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Minicom Digital Signage Case Studies

What is Digital Signage?

Digital Signage is a network of one or more digital screens

used to deliver the right information to the right audience at the right time…Common Media

Types Digital Signage combines various media types on an output display, each in their own region, to create a multimedia message

Where is Digital Signage?

• You’ve seen digital signs everywhere you can imagine – retail stores, malls, banks, billboards, airports, elevators, trains, churches, cafeterias, etc...

• And maybe some places you haven’t imagined…

What kinds of signs are there?

• Digital signs can take many forms, including free-standing towers, flat screens hung from walls and ceilings, electronic displays integrated into end caps at retail stores, video walls in all sorts of venues and even 30 foot outdoor billboards.

Digital Signage Markets

• Out of Home Advertising• Designed for sales lift

• Point of Information• Designed to educate and

inform

• Office Applications • Designed to educate,

motivate and inform

What kind of customers are using

digital signs?• Hospitality and restaurant facilities• Retail stores and malls• Cinemas & theaters• Hospitals and medical offices• Corporate headquarters and remote offices• Cable & community TV stations• Educational institutions• Government offices• Financial institutions and banking industry

branches• Manufacturing plants• Gas stations• Houses of worship• Airports, bus & railway stations• Planes, trains, buses & elevators

What are they used for?

• Welcome messaging• Menu boards• Visitor way finding• Information sharing

– Meeting announcements– Community bulletin boards– Public health care information

• Product information / education• Product / service announcements• Advertising / promotions• Schedule / event information• Improving in-location experience• Employee Messaging• Training for staff

Imagine Print Solutions

• The Customer and its needs– Imagine Print Solutions is a large-scale

commercial printing company that wanted an effective information system to improve its internal employee communication.

– To achieve this they hired an Integrator company to design and install a large internal digital signage network.

Imagine Print Solutions

• The Challenge– Imagine wanted to distribute corporate content from a rack-

mounted single source media player sitting in a dedicated closet to 28 display devices located in four clusters, some of which were located up to 100m (330ft) away.

• The Solution– Minicom, the world leader in Digital Signage player-to screen

connectivity, assisted the integrator company in designing a solution that met all the company’s goals at a good price performance ratio.

– The Minicom VDS System and KVMS extenders were the perfect fit for the job.

– Installation of the entire system took only three weeks.

Imagine Print Solutions

• The Solution Included– 3 VDS Broadcasters to convert VGA into Minicom’s proprietary

CAT5 signals. – 2 VDS Line Splitters for multiple locations. – 3 KVMS Extenders that extend CAT5 signals up to 300m/1000ft

away. – 28 VDS Remotes that convert CAT5 signals back to VGA.

Imagine Print Solutions

Landmark Theaters

• The Customer– Landmark Theatres is the largest art house

movie theater chain in the United States.– They currently have 58 theatres in 23 markets.

Landmark Theaters• The Challenge

– A number of locations have a Digital Signage network with High-definition content delivered to the screens located throughout

– The existing distribution system resulted in inconsistent video output to the screens, which was less than ideal.

– After being unable to address the quality and consistency of the distribution solution, Landmark looked for a more stable video distribution hardware for their HD digital signage.

Landmark Theaters

• The Minicom Solution– Landmark found Minicom via two Digital Signage

partners (Digital Signage Group and Reflect Systems) and deployed the DS Vision 3000 at a new movie theatre in Baltimore’s upscale Harbor East development.

– It had a 100% success rate right out of the box. – The VGA solution requires half the physical cabling of

the DVI/HDMI solution Landmark was using and allows it to utilize 35% fewer servers to power its displays.

– The Minicom solution requires significantly less electricity and cabling, resulting in dramatically lower infrastructure requirements and costs.

Landmark Theaters• The Benefits

– The solution, combined with the application power of the Reflect Systems product, will lower yearly operating expenses for the Landmark digital signage network by $100,000.

– “I could not be more pleased with the Minicom product and have begun the process of retrofitting our entire network with the Minicom solution,” Jason Hudak, Vice President of Technology for Landmark Theatres said.

– “I expect that cost savings number to climb as we expand our network,” he added.

Bank Leumi

• The Customer – Bank Leumi is one of

Israel’s largest banks.

• The Challenge – Bank Leumi wanted to install Digital Signage screens

in its 170 branches to inform and entertain its customers with high quality real-time images of foreign exchange rates and the latest bank promotions.

– This would be one of the biggest installations in Israel.

Bank Leumi• The Minicom Solution

– TVeez, a retail technology specialist who provides proactive sales and marketing management for the digital signage industry, won the tender after submitting a solution based around the Audio Video Display System (AVDS).

– Variety is ensured with two broadcasters providing two channels with differing content.

– The display is clean and effective and the bank was immediately sold on the system’s quality and effectiveness.

– It has the ability to deliver real-time crystal clear content to distances of up to 110m/360ft from the player.

– This solution allows the player to be located in a secure back-room. – From player to screen, the $12 million installation, is entirely

hardware-based and network independent.

Bank Leumi

• The Benefits – This technology helps maintain the image of Bank

Leumi as one of the world’s leading banks.– Customers are impressed by the real-time multimedia

content. – “This has considerably upgraded the level of

communication and interaction between the bank and our customers,” said Uri Cochlan, Head of Marketing and Communication for Bank Leumi.

– “The atmosphere in the bank has significantly improved and provides for a superior in-branch experience for our customers.”

Sources of Information

•POPAI•Digital Signage Expo•The Digital Signage Show •The Strategy Institute •The Digital Signage Directory •Daily Out of Home Advertising•Infocomm International•Digital Signage Universe•Digital Signage Forum•Professional AV Buyers Guide•National Retail Foundation

Some partners & customers

Minicom …

David Haar – Managing Director, North AmericaDigital Signage Division888-486-2154 Ext 14dave.haar@minicom.com

Andrew Salviejo - Technical Support888-486-2154 Ext 30ivo.petrov@minicom.com

Ana Mejia – Logistics Manager888-486-2154 Ext 10Ana.mejia@minicom.com

Company background• Established in 1988• Privately owned – Intel Capital

minority share in the company (2006)

• Over 150 employees • Headquarters in Zurich & Israel• Regional HQ North America &

Europe • Minicom operates worldwide in

over 70 countries • Technical expertise in CAT5

signal distribution• Pioneered the Computer Based

Training market• Started the CAT5 revolution in

the KVM server management market

• Today Minicom leads the Digital Signage distribution market

Minicom Contact Information

Questions?

Thank you for your time…

VDS/AVDSDistribute multimedia content to hundreds of digital signage displays in real time

• A one-to-many, point-to-multi-point system for transmission of high quality video (VDS) or audio and video (AVDS).

• The system distributes rich multimedia content in real-time from any type of player/computer to multiple display devices

• Up to 1080i Resolution – depending on distance• Up to 825 ft / 250 meters

KVMS Extender

– Combines KVM & Serial extension to over 300m/1000ft

– Full bi-directional RS-232 for touch-screen connection – Ideal for both KVM and digital signage applications

DS Vision 3000The ultimate in player-to-screen distribution and control

• A long range (2000ft/600m) point-to-multi-point system for transmission of high definition video and stereo-audio content from any player to multiple screens in real-time.

• The system features full serial centralized management including remote screen on/off and screen query

• Up to 1080i / 1080p a@ 60 Hz• Full duplex RS232 control of screens in one-to-one & one-to-many

environment

DS Vision 3000 - System Components…

• Transmitter 1 port • Broadcaster 8 port • Broadcaster 16 port

– Transmits video, stereo-audio and RS-232 data– Controls video and stereo-audio output, either as a group or for individual

screens– Local video, stereo-audio & serial output

• Line Splitter Long (300m/1000ft)– For duplication of your content to multiple screens – For long distance clustering (using regular receiver)– Long version enables video tuning

• Receiver (100m/360ft)• Receiver Long (300m/1000ft)• Receiver Dual (double output, cascade)

– Receiver Long has skew compensation and video equalizer

• Video Tuning Unit– Palm-held remote device for simple and convenient screen-tuning

DS Vision 3000 – Architecture

Player

TransmitterReceiver Long

Screen

DS Vision 3000

ReceiverScreen

300m from player to screen

100m from player to screen

Receiver Screen

Short Cluster

Receiver

Screen

Line Splitter

Player

Transmitter

Line Splitter Long

Receiver

Screen

Receiver

TransmitterLong Cluster

Basic Installation

Player

Mixed InstallationTransmitter

ReceiverScreen

Line Splitter /Long

Receiver Long

Screen

Screen

Competitive advantages DS Vision 3000

• Carries 3 signals: video, audio & full serial to 600m/2000ft

• Unique centralized management system• Supports HD resolutions (1920 X 1080 – the full

distance)• Open system protocol for integration with 3rd

party management• Serial connection enables full remote screen

control (query & power)• Stores system configurations for rapid re-

application• Group screen command for efficient management• Unique topology map for easy system

maintenance• Modular system for best installation fit & price-

performance• Unique palm-held video tuning unit for easy set-

up

VDS/AVDSDistribute multimedia content to hundreds of digital signage displays in real time

• A one-to-many, point-to-multi-point system for transmission of high quality video (VDS) or audio and video (AVDS).

• The system distributes rich multimedia content in real-time from any type of player/computer to multiple display devices

• Up to 1080i Resolution – depending on distance• Up to 825 ft / 250 meters