It wasn’t so long ago that the only purpose-made waterproof LCD display was the Sanyo, and while cabinets were available they all looked a bit industrial. A walk around this year’s ISE showed just how much provision for outdoor AV had moved on. We take a look at some of the innovations that might inspire your customers to take advantage of their outdoor spaces.
With digital signage, informational and entertainment installations supplemented by a host of industrial applications for outdoor displays, manufacturers have really started to throw some weight behind the outdoor opportunity. Since the demise of Sanyo, one of the traditional leaders in outdoor displays, most of the major vendors have introduction outdoor LCD options.
“It’s true”, says Miles Donovan, channel development manager for Business Products at Christie EMEA, “we’re seeing more and more demand from customers who wish to take their message outdoors – it’s definitely a growth area. If you walk around cities, towns and streets today, you can almost feel the competition between businesses (across all sectors) aiming to capture a customer base. The digital move here is a natural progression. The footfall moving through a bustling metropolis is huge. The opportunity to grab attention via an attractive solution is becoming more and more important!”
Christie’s entry into the sector, the FHD551-W Weatherall, has an IP56 rating and a temperature range of -20 to +45 degrees. Optical bonding in a self-contained ruggedised design enables tough, human interaction whilst boasting superior image quality and performance. Another important feature is the fully integrated weatherproof speakers further adding to the messaging / advertising impact. The FHD551-W is a true self-contained unit, which does not require any specialised housing which can spoil the aesthetic design and optical performance. This flat panel outdoor display allows for countless new innovative digital signage opportunities – e.g. at restaurants, sporting events, ski resorts, zoos, and as a kiosk at event and entertainment venues.
Upping the IP
The entry of new vendors into the market for outdoor rated displays has had the dual effect of increasing choice and lowering the prices of IP-rated screens. While pricing of IP-rated and cabinet enclosure options is still not strictly comparable, there are arguments in favour of both solutions that depend on application, duty schedule and installation site.
‘Outdoor’ display sites can vary from the relatively secure airport departures hall to the less than secure shopping mall parking facility. With all outdoor installations, vandalism and theft are always factors to be considered and durable cabinets can offer appropriate levels of security as well as protection from the weather and other environmental factors.
The market has now developed to the point where there is an outdoor display solution for just about any environment. If the screen is being specified for a digital signage project with 24/7 or long duty cycles, either a purpose-built, IP-rated display or a dedicated commercial display in a weatherproof cabinet enclosure can be recommended.
The available choice of outdoor displays has been further extended with the announcement by Peerless-AV of the Xtreme IP68 fully sealed display. A rating of IP68 means that the display will continue to operate even when the unit is fully immersed in water. The display is ventilated using a technology called Ventless Dynamic Thermal which keeps internal components warmed in extreme cold and properly cooled in extreme heat, without vents, filters or exhaust fans.
A specialised optical bonding technique adheres the screen to the impact resistant safety glass front panel – with the fluidic material curing to an almost exact match to the index of refraction of the glass thereby eliminating reflections and greatly improving the daylight readability of the display. There are three models in the range- 42, 47 and 55-inch/ All models are Full HD and have a brightness of 700cd/m2.
Options
Faced with the challenge of taking large format displays outdoors, the installer has two basic choices. In essence, these are to use a standard commercial screen (often a high brightness model) protected by a purpose-designed cabinet. In some digital signage applications the enclosure serves additional purposes, including a kiosk interface, branding and literature dispensing.
With a standard commercial display or even a consumer TV at their heart, cabinet enclosure solutions can be less expensive in terms of up-front costs, but there are many other factors to consider. On the plus side, the cabinet enclosure can be designed and configured to suit a specific operating environment and installation site, be it a threat of vandalism or the impact of chemicals in an industrial location.
Despite these advantages, cabinet enclosure solutions leave quite a bit to be desired in terms of aesthetics, although much can be done to disguise or at least integrate the enclosure into its environment. Where this isn’t appropriate, resellers now have an increasingly wide choice of using an IP-rated LCD display. These displays have a lot in common with their indoor equivalents but offer protection against water ingress, temperature variations and dust. Some dedicated outdoor screens even offer a decent level of protection against physical attack and accidental damage, and others feature embedded PCs, wireless connectivity and overlays to improve readability in sunlight.
Cabinets and kiosks
For light duty applications, there is room to compromise on the price of the display, and here it is more likely that the combination of a standard commercial display, or a consumer display with a commercial warranty, in a cabinet enclosure or kiosk. By using a standard commercial display and protecting it within a cabinet, customers can benefit from far greater advantages including reduced costs and increased options and flexibility.
Should the display fail or require maintenance or swap out, the cabinet can be opened to access the display without invalidating the warranty. Even if the display fails completely, the customer still owns the cabinet and a new standard commercial display can be installed. These benefits will greatly assist in keeping costs to a minimum compared to a dedicated IP rated outdoor display, which is significantly more expensive and should it fail, would involve far greater costs.
A purpose-built housing or cabinet will benefit from greater intrinsic strength to resist damage from vandalism. It can be designed to resist extremes of environmental barrage from temperature, dust and virtually any onslaught from the environment in which it is installed. An IP-rated dedicated outdoor display will be built to resist levels of extremes, but it will have its limits.
Recent introductions include Barco’s LiveDots – a new family of LCD-based advertisement kiosks. Targeted to the retail and advertising market, the range consists of five displays. Available as single- or double-sided display for both floor and wall-mounted setups – the LCD55ix (indoor, 55 inch), LCD55ox (outdoor, 55 inch), LCD72ix (indoor, 72 inch) and LCD72ox (outdoor, 72 inch). The LCD-based kiosks feature an integrated heat management system, content and display management and optional I-Guard technology (a monitoring tool that continually analyzes images to detect and correct instabilities for maximum display uptime).
The displays have a fleet of options that allow for audience interaction: touch technology, cameras for audience measurement and gesture control, NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The look and feel of LiveDots is also customisable. A variety of changeable skins – based on a standard core – can be tailored to reflect a customer’s brand image. By communicating messages in an attractive, interactive and reliable way, the Barco LCD kiosks lengthen people’s dwell time and allow media owners to maximize the impact of their out-of-home campaigns.
