At ISE 2016, Cabletime will unveil two important additions to its range of MediaStar solutions. These will include the next generation MediaStar platform of LAN-Caster Gateways and Encoders, and the now available MediaStar 782 media player, which delivers 4K screen resolution and rich HTML 5 support as well as full multizone digital signage capabilities.

Cabletime is also planning to display and demonstrate its full range of video distribution, media management and signage solutions.

Making its debut at ISE, the MediaStar LAN-Caster Gateway is a new platform which promises to provide a step change in the number of channels that can be distributed simultaneously. Users will benefit from the delivery of secure, scalable content from multiple tuners simultaneously from a single gateway. In addition, the new gateway platform, together with the Mediastar range of media players including the new 782, will support content encrypted from end to end.

A rolling programme of demonstrations will highlight the enhancements available from the MediaStar 782 media player, which will be on general release at the show. This solution indicates Cabletime’s intention to fully support the digital signage requirements of its customers, providing support not just for single, but multizone signage environments. It also delivers 4K screen resolution support and HTML 5 support and will enable users to incorporate advanced web pages and rich media in their signage designs.

Cabletime will be announcing further product enhancements before the event.

The MediaStar range provides TV/AV and multimedia distribution products primarily for medium to large enterprises, which require future-proof, stable and proven solutions for live TV, corporate communications, multicasts, music TV, training and digital signage.

Go MediaStar at ISE 2016: Rich Multizone Signage and End-to-End Encryption

BrightSign will demonstrate its latest platform software that makes it easy to harness the power of HTML5 content in digital signage applications at InfoComm MEA.

The new platform software is integral to BrightSign’s powerful HTML Rendering Engine resident on the company’s latest portfolio of digital signage media players. HTML5-authored content takes advantage of touch interactivity, including the ability to tap, swipe and pinch. The ability of the viewer to self-navigate signage content ensures a highly personalised experience, creating a vital touch-point between proprietor and customer.

“One great benefit of our purpose-built digital signage media players is that we can deliver updates to the player software (also referred to as platform software or firmware) adding important capabilities without any disruption to the hardware itself,” says Jeff Hastings, BrightSign’s CEO. “In this case, we’re seeing a massive influx of rich content, and digital signage installations need a rendering engine capable of processing all of that content in real-time. We developed this new software to bring greater efficiency to our BrightSign players, and to ensure that even the most sophisticated content can be processed with ease.”

HTML5 delivers extremely rich experiences for applications such as the "endless aisle" in retail, powerful wayfinder solutions and real-time social media applications.

At the stand, co-hosted by DigiComm, BrightSign will also be exhibiting its new 2015 range of players for the first time in Dubai. The flagship line offers the new 4K models. Alongside, visitors can view the updated range of XD and HD solid state players, offering greatly increased performance while maintaining existing price points. The new LS product line, a pair of very affordable, full-featured devices for commercial audio and price-sensitive digital signage applications, is also being shown for the first time.

Go BrightSign

In Q3, AOPEN hopes to deliver the fruit of its work with Google on commercial grade devices for signage, POS and kiosk markets.

Google’s Chromeboxes, like other Chrome OS devices, rely heavily on an internet connection for software functionality and data storage. And Google relies on makers such as Samsung, Acer, Lenovo to drive the 5.2 million consumer Chromeboxes sold in 2014.

We previously reported on Google’s intention to push into digital signage…and Google’s promotion and sales of a special Chromebox for meetings.

Based on Chrome OS platform, three AOPEN devices for commercial signage are coming: the Chromebox Commercial, the Chromebase Commercial 19” and the Chromebase Commercial 22”.

Built to use 24/7, AOPEN’s Commercial Chrome Device is solid state and has an open platform designed to support a range of Android apps. It is also bundled with one year of Chrome Management and designed to use Chrome’s cloud application as a device management system to centrally or locally deploy devices.

On top of that, the devices are also feature shock, circuit and vibration resistance, and Chrome hardware level security.

The AOPEN Chromebox Commercial is a small-form device that can power digital displays and vertical applications such as kiosks or public transport information systems. It is also designed specifically to fit in small spaces and comes with powered legacy and commercial ports.

The device is also fanless with no vent holes that allow it to be used in challenging circumstances.

AOPEN’s Chromebase Commercial is an ultra-thin multi-touch tile. Available in two display sizes, 19” and 22”, the tile is driven by Google Chrome’s device management system.

It also features a waterproof toughened glass front, tamperproof management & mounting, and powered ports to power POS devices and industrial connectivity.

Jason Cremins, Founder and CEO at Signagelive.com wrote in a recent LinkedIn blog, “…Whilst some digital signage customers will happily choose from the range of low-cost Chromeboxes that are in the market, and some will even use the upcoming ASUS Chromebit HDMI Dongle device, many want a robust device that is built for unattended 24/7 use.

From our month-long extensive testing of the AOPEN Commercial Chromebox, we are very impressed with the performance and reliability, and we already have numerous partners that are raring to get their hands on a device to trial with Signagelive in a real-world environment…”

Go AOPEN and the Commercial ChromeBox, Chromebase

Shown first at ISE 2015,  TinyGreenPC, In-Store Media and Silvercurve demonstrate a complete content-to-screen digital signage solution centred on the TinyGreenPC Solitaire Pi-Player.

The Pi player is a pro grade dedicated media player offering both simple scheduling and ready templates and enterprise scalable scheduling with the Instoremedia Digital Signage solution. 

Drawing only 7W and built around the Raspberry Pi, the TinyGreenPC Solitaire Pi-Player offers a miniscule form factor. It delivers much of the functionality of a pc-based media player but uses approximately 1/3 of the power.  With output to HDMI, wi-fi and Ethernet, as well as OPS slot in and standalone versions, the Pi maker expects to break down many of the the traditional to adopting digital signage (e.g., cost, size, utility, interface etc).

The Pi Player has already been successfully adopted by top retailers-- including one of London’s most prestigious department stores, Gieves & Hawkes.

AVMI, global integrator of retail digital media solutions, created a custom window display for Gieves & Hawkes, powered by a professional digital signage platform from InStore Media and using an Apertur-powered Pi Player. Aperture has been developed by Silver Curve, a leading digital signage software developer. 

Commenting, Paul Mullen, Sales Director, AndersDX parent corporation of TinyGreenPC says, “InStore Media, Silver Curve and TinyGreenPC offer a truly joined up digital signage screen, allowing content to be created and played back quickly and simply. Silver Curve Aperture, bunded with the Pi Player, is a graphics engine that makes the outstanding graphics capabilities of the Raspberry Pi fully accessible. The Solitaire Pi Player from TinyGreenPC is the ultimate compact, low power consumption media player that costs just £7 a year to run in terms of power.”

[Photo: (left) Paul Mullen, AndersDX and (right) Bryan Crotaz, CEO, Silver Curve] 

The TinyGreenPC Solitaire Pi Player andersDX and TinyGreenPC are offered fully cased as a Stand Alone Media Player or an OPS Media Player. Both can receive content via Ethernet or (optional) WiFi and render it to an attached screen of up to 1920 x 1080p (Full HD) resolution. The Stand Alone player is equipped with HDMI, RS-232, Ethernet, GPIO and USB 2.0 Interfaces. The OPS player is based on Intel’s specification and comes with the appropriate 80-pin connector. The players draw just 7W and a UPS mode maintains the power supply from a battery for seven minutes in the event of temporary disconnection.

Instoremedia NOW is a solution for those who want to install and run simple, small scale signage installations from a User Interface which takes minutes to learn. Utilising the ultra-low impact Pi Player, with Instoremedia NOW, users can be running a digital signage display within hours. For larger scale deployments, Instoremedia Enterprise offers end users the ability to schedule content across large display networks from a single user interface. It is also compatible with the Pi Player and features both playlist and meta data rules based scheduling, as well as complete system diagnostics.

SilverCurve Aperture is a graphics engine for digital signage that enables software vendors to run their software on a mobile phone chip instead of a PC. Designed from the ground up specifically for digital signage, Aperture sits between the vendor software and the device hardware, drawing rich content and rendering it at full, broadcast-ready HDMI. It drives the graphics processor on the chip and uses it in a highly efficient way to obtain outstanding graphics, motion images and animation.

Go Tiny Green PC 

Go SilverCurve 

Go InStore Media

A Finnish advertising company, Mediateko Oy, installed new digital LED-screens in nine ski resorts around Finland. The screens are located near areas of concentrated traffic and so the advertising potential attracts interest.

The project is managed by Avek Esitysratkaisut Ltd (Avek) who provided and installed ONELAN Net-Top-Boxes (NTB-HD-10F-S) to supply content for the LED screens. 

Mediateko's clients send advertising content to Avek who upload and schedule this according to the clients' requirements. Avek uses a ONELAN Content Management Server (CMS) to update content remotely. Avek also monitors the system via a ONELAN Digital Signage Manager (DSM). Mediateko does not become involved in the technology itself or its maintenance, but concentrates on the commercial advertising potential.

"This is the most significant investment of the fiscal year for Mediateko, but we have faith in the concept. Reception among the clients has been very positive", says Mediateko's CEO Teemu Kontkanen.

The CEO of Avek Esitysratkaisut Ltd, Jari Rönkkö, is also excited about the collaboration: "Mediateko is our long-term partner, but these ski resort LED implementations have raised our partnership to a new level. The service-concept based infomedia system gives a massive boost for our co-operation. The concept brings added value for both sides."

Some of the LED screens will be relocated to nearby golf courses to be use in summer months.

Go Mediateko Takes to the Pistes with ONELAN

spo-comm presented its new products and hardware solutions for digital signage, kiosk and POS applications—as well as a new "Easy Customization" program at ISE 2015. Mini-PCs from their NANO, KUMO and DROID series can now be customized and branded-- even for very small projects.

Up to 9 displays can be driven by their most recent multi-view system. And for digital signage installation in harsh environments, spo-comm extended RUGGED series with a new middle class system, the RUGGED QM87.

All new systems and solutions presented will be available in the upcoming three months, says the company. 

The latest offering from spo-comm is a professional mini-PC with integrated desktop-CPU. Together with MSI IPC, the mini-PC provider from Nuremberg brings this spo-book FLEX Q87 (MS-9A78) to the market.

With the spo-book FLEX Q87, users have the possibility of controlling 3 monitors simultaneously-- an advantage in the day-to-day work.

Apart from the three connectors for monitors, the integrated, high-performance CPU is also an important feature of the new device.

For an operating system, users have a choice between Windows 7 or Windows 8 (in their 32-bit or 64-bit versions, respectively). Alternatively, Ubuntu can also be used. With regard to the installation site, the new Mini-PC can be operated at ambient temperatures of between -10 and 40 degrees.

Go spo-comm

VIA Technologies shows the latest in commercial-grade Android digital signage players at DSE 2015, including demos of the new VIA ALTA DS 2, which runs dual displays in extended mode and 4K playback on a single display. 

“The flood of cheap Android signage devices onto the market has caused an untold number of headaches for many players in the industry because of their poor quality, software incompatibility, and non-existent vendor support,” comments Richard Brown, VP of Global Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “With our VIA ALTA DS Series systems, we provide solutions with commercial-grade quality and performance that customers require for large-scale 24/7 deployment combined with a full range of software development and technical support services from our US headquarters in Fremont, California.”

“I’ve been following the rise of Android pretty closely for the last three years, and know in speaking with software companies that it was a huge challenge sorting through all the consumer junk to find a device that would work, and keep working,” said industry consultant and blogger Dave Haynes, of The Preset Group. “When I first saw VIA’s devices, I immediately thought, ‘Oh, that’s going to make some CTOs feel a lot better about going Android.’”

The VIA ALTA DS Series features a choice of single and dual display Android solutions for managing dynamic displays for cost-sensitive, high-volume segments. Applications range from digital sign and menu boards to DOOH across a broad spectrum of retail, hospitality, entertainment, transportation, corporate and entertainment environments.

The VIA ALTA DS 2 is compact fanless Android media player which offers dual independent Full HD screen support. Key features include:

• 1.0GHz dual core VIA Elite E1000 Cortex-A9 SoC with a high-performance 2D/3D graphics and video engine that supports Open GL ES 3.0 hardware acceleration and simultaneous multiple Full HD video playback
• Dual-screen support with optional second HDMI port
• Extended & independent screen content support
• 2GB DDR3 SDRAM and up to 16GB eMMC Flash memory onboard
• Two HDMI-out ports; two USB 2.0 ports; two mini-USB 2.0 ports, one Gigabit Ethernet port; Audio-out/Mic-in; one SD card slot
• Optional USB Wi-Fi dongle

The VIA ALTA DS is a sleek, fanless system with a single output. Key features include:

• VIA Cortex-A9 SoC with advanced 2D/3D graphics and HD video playback capabilities
• 1GB DDR3 SDRAM and up to 16GB eMMC Flash memory onboard
• HDMI and VGA (optional) ports; four USB 2.0 ports; one 10/100 Ethernet port; Audio-out/Mic-in,
• Auto power on when plugged
• Optional Wi-Fi card

The VIA ALTA DS has been fully certified for use on Scala’s software platform, and is the key Android hardware for Capital Networks.

Both VIA ALTA DS Series systems are available to any software firm already developing or planning to develop on Android though the VIA Digital Signage ISV program.

Both VIA ALTA DS systems are available with a signage software solution pack featuring Android 4.3 as well as the VIA Smart ETK comprising a number of APIs, including Watchdog Timer (WDT) for safeguarding against system crashes, WOL, RTC wake-up, and a sample app. A full set of software customization services that speed up time to market and minimize development costs is also available. For customers looking for large-scale network signage and kiosk deployments, VIA offers cloud-based device management support for remote monitoring, control, and silent OTA software updates for both OS and apps.

Go VIA Embedded Video of Video wall Installation in the Ministry of Science & Technology Building, Taipei

Go VIA Embedded, ALTA DS

Vision now ships two new 4K media players as well as a low cost Atom-based media player.

Installers can choose to add Windows or Linux, and an SSD up to 1TB. Unlike Vision’s other models this one is fan-less and has 4GB of on-board storage built in-- eliminating the need for a SSD if used in simple applications running Linux. It has VGA, HDMI, Mini-jack, and USB 3.0 connectivity.

Two new 4K models have new 4th Generation i3 or i5 processors and are 4mm thinner at just 35mm. These new models have four USB 3.0 ports, and a headphone jack. They feature a mini-HDMI port and a mini-DisplayPort. The 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 @ 30Hz) is only available through the DisplayPort.

The DP output can deliver 4K content at the same time as the HDMI delivers a separate stream at up to 1920 x 1200@ 60Hz.The DisplayPort signal can also be daisy-chained on from the first DP monitor to a second or third at reduced resolution, with independent content going to each monitor.

The i3 4K models is priced from £355 SSP and the i5 4K model starts at £437 SSP. The Atom model is priced from £158 SSP.

Go Three New Vision Media Player models