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Education | Distribution Components
Pulling it all together— and adding some finishing touches.
A surge protector with noise
filtering such as the Digital
Signage Power Filter goes a long
way towards protecting delicate
electronic components from
power spikes and surges.
There are also sealed enclosures designed to protect signage outdoors —
probably the toughest environment for digital signage. Aside from the
obvious moisture issues, extreme heat and cold are the biggest threats
to digital signage. If signage is exposed to direct sunlight — for instance,
in the drive-through lane at a fast food restaurant — extreme heat and
condensation are added to the mix. There are now enclosure solutions
on the market, which address these issues to varying degrees, through
a built-in climate-control system.
Factory floors and industrial areas may not have the same moisture and
temperature issues as the outdoors, but they can also be difficult for
digital signage because of the dust often associated with these
environments.
For these areas, look for a NEMA 4-rated enclosure to ensure protection
against dust and grime.
CCTV
A frequent video application is in the security arena where CCTV cameras
are combined with real-time human monitoring and DVR systems to
provide visual security for sensitive areas. DVR systems designed for security
applications record video from digital or analog cameras in a digital format
on a hard drive or in solid-state memory. They’re designed to operate
maintenance free for weeks or even months.
Many CCTV security systems enable you to remotely view cameras live
or to view recordings from anywhere on your network or the Internet.
Motion detectors may be integrated into a CCTV security system,
triggering cameras to record only when motion is detected.
Digital signage players
The component that feeds video to the video display is called a digital sig-
nage player. The player can either be a part of a digital signage system and
receive data from a digital signage publisher, or it can be a freestanding
device with previously recorded data.
Freestanding players are inexpensive, but must be updated individually
from a PC or from a USB flash drive. They’re a good choice when the
information displayed is relatively limited and static — for instance, a menu
displayed at a cafeteria entrance.
The advantage of a choosing a player that’s part of a system rather than a
freestanding device is that multiple digital signage displays can be
managed and updated from one central location and can be updated on
the fly. This enables you to, for instance, put out emergency messages,
weather updates, and traffic alerts.
Power protection
One good power surge is all it takes to destroy an LCD screen. Digital
signage is an expensive investment that must be protected from harmful
transient power disturbances such as surges, spikes, voltage fluctuations,
and electrical noise.
Video displays as well as the digital signage system and network
components should be protected with at least a surge protector with
noise filtering.
For even more protection, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) provides
power during short outages and corrects for voltage fluctuations, which
you may not notice but which can damage electronics.
EME1M1-005-R2
EME1K8-005
Audio speakers
Although digital signage is primarily a visual medium, some presentations
may benefit from the addition of sound. Although most video displays
have built-in speakers, you may want to add external speakers to improve
the quality of the sound. Directional speakers can focus the sound directly
in front of the display to get your message across.
Conference room interface equipment
There’s a whole subclass of multimedia tools that are tailor-made for
conference rooms.
Touchscreen meeting planners — An interactive display at the door to
each conference room that enables people to reserve
the room and
displays the times the room is reserved. Many of these systems are
on-line, enabling users to log in remotely from their PCs or smartphones
to reserve the room.
Digital projectors — Enable you to import PowerPoint
®
and other
presentations directly from a laptop to show to a group on a screen.
Videoconferencing equipment — Videoconferencing has taken off,
saving a lot of long-distance travel time. Today’s conference rooms can be
equipped with the tools for videoconferencing, either a proprietary
system or a PC equipped with microphones, Web cams, and a very large
monitor that can be seen clearly by all participants.
Electronic white boards — Provide an electronic surface for notes and
enables these notes to be saved to a computer for later review or for
e-mailing to meeting attendees.