame (VESA compatible). Our IP65 LCD enclosures and industrial computer enclosures are specifically designed for use on factory floors were standard computers would fail in days.

We wish everybody a great day!

Technorati Profile

The first part is, you do not need to spend thousands of dollars on software, there is software available that is free to use, yes it does have limitations but it is good enough to get you started.

digital signage software

As you can see the software splits the display screen into three sections, the main section can be used for the product you wish to sell, the yellow sector could be used for weather updates and the green sector used for scrolling news feed. All you need to do is drag and drop what content you require into each sector and save - then you’re done!

The second part of the puzzle is why would you spend over $3,000 on a signage solution, putting it in a public area that is unmanned and “hoping” it will be OK? The chances are someone will come along and try to vandalise the display causing thousands of dollars worth of damage as well as inconvenience, as the display will have to be replaced and protected. This is were LCD enclosures come in, they offer almost bullet proof protection (well, the viewing window is made from bullet proof material!), they definitely protect from the elements as well as unauthorised access, these units are located in high public traffic areas, sometimes in areas were you wouldn’t care to go yourself…

The popularity of digital advertising has increased due to the decrease in price of the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) displays and plasma displays.

When any outdoor digital advertising is placed outside it needs the correct plasma or LCD enclosure , so that it is protected against the elements or any hostile areas, should an industrial LCD enclosure be required. These are available in both NEMA and European IP standards, these reduce the amount of fluid and dust reaching the LCD or plasma television.

Potential problems and advantages.

Plasma televisions have a reputation for image burn, this is were an image burns on to the surface of the screen permanently. LCD’s have never suffered from image burn.

LCD televisions have a worse viewing angle than plasma TV’s.

LCD TV’s work better in dimly lit areas, especially were digital advertising is being used. Just look at the old train stations.

Both solutions can be housed in a plasma or LCD enclosure, providing the ideal outdoor digital signage solution that will last years to come. I know that I personally prefer the LCD option as it is more flexible and has sharper black colours when dimly lit.

Just make sure if you are using a wireless connection that you encrypt it! Otherwise someone will hack in to it and add their own content and that could be embarrassing.

There are several LCD tv enclosure manufacturers all offering solutions, so go check them out. These outdoor LCD enclosures protect to NEMA and IP standards.

Now our range of PC enclosure will accommodate any type of computer: tower or desktop, making it a more affordable way to protect standard computers on factory floors or in hostile areas. We also launched last May our newest product, the LCD enclosure, this is used mainly in outdoor digital signage, and protects the standard LCD display from the elements, as well as vandalism.

The demand for our LCD enclosures is massive and we constantly get enquiries from all the world, we have had many successful projects in Dubai, Singapore, USA, Europe and Australia.

Coupled to this, is our CPU enclosure, this was initially designed for protecting computers in schools and colleges, now many of the CCTV installers need to protect the digital drive from staff etc, so our enclosure is perfect, we recently completed one project for the House of Commons for the entire CCTV network.

The more you can use technology, the better it is, as we all benefit, it makes our businesses more profitable as we can use standard software to track our sales, cost of raw material etc.

We are also working with a national transport company for supplying a digital signage solution and getting local businesses to advertise on it, this is worth a potential £600,000, with us providing the media content. We are also working with 2 hotel chains, were we anticipate we will supply each hotel with 12 digital signage posters at 8 locations in the UK.

We think that the digital signage market is massive in the UK and Europe and we are positioned to lead with our LCD enclosures, media content creation and digital poster products.

Networked outdoor digital signage.

Now on to the networked outdoor digital signage boards, these consist of several digital displays being linked from 1 central control point, it could be the head quarters of the company. From the control centre the content media is uploaded to the media players, these media players are small computers, connection is normally via a wired Internet connection. Enabling the control center to update media throughout the network in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

Now if these displays are located in hazardous areas or areas that have a potential for public vandalism, the best option is to protect the LCD or plasma display with an LCD enclosure, these are special steel enclosures, that protect the displays from physical abuse as well as protecting them from the weather. Offering NEMA 4x protection.

Our LCD enclosures protect LCD displays from 27″ up to and including 60″ televisions, in areas otherwise thought impossible to locate a digital sign. Out LCD enclosures protect outdoor digital signage throughout the world, including: Australia, Singapore, Dubai, Europe and USA. As you can see our enclosures have been subjected to extreme environments.

So, the essential kit for any networked digital signage solutions is:

• LCD television
• Small computer
• Internet connection
• LCD enclosure
• Sigital signage software - get a free trial copy. Just mention that you got the link from Computer Security & Solutions Limited.
• Power connection to the location

The advantage of a networked signage solution, is that is reduces the amount of hours and extra cost for getting new content out there and it is immediate. Compare it too copying the content to CD or DVD and mailing it to each location, if for example you had 20 locations and each update was every month marketing the “months special promotion”.

20 locations x $1 per CD = $20

Cost of copying the media content to CD $20

Cost of mailing them to each location 20 x $1 = $20

Cost of technical person uploading the new content 15 minutes per location @ $30/hr = $7.50 x 20 locations = $150

Total $210

Compared to the cost of the Internet connection, say $20/month for the network…it’s a no brain er, is it? These are extremely conservative prices.

Video Walls -yes, you have seen them, Times Square is a fantastic example, just look at any on the huge skyscrapers to see digital advertisers advertising their products and services to the masses, now these video walls are extreme expensive costing many thousands of $. There is an office block on Times Square that makes more money selling the outside space for ads, than it would if it was fully occupied with offices!

Networked outdoor digital signs - aimed at most mid range Companies, who want to increase their brand present and inform potential buyers of new offers in the brand range.

Single outdoor digital signs - any business can use these, from the local town dentist to the pizza restaurant, these are very affordable.

Digital Signage posters - this is the entry level digital sign, designed to be either located in a stores window or reception were there is a lot of foot traffic (passing people), this will catch their eye and entice them to come in and buy, these solutions start from $750 complete!

Now all you have to do is decide which best suits your business needs. There will be other articles on this topic, describing what you would need for any of the above solutions, so keep coming back to see our updates.

Computer Security & Solutions Limited specialise in the manufacturer of outdoor digital signage enclosures for LCD displays as well as supplying a range of digital posters.

• Location advertising - to up sell product lines
• Advertising by media companies to local stores or service providers
• Enhance your customers experience – displays in restaurant waiting areas to reduce the perceived waiting time

Now to maximise any investment in digital signage, you need to have in place the digital network infrastructure. These normally consist of Internet access, a media player, distribution network to the electronic displays and some way to manage the network. So let us take each component and look at them a little deeper.

Internet access – this can be either hard wired or wireless. A wired connection normally goes through cable or a DSL modem with the wireless connection going through a mobile broadband modem or satellite connection. To give an example of these networks, mobile connections are used for updates on public transport such as buses and trains.

Media players – what are these? Well, media players are computers that play the content via the software installed on them. The content can be installed by three methods, USB memory stick, wired/wireless connection or by uploading from a DVD inserted into the computer. Content is then distributed to the chain of networked displays using a wired connection, using structured cabling such as Category 5 data cabling, or if using a wireless connection wireless adapters are used with the computer.

Distribution network – this is group of locations where the digital signs are to be located, so it could be in restaurants, in a mall or even at gas pumps. They can be local or even in different countries; it totally depends upon what the product is and your budget!

Electronic display – this can be a regular TFT or LCD television, nothing special!

Network Management - the network is then managed from 1 central point, were updates are distributed from, the network is monitored reporting any maintenance issues.

However, there is a more affordable way to distribute content providing, time is not an issue and that is to use DVDs, create the content and then burn the content to discs and then mail them to the locations within the network, this does not require the heavy investment the wired/wireless networks do, but it does have its draw backs.

We specialise in various digital signage solutions from digital posters through to LCD enclosures for outdoor digital signage.