X2O Media gave me a great demo of their Xpresenter Player and server system for digital signage. The content creation is PowerPoint based but you certainly wouldn’t know that by just looking at it. In fact, there is an even simpler mode that uses templates to create some pretty CNN-like signage displays. Touch screens can be designed too and I was show one that has a lot of different possible applications. They sure could use a system like the one X2O Media showed me just to get people from one place to another here in the exhibit halls. Maybe we’ll see something like that next year. A system that actually worked from any entrance to get people quickly to the booth they want would be the greatest sales trick ever.

Despite having a lousy position in North Hall (N7453), Pantel is still stopping passersby. The company’s weather-proof panels are only a year in production, so Pantel is a little less well-known. But that’s about to change.

It’s all about the water when you’re in the company’s miniscule booth (well, water and the live music funneling over from stage just yonder; it makes the water seem even flashier). The water that’s being sprayed on the company’s displays is a slick graphic, hence the stopping. And the water being sprayed on the mirror-like unit? That’s a water-proof display unit that’s going into Hard Rock Hotel showers. more…

Pioneer is pushing its plasma KURO brand industrial monitors (50-inch and 60-inch) at its booth (N5661) by demonstrating them side-by-side with the consumer versions of those monitors (not much image difference that I can see, but then, my eyes aren’t that reliable–the differences are more about size, inputs/outputs and what-not).

The company has also placed the newest KUROs in all their glory next to older models of Pioneer Plasmas dating all the way back to 1997. In just barely over 10 years, as the demo and the detailed timeline that accompanies it (which details Pioneer’s innovations in Plasma technology going back to 1991) illustrate, general image quality, particularly in black levels, has dramatically improved, while energy consumption has greatly decreased. I found it an interesting reminder of how rapidly technology in the display arena is evolving.

–MG

Talking with Ralph Bachofen, senior director of product management and marketing. He’s here in at least two roles—he spoke at a packed NXTcomm session on video quality for IPTV and he’s on the LG booth at InfoComm with Treveni’s digital signage software.

Specifically they’re showing the Treveni software riding atop the built in controller of the LG M4210N HD LCD—called the Ensignia Digital Signage Lobby system. This is a wireless virtually installation-free deployment; it also comes in a networked version, that plays into what Bachofen says is a desire for end-to-end, simple systems. “You power it up and it’s a sign,â€? Bachofen says. Treveni already has a deal to distribute the Ensignia Lobby signage system here in Vegas through Innovative. more…

Electrograph Systems (InfoComm Booth C1230), a leading national distributor of display technology products and services, will showcase the widest array of AV displays and accessories to be seen in one booth, including exclusive showings of several digital signage products, during InfoComm 08, June 18-20, in Las Vegas. Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room

Sanyo really wanted to impress; somehow the four-piece orchestra didn’t seem to fit though, but it was a nice relaxing touch at the end of the day. After a delayed start and ironically multiple mic checks, the presentation got under way. Company VP Keiichi Yodoshi gave the storied history of the company’s projector timeline; Sanyo released its first projector model in 1989, and last year, the company released its first super-short-throw projector, with many milestone models sprinkled throughout. It really signified how far the company and the technology has come, and just where the company is headed: 8.8 million Sanyo units are projected to be sold in 2010, working from a steady 15 percent yearly increase average of projector market saturation the company has seen. more…

Nothing is changing the retail experience like digital signage, but add interactivity, and it’s a whole new ROI playing field. DT Research (N7425) announced the expansion of the WebDT Signage System to include 12in. (DS1200), 42in. (DS4200), and 65in. (DS6500) displays, all with the ability to go interactive.

The DS1200 includes a built-in media player, but it’s the touchscreen option that really zeroes in on what Director of Business Development John Ochoa says is a new trend: combining interactive kiosks-type devices and digital signage players into one unit. more…

Digital Signage is a crowded and sometimes confusing marketplace of hardware, software, systems and services. There are a lot of in points. Today at the Visix press conference it was clear what Visix potentially brings to the mix.

President Sean Matthews did a brief overview backed by screen shots of the software which immediately started to suggest it’s applications as a content management and delivery system. Here’s the most important thing I got my head around: Visix turns every screen into a sign. That’s because it’s browser based software that enables distribution of a range of content elements (Flash, photos, power point, etc.) to any device–not just the usual sigange LCDs, but to desktop computers, mobile phones, PDAs, etc. anything with a screen capabile of carrying the content and reading an RSS. more…

Chief Manufacturing, an industry leader in projector and flat panel mounts, introduces the new 2008 Product Catalog at InfoComm. Updated with an enhanced design that was directly influenced by dealer input, this edition is easier than ever to navigate.

“Getting constructive input from dealers was incredibly valuable during the redesign of our catalog,� said Laurie Englert, Director of Marketing. “The suggested changes have made the catalog a much more concise and user-friendly tool.� Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room

Panasonic‘s 103in. plasma screens are displayed in all their glory at the company’s booth (C2401) as those big, bad boys continue to proliferate into the digital signage realm. We covered one of their earliest applications a while back at a California casino, and now company officials are offering up several case studies involving those screens. It’s all part of moving them into what Panasonic calls “high impact spaces” for digital signage–using giant displays in digital signage situations that consumers can’t possibly be used to from their home or business interactions with flat-panel displays. They told me about the first ones going into public mall spaces recently–one in New York (The Westchester Mall in White Plains) and one in New Jersey (the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City), and promise more are on the way. more…