Digital Signage Need To Know: Digital Signage Learning Curve, how to tell a good manufacturer from a questionable one.

-Deacon Wardlow

If you've watched enough old westerns and movies, you'll have noticed people biting the gold/silver coin to test its authenticity. Skilled cons used to drill out coins and replace the gold/silver by plugging the coin with lead (hence the saying, not worth a "plugged" nickel). Lead is softer and a skilled biter could tell the difference between a real coin and a plugged one.

With technology, it's especially difficult to tell the difference between a good product and a bad one. As was the case with a coin biter, you just had to go off of experience which meant you got cheated enough to know better after a while. Back in the 80's and 90's, buying a computer was a very daunting idea. Technology wasn't really simplified for a buyer and the choices seemed intimidating. Over the last 20 years, computer manufacturers have simplified their sales approach and made the important components more transparent (processing speed, hard drive sizes, computer capabilities/performance, etc.). The overall buying process was simplified and it became possible for someone to compare different computers and see which one (based on specs and performance) would be the best option.

The difficulty people encounter with buying a Digital Signage solution is similar to someone shopping for a computer 20 years ago. It's hard to compare one system from the other because of a general lack of standard common component naming conventions (especially with LED Signs) and little-to-no transparency in the market. I was speaking with a client last week about comparing a system she had found online vs. the option I presented. Here's a snippet of the conversation:

Me: Where did you get this quote?

Client: I found it on ebay. It's really cheap and I think it might work for our needs.

Me: Comparing systems can be really difficult, but let me put this situation in a different context. Let's say you're buying a laptop for your business. You go to the big box store near the mall and notice the price range for the laptop you want is about $500-$600. Not bad. As you walk out the store, you see someone selling laptops from a folding table in the parking lot. The seller tells you they have laptops which are "just as good" as the ones in the big box store, but "factory direct" and you can buy one for as little as $50 right now. The person will even write their cell phone number on a piece of paper in case you need help later. Would you take the offer?

Client: Of course not. It sounds really shady to me.

Me: This is the modern problem with DS. There are a lot of players in the market and it's easy to be misled. This is why it's really important to know who you're dealing with. What support does the company offer? How reliable are they? How good is their product? Are they offering current and/or innovative technology or repackaging old tech in a new cabinet? You can't just trust what people say, you've got to dig deeper and know what you're getting.

This is why it's important to do your research. Find out about why you may want an IPC instead of an embedded controller. When do software-based controls for a DS system make sense and when are cloud-based controls better? Please don't feel like you've got to go it alone. Unfortunately, there's no "quick answer" to this question, but there are resources to help you figure it all out. The savvy manufacturers out there are working hard to educate people. You can reach out to me or others in the industry for direction and assistance so you can hopefully avoid the pains and headaches we've gone through when we bit those lead coins thinking they were gold. Don't get caught eating lead, you and your clients are worth more.

The blog is fairly extensive, so we've put out a list of previous blogs (sorted by category) to help you learn more --> A year (plus) of Digital Signage information!

You can also use the search option (at the top of the blogspot page) to look for specific info. Please drop me a line and I'll be happy to point you in the right direction for whatever you're looking for!

Please comment here or send questions or requests for information to deacon@vantageled.com. Vantage LED has white paper resources and more educational material on the website (http://www.vantageled.com), please check it out when you have a moment. Note all posts/thoughts/writings are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically noted.attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically noted.

Digital Signage Need To Know: What makes a good LED Sign?

-Deacon Wardlow

Technology is somewhat similar to a puzzle, you need all the right pieces in the right places to get things completed properly. The problem with Digital Signage (DS) technology is a lot of people are given a blank puzzle and it's REALLY difficult to get the full picture of what's going on.

A majority of people I speak with have a simple breakdown on their "wish list" for DS. Quality, price, and performance. A good DS system should look great, have few/no problems over the lifetime of its use, be easy to operate, and be cost effective. No objections there right? Are people looking deep enough to qualify a good system? I often hear people use cars as an analogy for the sign industry... "This is the luxury car of signage and what you want is more along the lines of a economy car..."

Using the car analogy, what do people want out of a car? Four wheels, an engine, steering wheel, and brakes. Using that line of thought, a golf cart would be fine for use right? That is until you get out on the road... The problem with LED Signs (and DS in general) is people don't really understand everything that goes into a "good" or "great" system. You could have a sign that looks decent from the outside, the company has a long standing reputation and name in the business so they must be building a great system right? Surprises ensue when you crack open the system and take a really close look at what's inside driving and running that system. The luxury car you thought you were getting is a bit of a lemon and it's all because you didn't have the right questions to be sure you were getting the best for your investment (or your client's investment).

To rectify this, we're giving you three quick questions (with links to previous articles) to dig deeper and make sure you're getting what you expect...

1. How many types of LED Sign do you manufacture and are they all the same? Check Scott's article on Design & Engineering - Followup question, if they aren't the same, what's the difference?

*Not all LED Signs are the same. Some manufacturers cut corners on the build and design, sometimes different (often cheaper) power supplies or other components are used; some "features" which are touted aren't always built-in to the system you're getting, they're only available on the "higher-end" models.

2. If a manufacturer offers different models, what components are different?

In an article I wrote earlier (Sign System Components), I pointed out to be wary of a bait-and-switch. If a company offers different models (and some models are cheaper than others) you can be VERY sure the cheaper models have cheaper components or designs. Find out what is different and why the pricing varies.

3. Is the controller an IPC (industrial computer with a hard drive of 50+ gigabytes running a Microsoft/Linux Embedded operating system) or an Embedded Control Card (simple ARM-based control system running off of a 1-2 gigabyte flash card)?

You should know what's under the hood because the controller will determine how well your system performs over all and if it's capable of being upgraded down the line should some new technology become available. You should make sure your system is "future-proofed" as much as possible or it's going to become old technology faster than you can install it. This is similar (performance wise) with the differences between a golf cart and a muscle car...

If you've been following our blog the last year and a half, you'll know there's A LOT more to all this than three simple questions; if a manufacturer is direct with you, these questions will be serious eye openers. Don't be blinded by "geek speak" and "tech talk." Get a straight answer and ask for transparency. You might not like what you see under the hood, but you'll be more aware of what you're working with and be able to spot the difference between a good partner and a bad vendor.

*Please comment here and/or email me directly with requests, questions, or follow-up at deacon@vantageled.com. Vantage LED has white paper resources and more educational material on the website (http://www.vantageled.com), please check it out when you have a moment. Note all posts/thoughts/writings are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically noted.

Digital Signage Need To Know: Things To Consider During a Live LED Sign Demonstration

- Scott Hofheins

LED signs are expensive. You're getting a lot more for the price as the technology gets better and better, but still expensive nonetheless. When you're investing that kind of money in a sign, you want to see what your getting prior to any money changing hands. This is rarely possible because we are in a ‘build to order’ industry, but that doesn't mean you have to go in completely blind.

In addition to industry research (like reading this blog!) onsite demonstrations are a good way to see a product before you buy. The availability of a demo unit doesn't automatically equate to a better manufacturer, but if you do get the chance then demo multiple manufacturers and use your experience when researching additional opportunities. Here are some things to keep in mind.

Schedule During the Day

The brightness of an LED sign is important. It’s going to be fighting the sun all day long, 365 days a year. The sign should be just as readable as your static signage during the day, and not look washed out.

Display Quality

• The image should be even and crisp along the entire face of the display. No “tiles” or “squares” should be visible, just a clean even image standing from multiple viewing angles.
• The colors should deep and full. Avoid signs that have a ‘Washed Out’ look,  similar to when you increase the brightness on the TV without adjusting the contrast.
• Make sure you're getting an FULL color display with at least 16.8 million colors. Look closely at the image on the display, do you see any sharp gradients from one color to the next? If so the sign may not support true full color media.
• Animations/Video should be completely fluid. Anything that looks jerky or like it has a low frame rate can indicate that the controller isn't up to par.
• What does the actual text content look like? It should be dynamic, smooth and should “pop” at you. Movies on a display are great, but remember that This is going to be an advertising tool in most cases, so make sure the text quality and animation are just as good as the movies.
• Make sure you can see the display from a reasonable angle, horizontally without color distortion. There are physical limits regardless of the manufacturer, but a good display will provide a wide viewing angle.

Look Inside
What better opportunity will you have to see the product before you buy? Ask to look inside and look at the parts, case construction and coating, LED layout, etc...get as much out of the demo time as possible.

LED Modules

• Are they easy to remove? Avoid screws, quick half turn latches are becoming the industry standard for easy removal and access.  
• A flat black finish on the modules will reflect less sunlight, and provide better contrast for the display.
• Make sure each LED gets the same protection from the louvers. Louvers are like sun shades for the individual LED’s. The arrangement of the LED Pixels (Red, Green, Blue) can be several ways, all three in a row, column, triangle, etc… The louver design should take this into account and provide maximum protection to each LED.
• The LED’s should be secure behind the louver panel to protect against UV deterioration from the sun. Large open areas around the pixels can cause deterioration of the conformal coating.

Internal Layout and Components

• Imagine yourself on a ladder or in a bucket truck. Are the components easy to see, wires cleanly routed, and components accessible?
• Is the wiring US standard? Many overseas suppliers use different colors that can cause confusion during installation and operation. Generally speaking, US uses black, white, red and Green for most of our DC power standards. If you see a lot of Brown, Grey and Blue, it’s most likely been produced overseas.
• Are they using an embedded controller, or PC Controller (IPC)? PC Controllers tend to be more powerful, easier to network and support.
• The control system hardware (circuit boards) should be high quality and easy to access and replace if needed. If coated, the surface should be smooth and clear. Sloppy or overly applied coatings can cause weather and overheating issues.
• Power supplies should be high quality, conformal coated and from a standard supplier. A vast majority of the manufactures use Meanwell, some use TDK. Avoid signs with generic power supplies, or brand name knockoffs.

Specs

What is the Pixel Pitch and Matrix and Matrix of the demo unit, and how does it compare to what you're looking at buying? You don’t want to expect the same image quality on your 25mm sign that the 10mm demo produces.

Demos are inherently going to be smaller than a permanent sign, so they tend to be a higher resolution.This is usually a good thing because gives you better idea of what a larger MM Pitch would look like when viewed from a distance. But sometimes it’s easy to take advantage of the situation and leave you with the impression that you sign will look exactly the same.

A demo is a great way to not only see a potential product, but learn about LED signs in general. Of course as I mentioned before, a demo doesn't guarantee a good product or manufacturer, but it can still help you get a good feeling for the industry. Use it as an additional tool to your online research, discussions with insiders, and conversations with manufacturers and dealers.

-SH

I hope this post has been informative and helpful. As usual, I welcome ALL constructive comments. Please feel free to comment and add anything I’ve missed, or additional tips you may have regarding this topic. Please visit www.vantageled.com for many other resources, white papers, and of course: Great looking LED Signs!

**All posts/thoughts/writings are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically stated.

Digital Signage 'Need To Know': FAQ about LED Signs for IT Professionals, End Users and the Industry

- Scott Hofheins

LED sign technology is still new to many IT professionals who deal mostly with networks, servers, user computers and well documented software. It’s not that LED sign technology is overly advanced or complicated, but that it’s just not something they have to deal with every day. Additionally, the industry is growing and changing so quickly that it’s difficult to find any substantial “standards”. Blogs like ours are helping to improve this, but the industry as a whole is still blanketed with confusion and misinformation.

I would like to offer a basic FAQ for IT folks who often get pulled into an LED sign project and counted on to make an “expert” decision on one product or another. I've included as many links to related blog topics as I could find. Don't’ worry I promise they are not those annoying advertising links.

What are the basic components in an LED Sign?

There are some common components that every LED sign must have. Manufacturers use a variety of names for their hardware, so the names I’ve listed the names below according to their function.

• Controller: The brain of an LED sign. This holds the files and raw data that will be shown on the LED sign. In the past, this was a simple embedded controller that sent text and simple animations to the display. Most manufactures are now using IPC Controllers running an actual OS. These are industrialized PC’s that are more powerful, easier to control, and easier for IT staff to manage.

• Video Conversion Hardware: The video information supplied by the Controller has to be converted to a signal that LED system will understand. In most cases this is a separate piece of embedded hardware, with a video connection to the computer on one side, and a output connection to the rest of the LED sign hardware on the other.

• Video Sectioning Hardware: This hardware splits the video signal and sends it to a specified section of an LED display; typically Rows or Columns of data. This allows manufactures to create larger signs by adding more of these “sectioning” cards for additional rows or columns of an LED display.

• LED Modules and Drivers that hold the actual LED’s: These are the actual LED’s that light up and display the information on the LED sign. They are usually grouped into “Modules” containing multiple Pixels. Usually 8x8 pixels, 8x16 pixels, or 16x16 pixels. Each pixel on a color sign will contain at least (1) Red LED, (1) Green LED and (1) Blue LED. These LED’s are driven by the IC chips, typically incorporated with the module itself.

• Communication System and Hardware: The end user must be able to communicate with the LED sign. In the past, embedded controllers were built to natively support Serial communications (RS232 or RS485). However as the need for more data increased, and networks were modernized, manufacturers responded with IPC based controllers that supported direct TCP/IP communication via standard RJ45/Cat5/6 cable. This is now the standard. Other communication options are easily implemented using Wireless Radios, Fiber to Ethernet Converters, etc…

• Sign Software: In the beginning, these were command line programs. As the industry grew, manufacturers developed better GUI’s and more powerful software to control full color signs with animated media, text and video. For a long time these were just local PC based installations, but we are now seeing Cloud Based options too.

How does this all work together?

• The user will create a message for the display, and add it to a schedule in the sign software.
• The software (cloud based or local) will then communicate to the controller and update the schedule and files.
• The controller then plays these files according to the schedule sending the video signal to the Video Conversion Hardware.
• This converts the signal and sends it to the Video Sectioning Hardware.
• The video is then sent to each LED module in the particular Row or Column where the IC chips tell the individual LED pixels how to balance their colors to create match the corresponding pixel in the video.
• Put all those pixels together, and you've got yourself a full color image on the LED sign.  

What risk factors are involved for network security?

An LED sign with an IPC controller will have some inherent protections due to the fact that’s its sole purpose is to take content from the sign software and display it on the sign. That’s it. Nobody is surfing the internet with it, or sending emails, clicking on questionable links, or running questionable software. It’s a self contained system, with limited access over a network. The controller and communication devices for the sign should be encrypted and password protected by the factory. End-users can enhance this security by customizing these protections. This is done much easier on an IPC controller because it’s using a standard OS.

What are considerations to take when looking at LED sign software?

• Local Software: This has been around for awhile. You install it just like any software program, then set the corresponding settings to communicate to the LED sign. Local software offers more physical control of the software on-site, but it usually limited in remote functionality and users. It should be well documented, simple, and developed by the manufacturer directly, preferably in the US. Avoid software that looks outdated or poorly designed. Most major manufacturers can demo the software, or provide good documentation with screenshots.

• Cloud Based: This approach to sign management allows the sign to be controlled through a secure website. Because it’s internet based, users have the ability to access it 24/7. You have more control and options for users and permission based roles. Local access to the sign is restricted, allowing IT staff to control user access through the web portal. This type of system takes a bit more setup on the front end to get the sign onto your network and online, but is typically worth the effort.

What makes a quality LED sign?

As with any electronic device, it’s all about the quality of the engineering and execution of manufacturing with high quality components. The entire system should be designed and engineered in house. There are many so called “manufactures” out there who outsource the entire build overseas, shipped pre-built to the USA. These organizations have a severely diminished ability to implement QC and support the product long term.

Are there common “red flags” to look out for?

Signs manufactured wholly in Asia.

No documentation available for the sign.

Poorly translated documentation.

Difficult to reach a real person at the “Factory”.

Manufacturers not willing to provide a physical address, or who only provide a PO box.

Extremely low pricing for “the same” product when compared to other quotes.

Extremely high specification numbers that seem too good to be true.

What is a Pixel Matrix, Pixel Pitch and RGB?

Pixel Matrix is the physical pixel size of an LED sign, usually shown as Height x Width. Pixel Pitch is the physical distance between each pixel, measured in Millimeters (MM). RGB stands for “Red” “Green” and “Blue” and is a designation that the sign is full color.  For example, a 20mm RGB 48x128 LED sign would be:

• 20 Millimeter Pitch
• Full Color
• 48 pixel high, by 128 pixel wide Matrix

Some manufactures offer Virtual Pixel Technology. When done correctly, this will enhance your sign, and allow you to use double the native Pixel Matrix in the content you program on the sign. For example, if your LED is 48x128, you would be able to use content that is sized to 96x256.

How do you measure the brightness and color palette of an LED sign?

Both of these specs are important, but have been very abused and over-inflated in the past and causing a lot of confusion for end-users. Keep this in mind when comparing specs.

The most brightness specs are listed as NITS. These are measurement of light directly from the source. You want an LED sign to be around 10,000 NITS. Extremely high NIT specs are typically an over inflation of the actual spec, or the LED’s are being driven harder with more voltage, causing premature failure over time.  

The color palette is measured like your computer monitor according to bit depth. Realistically speaking, anything between 16.8 million, and 281 Trillion is standard in the industry. Larger values are over inflated and don’t make any difference on the actual color quality of the LED sign. A typical monitor supports 16bit (65 Thousand Colors) and 24bit (16.8 Million Colors). 32 Bit is still 16.8 Million, but with 8 extra bits that give transparency values. However, 48bit does provides 281 Trillion colors.

Is a larger manufacturer always better?

No. Large manufacturers have to deal with many of the same issues as smaller manufacturers, but can be much slower to respond. Organizations like Wal-Mart are huge, but you’re not really getting the highest quality products. When you're purchasing an LED sign for $50k, you do not want a “Value Brand”. The size of the manufacture is a factor, and you want to make sure they are well backed, financially healthy and underwritten, but it’s not an automatic benefit.

I know I haven’t covered everything, but I hope the links I provided helped to expand the range of information. If you didn’t click on them, I highly recommend going back when you get time and read those posts. We have a great team here that strives to produce true and honest information about LED signage for both end-user and dealer alike. We are currently at 130+ posts and look forward to even more as the year moves on. So keep us bookmarked, and feel free to comment with any questions, ideas for topics, etc…we’re listening.

-SH

I hope this post has been informative and helpful. As usual, I welcome ALL constructive comments. Please feel free to comment and add anything I’ve missed, or additional tips you may have regarding this topic. Please visit www.vantageled.com for many other resources, white papers, and of course: Great looking LED Signs!

**All posts/thoughts/writings are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically stated.