Digital signage and workplace safety Why you can’t afford sub- standard digital signage Making healthcare settings more inclusive with displays Also in this issue: Beefing up your omnichannel approachRegister free today project-challenge.com | The UK’s leading independent show for project, programme, process and resource management. Etihad Stadium, Manchester 12 October 2023 2023north.seco.com Find out more about our new HMI concept Scalable in design Thanks to a modular approach, the new HMI platform can be expanded and scaled from 7 inches to 27 inches to meet your needs. This is made possible by an innovative and optimally designed system of complementary housing parts that easily scale the device to the desired size. Easy assembly With perfect matched additional elements that can be easily added, the end device can be transformed from the basic version and rear wall mounting into a device for panel mounting. But a VESA mount is also no problem thanks to the flexible design.KDS EUROPE MEDIA PACK 2023 Make the most of your presence; be part of the KDS Europe family and discover how you can make the most of your presence in the UK’s leading technical journal for hardware, software and component manufacturers, integrators and service providers and deployers of self-service terminals, digital signage and wayfinding. CLICK HERE to download your copy of KDS Europe’s Media Pack 2023 or contact sales@kdseurope.com to discuss with our team. Welcome to another edition of KDS. After a summer of exciting sporting events and manifold opportunities for digital display to shine, we’re looking ahead to new technologies and projects. We feature research from Custom Neon on the importance of digital signage and just how much businesses underestimate its importance. We also hear about digital signage’s place in the omnichannel retail strategy. Sherwen Studios’ research finds that 25% of shoppers say that price differences between online and offline are what they like least about shopping in a physical retail outlet. So, any digital POS materials need to reflect what options are available online. So, once again, happy reading. We’d love to hear your ideas for future issues and we’re always looking for news items and thought leadership content. I look forward to hearing from you Hazel Davis Editor EDITOR’S NOTE Would you like to contribute to KDS? Please submit news stories, articles, press releases and industry expert opinions to Hazel Davis. Please include high resolution (300dpi+ CMYK) images. We publish news and articles that adhere to our editorial guidelines free of charge. This ensures our content is unbiased and relevant to our industry. The views expressed in the articles and technical papers are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the publishers. Publisher: Abacus Communications Editor: Hazel Davis Advertising: sales@kdseurope.com www.kdseurope.com Surrey Technology Centre, Surrey Research Park, 40 Occam Road, Guildford, GU2 7YG ISSN 2756-1097 The author and publisher, and its officers and employees, do not accept any liability for any errors that may have occurred, or for any reliance on their contents. All trademarks and brand names are respected within our publication. However, the publishers accept no responsibility for any inadvertent misuse that may occur. This publication is protected by copyright © 2023 and accordingly must not be reproduced in any medium. All rights reserved.Kiosk and Digital Signage 5 CONTENTS 6 FOR-A Announces first Alfalite sale to live event production 7 New partnership for conference solutions with Yealink New partnership for Leading Edge Signage & Graphics with Bradford City AFC 8 Salford Lads Club modernises with digital displays 12 Digital signage for a safe and efficient workplace Good communication is everything 18 Unveiling the optical stack The construction of TFT displaysl 20 Why digital signage should be a strategic part of your omnichannel approach Offering a consistent online/ offline experience 24 Making healthcare settings more inclusive with digital signage Ensuring independence means understanding the audience 16 Why you can’t afford to have substandard digital signage6 Kiosk and Digital Signage FOR-A announces first Alfalite sale to live event production NEWS White Tie Productions, has purchased 120 Alfalite Litepix Series panels, making them the first live event company in the US with Alfalite LED panels. This marks the second sale in the US for the new FOR-A/Alfalite alliance. Headquartered in Phoenix with a second office in Orlando, White Tie specialises in creating large-scale events for non-profit and corporate associations. White Tie will have 60 panels based in each location. The screens will be shipped to customers throughout the US. The walls will be showcased in White Tie’s Phoenix studios when they are not out on live productions. Company President, Ross Snyder wanted his customers to have the best available video wall technology. In the past five years, Snyder believes they’ve rented almost every major LED display on the market. After he saw the Alfalite video wall at the NAB show in April, he knew he’d purchase the screens for White Tie. “When you see an Alfalite wall in person, it’s unique,” explained Snyder. “You can talk about LED all day long but until you see a camera pointed at it, you can’t fully understand how well constructed it is. These panels have an almost 180°, crystal-clear viewing angle, which is unlike any other LED.” When not being used for customer events across the country, White Tie will house 60 1.9mm pixel pitch Litepix ORIM screens at its Phoenix location, and 60 2.6mm pixel pitch screens Litepix ORIM screens at its Orlando office. The Phoenix office has a 2,500sqft streaming studio, where the White Tie team will use the 1.9mm video wall on set for virtual programming as well as live event rentals. “It used to be that you didn’t go below 2mm on a portable wall for fear of damage,” said Snyder. “But with the ORIM on the 1.9’s, you get a really sharp on-camera image in a very well protected panel. Having fine pixel pitch displays on a live event is a game changer for the high-end shows we do. What we can do now in a live, studio setting is light years ahead of what was possible before.” Snyder attributes Alfalite’s patented ORIM (Optical Resin Injection Module) technology with changing the way he’ll be able to produce A/V for live events. “ORIM is the most unique protection method I’ve seen. The FOR-A and Alfalite team at NAB were hitting the panels, running a ring across them, and nothing happened. Any other LED would have broken pixels immediately,” he said. “As a company, White Tie pushes the boundaries, always searching for the best systems for their clients,” said Satoshi Kanemura, President, FOR-A Americas. “Ross and his team have been incredibly busy this past year and were looking for something that would make their live event stand out. That’s exactly what the quality and durability of Alfalite panels provide.”Kiosk and Digital Signage 7 Deneva and Dahua Technology join forces Absen has announced a new partnership with Yealink. Absen and Yealink will jointly develop global conference solutions. This will combine Yealink’s leading Microsoft Teams Room solution with Absen’s professional LED smart screen development capabilities, providing customers with unified services that cover hybrid meetings and teleworking. As remote collaboration becomes more prevalent within or across organisations, various data and information needs to be shared, managed and processed in real time. Absen’s seamless and ultrawide large format display combined with Yealink’s UCC solution series enhance the immersion experience of video and audio presentation in medium and large meeting rooms, are flexible enough to allow participants to customise and/or splice video windows if a multi-tasking task is required. Absenicon products are designed with a high degree of integration, which makes installation and maintenance easier and more convenient. They are ready to be used straight out of the box, offering an excellent interactive experience through a simple operating interface, focusing on market segments such as conference, education and consumption. In order to offer a more immersive meeting experience for individuals in hybrid work environments, Yealink provides simple-to-use and intelligent room solution designed for meeting spaces of various sizes and types. Yealink room solutions, which include featured intelligent tracking cameras, all-in-one 360° panoramic cameras, and noise-cancelling audio devices, deliver high-quality audio and video experiences for participants engaged in hybrid work. ”Our partnership with Yealink is an exciting one,” said Ruben Rengel, Absen’s VP of global business development, “We look forward to broadening our sales in conference applications via the Yealink network. I am confident this collaboration will yield positive results and help us reach our shared objectives.” “Yealink is excited to partner with Absen to provide a better collaboration experience for our customers,” said Alvin Liao, VP of product at Yealink, “By combining Yealink’s intelligent room solution with Absen’s display solutions, we enable an immersive meeting experience for attendees wherever they are.” Dahua Technology has announced it’s joined forces with Deneva on the Dahua ECO Partner Program. The Dahua ECO Partner Program was launched in June 2020. Since then, global and local teams have been committed to building a smart ecosystem with technology partners. “Dahua Technology is known as a world leader in AIoT solutions and we initiated a path of product diversification some years ago. We are excited to see how Dahua Technology has managed to increase its footprint in the digital out-of-home field so quickly,” said Peter Pan, Global Technology Partner Alliance Director at Dahua Technology. He added, “Together with our partner Deneva, we are now able to provide premium solutions that fully respond to our customer’s demands in terms of scalability, cybersecurity and content management. It’s great to have Deneva as a trusted partner in industries like retail, banking, transportation and gas stations. We are enthusiastic to create more value together.” Deneva co-exhibited with Dahua in February at the Euroshop exhibition and they will also be a premium partner sponsor at the fifth Dahua Partner Day held in Ibiza on 17 October, 2023. New partnership for conference solutions with Yealink Exhibition Hall in New Zealand, screen size: 100m8 Kiosk and Digital Signage Leading Edge Signage and Graphics announces new partnership with Bradford City AFC Liversedge-based Leading Edge Signage and Graphics has announced a new partnership with Bradford City AFC, which has seen areas of the University of Bradford Stadium undergo a revamp ahead of the 2023/24 season. Leading Edge, the official digital partner of the club, has overseen the installation of both internal and external signage at Valley Parade. A new, modern, LED-illuminated club crest has replaced the old sign on the exterior of The Morrisons Family Stand, reinforcing the Bantams’ identity and contributing to a vibrant experience for visitors. In addition, the club’s Bantams Bar has undergone a makeover, with branding and signage inside modernised to incorporate key elements from City’s rich history, including the 1911 FA Cup triumph. Bespoke printed wall murals will enhance the overall ambience and a media wall has been installed to provide an immersive viewing experience. Matthew Evans, MD of Leading Edge, said, “The collaboration represents our shared commitment to delivering exceptional experiences to the fans and investing in the club’s future. “All installations and renovations were completed in time for the start of the season, ensuring a refreshed atmosphere for fans when they visit Valley Parade for the first time for competitive action this season. “Our previous work with Bradford City, including the installation of directional and information signs as well as perimeter boards for sponsors, demonstrates our expertise and dedication to enhancing the stadium experience.” City’s CCO, Davide Longo, said, “Supporter experience is something extremely high on our agenda and this partnership and joint initiative shows a big investment into improving not only the matchday experience, but the overall look and feel of our home. We are determined to make Valley Parade a place supporters are proud to come to and projects like this certainly make that easier.” Leading Edge Signage & Graphics announces new partnership with Bradford City AFC Review Display Systems (RDS) has announced the introduction of a new ATX motherboard from embedded computing solutions supplier AAEON. The innovative, high-performance ATX- Q670A supports 12th Generation Intel Core LGA1700 Socket Processors and is AAEON’s first ATX motherboard to offer DDR5 DRAM memory support. Supporting up to 128GB system memory with four dual-channel DDR5 DIMMs, it provides users with an unprecedented 50% increase in bandwidth and a decrease in power consumption compared to previous generations. In combination with two PCIe x16 expansion ports and a bootable USB port feature, the ATX-Q670A offers industry-leading performance. The ATX-Q670A is not only faster, but also provides additional expansion for high-performance modules, offering two PCIe x16 slots alongside both a PCIe x4 and PCIe x1 slot, in addition to a further three PCI slots. For enhanced data protection, the ATX- Q670A is equipped with a bootable USB feature that prevents bootable programs from accessing the system via a USB device. These features, combined with the ATX-Q670A’s dual graphic card support mean that it can offer the ideal computing platform for vision-based applications. The AAEON ATX-Q670A motherboard provides customers with an array of performance features and industry-leading expansion capability as required for smart applications including IoT solutions, machine vision, healthcare and industrial automation. New ATX motherboard from RDS NEWSKiosk and Digital Signage 9 Salford Lads Club modernises with digital displays Salford Lads Club, the historic recreation club and charity made famous by alternative rock band, The Smiths, has taken its huge collection of fan messages and photos into the digital age, with a little help from digital signage consultancy Saturn Visual Solutions. The club has amassed a huge collection of messages, photos and memorabilia from fans of the band visiting the site and has turned it into a major tourist attraction. However, the Smiths Room, which is used to house the collection, ran out of display space in 2018. Subsequently, Saturn has helped the club to add digital displays to the room so that more messages and photos can now be displayed. Leslie Holmes, project manager, Salford Lads Club said: “Salford Lads Club is a place like no other. First and foremost, it’s a place to help young people. Secondly, it’s a historically significant building and is the best example in existence of a pre-WW1 boys’ club. And last, but not least, it’s a mecca for fans of The Smiths’ music. A lot of the club’s income is raised by music fans visiting us and buying merchandise, so we need to keep our collection of fan photos and messages up to date to remain current. We asked Saturn to help us sensitively modernise the Smiths Room, making it a fun and interesting place to visit, but without losing what makes it so very special. Saturn gave us some great suggestions that were within our budget. They were also kind enough to donate time and services free of charge, which has helped us keep our costs down. We are all really pleased with how the result looks and what it will now enable us to do.” The new displays have had great feedback from Smiths fans, with many now wanting to visit the club so they can get their picture taken outside the famous sign and have it added to the Salford Lads Club’s collection. Chris Welsh, Saturn Visual Solutions MD, said: “Despite being a band from the 80s, The Smiths’ songs are streamed by over 12 million listeners every month. That fanbase presents a huge opportunity for the club, which is practically on our doorstep and does fantastic charitable work helping disadvantaged young people to have brighter futures. So, we decided that we would help them as much as we could by providing some hardware and services free of charge. “It was important to strike the right balance between creating enough display space for the club’s massive and growing collection but not changing the look and feel of the Smiths Room.” beIN chooses Screach to stream sport in Australia Global sports network beIN SPORTS has chosen the enterprise streaming platform Screach to deliver its entertainment sports coverage across Australia. beINSPORTS holds the exclusive Australian broadcast rights to more than 1000 elite football matches a year. Screenreach is a UK-based technology company that enables commercial premises to get maximum value from TV screens with its cloud- based Screach platform, which allows venues to live stream HD sport broadcasts and create bespoke, audience-specific adverts for their screens. Accessed via a free TV app that aggregates content from all providers, Screach is available in 157 countries worldwide and requires only a broadband connection to run on a venue’s existing smart TVs. The app aggregates live sports channels and gives venues access via subscription to HD-quality broadcasts that increase both footfall and sales. Sports rights owners and holders can use Screach as an OTT alternative to conventional broadcast infrastructure, allowing them to sell subscriptions directly to any venue consuming their content. “Our partnership with Screach now gives licensed venues across Metro and Regional Australia instant and frictionless access to our premium football, tennis and rugby content,” said Mike Kerr, managing director of beIN ASIA PACIFIC.”Next >