Scala Digital Signage Web

NorgesGruppen, the Norwegian grocery retailer, has been running a network of digital menuboards in Shell FRESH retail locations across Norway. The concept behind the FRESH network of 400 Scala InfoChannel players is to promote a fresher image at the Shell gas stations, and to promote the healthier food selections now available.

According to the case study, this network is a great example of dayparting in a digital signage network:

Each FRESH menu board installation consists of 4 NEC LCD screens configured side-by-side to create a single menu board array. Each menu board displays a unique campaign loop consisting of multiple promotions each day during predefined times; morning (breakfast), mid-day (lunch) and evening/night dinner/snack). Promotional content is chosen to fit the time of day as well as regional or store demographics. Campaigns and their individual promotions are consistently measured and changed accordingly. Digital content in all regions and individual locations is updated centrally by the advertising agency, Virtual Garden, who manages the content for all screens nationwide.

InfoChannel's ability to dynamically shift the content being shown according to diverse criteria is a key feature, which is used prominently here. As I've noted before, dayparting is such a powerful concept that even Google has built it into their Adwords system.
Tags: digital signage | narrowcasting | Scala

Here's a larger streaming version of the InfoChannel 5 Trailer video that's viewable from our home page. I've put it up on YouTube in this case so you can send it around easily. Let ys know what you think!

Tags: digital signage | narrowcasting | Scala

This isn't specific to digital signage, but I found it worth passing along. John Battelle reports that Google has launched dayparting support in the Adwords system.

What is dayparting? Dayparting is the practice of scheduling advertisements, in this case Google's text ads, according to the time of day that your intended audience is most likely to be present where you're sending your message. It's a matter of being in the right place (where your customers and prospects are) at the right time.

Google implements this so that Adwords advertisers can target their ads not only by the search keywords, but by time of day. While many web sites won't have a specific use for this, let's say you're a brick and mortar business with fixed operating hours and you want your ad to generate phone calls. It would be best to daypart your ad during your business hours so that people are there to answer phones!

Scala InfoChannel digital signage networks have the capability of scheduling such that your messages can be dayparted according to time of day, screen by screen. Even more complex interaction can be scripted into your signage network, such as only displaying content pertinent to a product that you have in stock (if your inventory system reports that you're out, you can show different content) or perhaps using known demographic information to narrowcast a precise message to the audience present at that time.

Google is taking a similar approach. Just like a retailer is going to locate digital signs where they are going to get viewer attention, and then use them to put out messaging specific to that area of the store, Google will likewise be delivering ads based on what the viewer is searching for and according to the time of day.

As dynamic advertising techniques continue to advance, we'll see more and more innovation like this, both on the Internet and in digital signage.
Tags: digital signage | narrowcasting | Scala

Exciting news: Scala has announced its next-generation product suite, Infochannel 5. Unveiled at Infocomm 2006 last week, Infochannel 5 sports a "... streamlined interface/workflow, rapid template-based content authoring, sophisticated content management including new channel planning/scheduling modules, new 3D-based rendering engine for improved visual quality, better performance and multiple independent output channels per remote player PC." See the Scala digital signage software site for more details... watch this space for updates as more information becomes available.

Along with this announcement, we have a new "trailer" video that you must not miss. Visit our home page, and select "Infochannel Trailer" from the list of videos at the top. A larger version of this video will be available for download shortly.
Tags: digital signage | narrowcasting | Scala

The 100-inch LCD display that LG Philips LCD announced back in March is set to be revealed to the world at the Society for Information Display conference in San Francisco, California.

According to the LG Philips LCD press release:

...the 100-inch panel is a wide screen (16:9) LCD TV panel which has a screen response speed below 5ms, 6.22 million-pixels, Full HD grade picture quality and the ability to reproduce 1.07 billion colors. The panel also boasts the latest technologies, such as a maximum contrast ratio of 3000:1, color gamut of 92 percent, and an omni-directional, 180-degree viewing angle based on Super IPS and super-large compensation film technologies.

There is no word yet on when these will be hitting the market, but digital signage is an obvious use for such a large LCD display. Imagine the impact of a 100-inch 16:9 LCD digital sign.
Tags: digital signage | narrowcasting | Scala