82” professional-grade LCD display ideal for corporate and digital signage applications.

Enhance your image in a big way. The 82” NEC MultiSync LCD8205 delivers big-screen performance and capabilities for your corporate and digital signage applications.

Its sheer size (landscape orientation provides an active screen area of almost six feet in width and more than three feet in height) captures the attention of audiences both near and far. And with full high-definition resolution, lightning-quick response times, the widest possible viewing angles and high brightness/contrast, your images and messaging keep all eyes on the screen.

This level of performance makes this display ideal for corporate lobbies and boardrooms, digital signage applications and tradeshows/events, leaving positive, lasting impressions.

• High brightness (600 cd/m2) helps overcome ambient lighting obstacles for distraction-free viewing
• Remarkable contrast (5000:1) provides for staggeringly deep blacks and improved color depth
• Thermal protection includes fan-based technology specially designed to work in both landscape and portrait modes and be controlled locally or remotely. Internal temperature sensors control self-protective circuits, while special self-diagnostics communicate the status of the thermal characteristics
• Protective panel (optional; LCD8205-P) creates new display opportunities in high-traffic or potentially hazardous environments
• TileMatrix™ allows you to create video walls (up to 16 displays in a 4×4 matrix equaling 27 ft. diagonal)
• TileComp™ works in tandem with TileMatrix to compensate for the bezel width and create a more seamless video wall
• Five picture and audio modes adjust the picture and sound, optimizing for the best viewer experience
• Color temperature adjustable from 2600 - 10,000K, allowing for perfect whitepoint matching across screens as well as matching to source devices
• AmbiBright™ technology automatically adjusts the backlight depending on ambient lighting brightness for optimal picture quality and viewing.

For more information on NEC LCD Displays, contact Advanced Inc. or call 905-502-1110.

Advanced Products Group. Audio Visual Displays, Products, Services & Solutions - Right Across Canada.

Adding to its line of professional displays, NEC is bringing the LCD8205 to 2008 Digital Signage Expo East. We’ve seen bigger in the consumer space, but when you’ve just got to have 4×4 tile support for a max 328-inch (diagonal) display, refreshingly realistic 5,000:1 claimed contrast ratio and 1920×1080 resolution, there’s not much better. At $54,999 each, it’s unlikely we’ll find one under the tree when it releases in December but catching a peek (and fogging up a display window or two) is slightly more attainable goal.

NEC unveiled its 57in MultiSync LCD5710 wide-screen monitor. The new display was developed exclusively for demanding commercial applications at locations such as airports, retail establishments, hotels, restaurants, hospitals and casinos.

The MultiSync LCD5710 contains NEC’s Digital Signage Technology Suite (DSTS), a set of more than 30 features and functions developed specifically for the digital signage market. The new display is also the first in the 10 series line to feature a 1920 x 1080 native resolution and a 900:1 contrast ratio.

By delivering full HD 1080p image resolution, along with a high-contrast ratio and high brightness, the MultiSync large-screen series provides improved visibility and color uniformity in challenging ambient light environments.

(PRLEAP.COM) Jerusalem, Israel– The showcase will provide a valuable glimpse into the workings of a complete digital signage installation and a chance to meet the key market leaders in the supply chain. Featured will be Minicom, manufacturers of player-to-screen distribution systems; 3M, suppliers of content management software; NEC, Europe’s largest provider of large-format LCD displays; and DVI Partnerships, specialist digital signage installers.

Digitally powered signs represent a rapidly growing market with applications ranging from information billboards and in-store advertising to welcome signs and corporate training aids.

Minicom’s distribution systems narrowcast multimedia content from the player to distant plasma/LCD screens, in real-time. According to Ronni Guggenheim, President of Minicom Europe; “We are proud to be leading this showcase with Screen Expo and we see it as the perfect platform to demonstrate our advanced ‘last mile’ solutions.”

Mark Pigou, Show Director adds; “Screen Expo is delighted to be working with Minicom, 3M, NEC and DVI Partnerships in presenting this first ever digital signage showcase. We plan to continue presenting our visitors with the very latest in thought leadership and leading technology solutions for this dynamic industry.”

About Screen Expo Europe
Screen Expo is established as Europe’s premier event for the digital media and digital signage industry. The 2007 event will be held at Earls Court 2, London, from Jan 31st – Feb 1st. It will be a showcase for the latest technologies, providing forums, workshops and seminars to help integrators, end users, media owners, agencies and network providers to learn more about the market. www.screenevents.co.uk

From the AudienceCount Blog

http://www.audiencecount.com/audience-measurement/nec-digital-signage-ad-targeting-screen/

I ran into this article at The Times Of India webpage and was surprised to see that my long time notion about large companies was correct; these big name companies are working behind the scenes in building their own measurement / targeting tools.

The article talks about how big name NEC has created a technology, which through the use of a camera placed on top of a large Plasma/LCD display can identify the number of males/females and age ranges of the audience. After identifying the audience, the system then automatically targets them with suitable advertisements. NEC Corp said that this new form of targeted advertisements will be featured at an annual festival in Tokyo by Fuji Television network. The festival will run till August 31 and Fuji hopes to draw more than 4 million visitors to beat last year’s record.

When the system identifies the age ranges and gender of the viewers standing in front of the digital screens, the system will tally which of the audience demographics is the largest and will dynamically target ads to them,

For young women in their 20’s it may show ads for the latest iPhone, and women in their 40’s it may show Prada handbags.

“Conventional advertisements may show cell phones for young women to men over 60,” said Hiroshi Takahashi at NEC’s solution business promotion division.

“Changing advertising products in accordance with the viewer would bring advertising closer to the purchaser,” he said.

But the system is seen as having growth potential as companies struggle to win the attention of customers who are increasingly bombarded by advertisements throughout the day.

The underlying technology behind this or any other form of digital signage ad targeting system has to be an audience measurement system; whether it’s a proprietary technology from NEC or a third party technology solution licensed by: Quividi, CognoVision, TruMedia, VideoMining, Xuuk, or Wututu. The main purpose for using these technologies is that there needs to be some face detection in order to process audience demographics in real-time and the only technologies that currently perform these are audience measurement tools. There are obvious alternative applications for these customer centric measurement tools. I’ve read in articles, whitepapers, and blogs that the sales cycle for digital signage deployments is long and for audience measurement probably a lot longer. In the meantime I’d like to see more audience measurement technologies powering large digital signage ad targeting networks, if the sales cycle for audience measurement deployments is long, why not try another channel of distribution.

Please share your comments, ideas, or thoughts on this article.

Companies deem it essential for their advertisements to be able to reach their target customers in order to be effective. The new ad system by NEC claims to be able to distinguish people based on age and gender. Called Digital Signage Solution, the system is composed of a display with a camera and a FeliCa contactless IC card reader/writer. A participant would need to face the display in order for the camera to get a glimpse of the person, and hold a FeliCa-based mobile phone over the IC card reader/writer.

Based on the person’s determined stats, the display shows advertisements most suited to the person. Of course, they’ll find it hard to get people to stand in front of a display to view ads without giving them something in turn. So, participants are sent coupons to their mobile phones which they could use when purchasing from stores. Each coupon is equivalent to an entry for raffle draws where consumers can win prizes. Aside from being able to show ads based on a person’s age and gender, NEC’s Digital Signage Solution can also optimize advertisements based on geographical location and even time of day.

NEC has stumbled upon what it calls the Digital Signage Solution that is able to determine the gender, generation and other attributes of a person standing in front of a display thanks to face recognition technology. This data will then be used to make a computation, resulting in advertisements on the display that will cater to the results of the calculations. Guess this is yet another way for advertisers to zoom in on their target market and getting the most bang out of their ad dollars, but I think there are plenty of flaws if an algorithm will end up deciding what ads it thinks you like to see based on your physical appearance alone. Hopefully a scan of my face won’t result in any anatomy enlargement therapy.

NEC Corp is counting on a new digital signage system that determines the age and sex as well as other “attributes” of the people standing in front of the scree. The system uses facial recognition software and sends a gender and age appropriate advertisement to the screen.

Tech-On reports:

“Participants stand in front of the display and hold a FeliCa-based mobile phone over the reader/writer. The system determines the user’s gender and generation through the camera image using the face recognition technology.

The display shows advertisements that would suit the user’s gender and generation, choosing from the 15 candidates prepared in advance. An electronic coupon that would match the attributes is sent to the user’s mobile phone at the same time.”

It will be interesting to see how this type of digital ad presentation evolves and how those who are concerned with privacy issues will react. Although this isn’t an invasion of privacy considering the signs are in public domain, there are those that feel this is a “surveillance system”.

Personally I would rather see an advertisement that is geared to me a 48 year old male than one directed to my 8 year old daughter.

NEC Corp, the Japanese electronics giant, has launched an integrated interactive ‘intelligent’ digital signage system that determines the gender and age of a consumer to target adverts and promotions to them.

Consumers standing in front of the display will have their key attributes determined through a camera image using face recognition technology, and will then be shown relevant gender and age related adverts.

Using a mobile phone, consumers will then be able to interact with a reader panel on the screen to download electronic coupons for redemption in local stores. If users purchase products at stores using the coupons, they get the chance to win a prize.

According to this article NEC has developed a system using a face recognition technology that determines the general attributes of a person standing in front of a digital display and outputs advertisements, according to their profile, to the persons FeliCa-enabled handset. NEC calls this system the “Digital Signage Solution,” combining their advertisement delivery and display system with their advertising value measurement system.

The new system can deliver advertisements in accordance with conditions such as geographical areas, time and attributes of target clients. And it can measure advertising effect, focusing on whether the people who saw the advertisement showed interest or whether the advertisement stimulated the viewers’ purchase activity, for example.

This seems to be a very cool build on the Fujitsu UB Wall concept. Looks like we’ll have to head-out to Odaiba and take a ride on that sometime in August!

More than 65 Mercedes-Benz showrooms in Belgium have installed a centrally-controlled screen network to strengthen their branding and standardise customer communications.

Mercedes commercials and documentaries, including content from the car manufacturer’s Internet TV channel , will be shown on the NEC displays in each dealership.

Local digital-signage specialist iDklic, which handled the network rollout, is producing some original content and adapting other material for the medium, but scheduling will be managed by Mercedes-Benz Belgium.

iDklic, which specialises in the pharmaceutical and luxury markets, is also supervising network operations.

The network is powered by Tycoon software from Swiss firm Navori, which has been signed up for a three-year contract, and more screens are likely to be installed in the future. screens.tv

Looking to enhance communications and visitor experience, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is leveraging NEC (News - Alert) solutions and expertise to create a unified infrastructure that includes wireless LAN, voice and digital signage. As a result of this technology, the DMA’s Arts Network can provide broad public access to great works of art.

The DMA is utilizing UNIVERGE360, an enterprise communications model and approach developed by NEC and unveiled earlier in 2008 to place its employees and the visitor experience at the center of its communications strategy.

The unified infrastructure of the DMA, designed by NEC, includes wireless LAN (WLAN) infrastructure covering 85 percent of its public and back-office spaces. It also includes NEC digital signage for public way-finding and the UNIVERGE NEAX 2000 IPS for voice overIP . The network also provides WLAN architecture design and installation, which includes 148 access points with centralized controllers. The WLAN network is most often used by visiting classes from schools in Texas and surrounding states. While NEC provided turnkey installation for the museum’sCisco ( News - Alert) wireless infrastructure as of now, the company plans coverage of 100 percent of the museum’s four floors over a full city block in the Dallas Arts District in the future.

To provide an enhanced visitor experience, NEC has deployed five NEC digital signs and the NEC BlueFire VC400 Digital Signage Controller. The signs provide a means to preview upcoming exhibits and directional way-finding. About 150 staff members of the museum get voice over IP services with the UNIVERGE NEAX 2000 IPS communications server. To be leveraged in future technology decisions, such as fixed-mobile convergence, IP voice and data communications have become critical foundation elements in this partnership.

The Arts Network provides a digital arts experience, including public wireless access for educational purposes. The museum can accommodate major exhibitions, such as the Egyptian government’s upcoming Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, scheduled for October, with the help of the infrastructure behind Arts Network.

Don Fiorentino, vice president of western regional sales for NEC Unified, said, “The DMA’s Arts Network technology vision aligns perfectly with the UNIVERGE360 approach to placing people and their roles at the center of communications. We at NEC look forward to continuing our relationship with the museum as it enables visitors and the public at-large to enjoy great works of art in new and innovative ways.”

Whether you call it Narrowcasting, Dynamic Signage, Digital Signage Networks or Digital Visual Messaging, the application of the latest video display technologies (plasma, LCD, etc.) to public information display is the next big wave in business for the audiovisual industry.

NEC has plans to launch several brand new products, including the NP901W and NP905 projectors and the EA261WM desktop display, in addition to showcasing several digital signage solutions that incorporate everything from large-format LCDs to high-powered projectors to desktop displays.