DailyDOOH

AMD have just launched their ATI Eyefinity technology in the shape of a multi-output graphics card that can drive six displays from one PC and together with some new screen technology that will be along in a couple of months we believe it may change the way people view and build big displays.

_6×4_6T_6T_6T_6T_ video wall

Whilst the focus in the mainstream press when discussing this technology is on gaming, immersive media and control room type applications, there is plenty of potential here for big digital signage projects, with the capability of driving displays at their native resolution to create an enormous overall canvas, with a theoretical maximum of 268 megapixels across the whole display area.

The picture above and to the right shows a system built with 4 cards giving a 55 megapixel display.

Samsung of course have been developing their thin bezel technology (some of which we saw on their stand at InfoComm 2009) and have been working with AMD, and there are other interesting up and coming hi-resolution screen technologies that we can think of that would be well placed to take advantage of such a large resolution capability.

Shape is the new king

One thing in common with all the video walls we see demonstrated is that they are square or rectangular and usually solid (i.e. no holes anywhere in the shape). One of the things that Adrian has been talking about publicly for some time now is what he calls ‘shape is the new king‘ and it looks like the industry will soon have all the required elements in place for this finally to become a reality.

Take a look at just some of the possible shapes that could be built in the diagram to the left.

Perhaps because every screen display technology at the moment has bezels, and even, however thin those bezels may be, those ‘seams’ blight the shapes in question or whether it is fundamentally down to a lack of creativity from those doing the deployments we don’t know yet but we know for sure that this is all about to change in the coming months.

I am going to come back to the way we describe new shapes in a second but for a moment let me park the idea with you now that the video wall you see powered by the ATI Eyefinity in their Lab video demo, can be described on paper in a formula as _3X2_TTT_TTT_

The much bigger video wall at the top of this post can be described as a _6x4_TTTTTT_TTTTTT_TTTTTT_TTTTTT_ or, for short, a _6x4_6T_6T_6T_6T_

You might think that a naming convention like this does not make that much sense when the shape is square or rectangular and is made up of solid tiles, i.e. no gaps or no holes, but what about a screen configuration that is in the shape of a letter ‘T’, a cross (as shown on the left) or what about the Scala powered Z shape screen featured in our story about the Miele installation in Amsterdam – for the record that Z shaped screen would be a _3X2_HTT_TTH_

It’s then that you really need a reliable method of describing the endless possibilities that are on offer.

Furthermore, this screen configuration flexibility means that content providers have a new set of criteria to consider when designing for the display. They will need to take into account the intended screen shape and configuration when designing and programming content to ensure that it is displayed on the screen as intended because of course the previously fixed rectangular shape of a video picture is no longer a given.

The ‘Issy-Neale Formula‘ is a method which we have come up with in order to provide a common framework for content creators during the process of designing content for irregular shaped displays and different screen configurations.

It’s something we will be discussing in much more detail over the coming weeks.

This is what ASG Media’s proposed new LED is going to look like at the Bluewater Shopping Mall in the UK.

Titan will soon be installing some of their new digital D6’s and it will be interesting to see how they co-exist media wise with ASG’s existing 23 x 50″ landscape screens and 2 x 103″ screens.

Perhaps it will be a portrait vs landscape digital war?

Outcast, offering digital media at the gas pump, has expanded its national sales team with the addition of Michael Mongelluzzo as vice president of sales, eastern region, and Gregory Dunn as director of sales, central region.

Mongelluzzo, joins from NBC Universal, where he led sales for NBC’s out-of-home unit. He earlier was director of business development and emerging media at WABC-TV, and director of sales at About.com.

Dunn also joins from NBC Universal where he was local sales leader for the central region of NBC’s out-of-home unit. He earlier was national account manager at National CineMedia.

Both report to chief media officer Nathan Gill.

Advertisers reach a combined audience of more than 20 million consumers each month on 12,600 screens at service stations and convenience stores nationwide in 15 of the top DMAs on Outcast and PumpTop TV’s joint venture network. The Outcast platform also extends beyond the pump with a mobile platform that has delivered more than 35 million SMS coupons

We mentioned before that we didn’t like the new BookingDOOH logo (it shouts at you) and we hate for example, the fact that in their publicity they refer to themselves as BOOKINGDOOH – seriously someone has not thought through what happens when the logo gets taken into text. CamelCase was one thing but all UPPER CASE is so wrong.

Anyway, we had a sneak preview of their new web site (shown above) and that works. We really like their new layout. Much cleaner, better use of just a few colours, it’s a bit pink but we like simple and clean and it is and looks simple and clean.

BOOKINGDOOH’s communication with the media buyers and network operators is improved as well; ability to communicate with them through video messages and the website has been linked to their twitter and facebook accounts as well.

This is the projection discussed earlier shown at Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre.

You can watch the TV programme that was streamed by clicking here

Groupe VIVA, digital out-of-home media company located in Boisbriand, Que., is reinforcing its presence in Western Canada with the opening of four new megastores in Alberta by its client, Pro Hockey Life Sporting Goods Inc..

Groupe VIVA supplies and operates the digital displaynetwork based in each of the 20 megastores of the national chain, which operates in Quebec under the banners Sports Gilbert Rousseau and Entrepôt du hockey.

The digital network is used mainly to communicate marketing messages to clients base and to contribute to the hockey ambiance within the stores. Some of the chain’s suppliers, such as Reebok and Bauer, also use the locations to advertise their new products.

“As true pioneers in the industry of point-of-sale digital displays, the
people at Pro Hockey Life can pride themselves on having been among the first to have implemented such a network at the beginning of the 21st century, and especially to have had the right instinct regarding the benefits such a marketing tool provides,” says Pierre Gendron, chairman of the Board and CEO of Groupe VIVA.

“Our concept is focused on the client experience and our digital display network definitely enhances the hockey ambiance in our stores, especially in the way some of our screens are designed, much like the jumbo scoreboards you see in NHL arenas,” says Anthony Fisher, senior vice-president marketing, Pro Hockey Life Sporting Goods.

Other than these four new stores opening in Calgary and Edmonton, Groupe VIVA also manages the network of the Quebec and Ontario stores, directly from its Boisbriand offices.

Groupe VIVA also feeds customized programming to thousands of screens within other private networks across Canada, including Groupe Archambault (music, books, games), L’Aubainerie (clothing), and Cage aux Sports (restaurants) retail outlets. The company also operates various digital media properties in retail stores, public areas and health establishments in communities across the province of Quebec.

Groupe VIVA uses BroadSign.

STRATACACHE are set to make a big announcement at IBC next week in Amsterdam. No clue yet as to what it is or if it’s a deal with whom it might be with but word on the street is that it is a ‘biggie’

Yes it’s true, this chap correctly predicted (live on TV) Wednesday evening’s UK Lottery numbers!

OMD and Posterscope were the agencies involved who setup this projection which involved live streaming of the TV programme onto the side of the Tate Gallery in London. We think this is probably the first time that a TV programme has been broadcast / projected in this manner.

Derren even highlighted the projection on his facebook page yesterday and also mentioned the projection whilst doing the live TV programme itself, we quote “if you are watching this projected onto the side of a building somewhere in the country then hello and thank you for coming and watching that too”

You can watch the TV programme that was streamed by clicking here

See also the Birmingham Bullring projection here

In yesterday’s LAS VEGAS, NEVADA announcement that EDR Media has formed Sports Retail Networks LLC and has completed the acquisition of The Golf Network our cynical side instantly took over and we thought “umm, errr, look for a client that fell into receivership or fell behind with payments with the content house and hands over assets as a result”.

However, Kevin E. McKenna, VP Network Development, EDR MEDIA LLC tells us that is definitely NOT the case in this instance and he added “EDR was never the creative house for SRN/ TGN …. in fact TGN was in good standing with all of it¹s vendors and partners” so it looks like it was indeed a ‘proper’ acquisition after all.

EDR is a long time Scala shop and a well respected business, especially skilled at doing joint ventures on uber-content projects globally. They are probably best at the very high end of content creation.

Anyway back to the press release. It’s probably ‘big’ PR for such a small quantity of locations – 100 stores…

The Golf Network™ currently airs in 100 stores nationally, including Golf Etc., Golf USA, Pro Golf Discount, ParMasters, and Dunham’s Sporting Goods, and reaches an audience of over 4 million viewers. The Network plans to increase to 250 locations by the end of 2009, with an ultimate build-out to 1,000 locations

i.e. TGN is placed at specialty Golf retail locations across the US (they are not a Golf course located network) and aim to place the network at retail locations where golf enthusiasts purchase over 80% of their Golf related equipment.

As with all new network announcements the key is always what is NOT said and we were interested in knowing how they are planning to make the jump from 100 stores to 250 this year? Kevin E. McKenna told us exclusively “Our expansion plans are well funded not only to achieve our goal of 250 locations this year but also reach our target of 1,000 as quickly as practical”.

Even with a good SaaS deal (in the US for example, BroadSign are actively out in the market offering licenses for Fifteen US dollars a pop), free in-house content creation, 32″ screens, a deployment like this would still require about USD 400,000 to build out an additional 150 stores.

The Golf Network™ was launched back in 2008 after two years of development and production by its founders and Big Picture Studios. It’s ‘hosted’ by award-winning ESPN golf commentator Jim Kelly and popular actress/entertainer Susan Anton which surely says a lot about it?

The network features interviews and tips with top golf pros and many Hall of Famers, technology updates, travel and lifestyle features, and related information and advertisements directed to the nation’s avid golf enthusiasts.

Studies however, do show that the network has produced significant results in-store. According to Arbitron, The Golf Network™ has produced a sales lift of as much as 30% in testing locations, and over 40% of viewers made an unplanned purchase after watching the Network’s programming.

About EDR Media LLC

EDR Media is a nationally-recognized media development company that specializes in consumer-focused media programs, commercials, and promotions for broadcast and digital out-of-home (DOOH) media applications. EDR Media’s clients include national broadcasters, retailers, and resort & casino companies..

EDR is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, but its primary production facilities are located at its Beachwood Studios Production Center in Beachwood, Ohio – a premiere media production and network operations center with a talented team of media professionals servicing broadcast and digital out-of-home networks.

Luke Vibert – Dive and Lie Wrecked
W/C: 07/09/2009
CHOSEN BY: Pablo Clark

Usually Luke’s normal vibes include house and techno. This album see’s Luke progressing into various genres from Dubstep to Acid House via Hip Hop and mad Electronica. Here we have a fat slice of sub-bass

Listen to it here