It’s 9:30am and traffic wasn’t too bad on 280 South getting to downtown San Jose. I like moving about after everyone gets to work. So here I am at the San Jose Marriott and listening… Come back often as I will be updating this post throughout the day.
Larger TVs will require higher data rate networks to showcase dynamic HD, 3D, Quad HD content. Corning is saying that MPEG2 is unacceptable and video should be shown in an uncompressed format. To do this the company is recommending using fiber as an interconnect.
Cree talked about supply constraints of LEDs due to performance. 1400-1500 LEDs are required for an average 46-inch LCD TV. For an edge-lit 46-inch the number shrinks down to 800-1200. The demand for LEDs for a single 46-inch LED backlit LCD TV is equivalent to 109 notebooks and 160 mobile phones. Cree works with packaging companies to match colors so specific requests from LCD manufacturers can be met. LED backlights for LCD TV applications require higher quality LEDs than today’s handset products. Overcoming thermal issues due to the high number of LEDs used become more important for LCD TV applications. LCD manufacturers are vertically integrating and adding reactors to begin manufacturing LEDs to combat a supply constraint.
I think Samsung will cause a lot of upheaval if the company decided to wholeheartedly enter the LED market. Samsung is not only one of the largest LCD panel manufacturer, it is tops in DRAM, flash, LCD TV sets, mobile phones, etc. Samsung knows a thing or two about manufacturing semiconductors as well as products that require expertise in light manipulation.
Vizio is next. CCFL backlight assembly has been going on for a long time and a lot of companies are very good at it. There have been significant advancements at reducing power requirements from CCFLs. Of course CCFL technology makes use of a poisonous substance mercury and proper disposal is critical. Lifetime to half brightness is about 50,000-60,000 hours. LED (low-power) is just 30,00 hours right now but has the potential reach 2x that of CCFL. LED backlights also has significant power savings even compared to the best CCFL backlights. Mercury is not used in LED backlights. Energy Star 4.0 will be implemented on May 2010 and will require a 78W power requirement for 32-inch LCD TVs. This is only possible with LED backlights but there is a supply constraint. The initial draft for Energy Star 5.0 that will be implemented on May 2012 will require a 55W power requirement. Power savings become more pronounced as the size gets bigger. Vizio’s current 55-inch LED backlit LCD TV consumes 168W compared to 244W on a CCFL backlit LCD TV, meeting and beating (by 5%) next year’s Energy Star 4.0. Edge-lit LED backlight allows for very slim LCD TVs but does not have a fast response time. The larger the TV quality becomes more important so a direct LED backlight with local dimming is where Vizio is headed instead of edge-lit TVs.
Energy Star points out there are 275 million TVs consuming more than 50 billion kWh of energy on an annual basis. Livingston Energy Innovations showed that that’s 4% of all household electricity use and enough to power all homes in the state of New York for an entire year. TVs are one of the largest consumers of electricity in the American home. Combine the TV with the surrounding electronics like DVRs and the total power consumption is equivalent to a refrigerator. There are some features that can significantly reduce power requirements:
- Video mode: Automatic adjustments based on video modes like vivid, movie, sports, game, energy saving, etc.
- Video mode optimization
- Ambient light sensors: I personally don’t like automatic brightness adjustments because I expect a certain level of brightness and don’t like having to readjust getting used to different levels.
- Presence detectors: The TV automatically shuts itself off when nobody is present in front of the TV. Hopefully the TV will not turn off and instead kick into video mute mode so you can still listen to the TV while nature calls.
- Picture off mode: video mute, radio mode, etc.
I think the best way to reduce power consumption is to watch TV less. Get out of the house! I think it would help the overall US economy because you’re not wasting your life away watching TV. The TV actually sucks your brain power because you put your brain in sleep mode when you’re watching TV. So go out and bike, garden, walk…
Panasonic is big on 3D. 3D has been around for a long time but it is real this time. There is a strong commitment from studios. All future Disney & Dreamworks titles will be in 3D. There are two camps of 3D content: computer graphics and live action. Live action requires two cameras that can add weight and mechatronics. There are over 41 million people who have experienced 3D in theaters. According to the CEA, 50% of consumers are willing to pay more for a 3D capable TV. But the glasses! Frame sequential is the way to go according to Panasonic. Frame sequential preserves the full quality and works by displaying information for the left eye and then the right eye and back again. How do you get 3D into the home? 3D Blu-ray, 3D PC, 3D game consoles, etc. The next Blu-ray format will be able to play 3D on 3D-capable displays and 2D for backward compatibility. Panasonic launched a microsite at www.panasonic.com/3D today!
Table: 3D movies releases
Sony is up next. President Abraham Lincoln was rendered in 3D. William Friese-Greene was the first to make motion 3D back in 1889. Polarized systems for motion picture were used by 1939. So 3D has been around for a long long time: is 3D a fad? There are about 10,000 digital cinemas worldwide and of those about 6,300 are 3D and of those 2,400 are located in the US. More than 3,000 3D screens have been announced. But there some things to watch out for when creating 3D films: vertical parallax, excessive disparity, pseudo stereo (inversion), hyperstereo, boundary violations, occlusion violations, depth budget, transitions, temporal Artifacts (Frame Interleave), depth grading for screen size, etc. As you can see there are many 3D movie titles that have come out since 2009 and many more to look forward to. I’m particularly interested in Avatar.
HDMI was founded by Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Hitachi, Silicon Image, Thomson and Toshiba. The current 1.3 specification was ratified on June 2006. On June 2009 HDMI 1.4 was announced with some new features: HDMI Ethernet channel, audio return channel, 3D support, 4K2K support, more color spaces, and new connectors. The 3D support portion of 1.4 supports up to 1080p resolution and structures including: full side-by-side, half side-by-side, frame packing, field alternative, line alternative, left + depth, left + depth + gfx + gfx depth. For displays to work with HDMI 1.4 the display device must support all mandatory 3D formats. As for source devices it must support at least one of the mandatory 3D formats. The mandatory 3D formats include:
- 60Hz: 1080p @ 23.98/24Hz frame packing, 720p @ 59.94/60Hz frame packing
- 50Hz: 1080p @ 23.98/24Hz frame packing, 720p @ 50Hz frame packing
HDMI does not foresee any 3D broadcast standards on a worldwide basis but intends to announce a mandatory 3D format for broadcast-type content within one year from the launch of the HDMI 1.4 specification.
The HP Radiance Display. The Envy 13 comes with it. And the Envy 13 is the only one with it. Here are the stats: 13.1-inch TFT LCD, LED backlight, 1600×900 resolution, brightness of 410 cd/m2, 82% color gamut, 8ms response time. Some call it the best notebook display:
- “This display uses new technology that HP couldn’t share, and it is simply the most vivid, bright display I have ever seen on any notebook. HP insisted it is twice as bright as normal laptop displays, and I think that is accurate. I actually believed it was a photograph that had been slyly super-imposed on the screen, until I got to play with it to very it was really that vivid. There is no way to adequately describe this screen, it must be seen to fully appreciate what HP has done. The screen along makes me want one of these badly.” – jkOnTheRun
- “The HP Radiance display is twice as bright as other notebook displays in its class – 410 nit (a measurement of display brightness) – and provides an exceptional movie and photo experience, even in high ambient light conditions. With 82 percent color gamut (versus standard 45-60 percent), photos appear richer with amazing color depth. Additionally, with fast 8-millisecond response time, customers can view movies with TV-like performance.” – HP
- “… the Envy 13 has the best display I have ever seen on a notebook and is the only notebook with the HP Radiance Display which delivers vivid color quality. If you have seen an HP DreamColor monitor you will think the Envy 13 has a DreamColor monitor that is how good the Radiance Display is.” – HardwareGeeks
- “Dubbed the HP Radiance, the 410 nit display has an 82 percent color gamut (versus standard 45-60 percent). Not only are viewing angles good, but colors just pop and are incredibly bright. Compared to the 15-Inch MacBook Pro, the Envy looked crisper and more vivid, though the MacBook looked more natural. While my eyes didn’t hurt after about six hours of consistent use, I was warned that the increased dots per inch could be hard on the eyes over a longer period of time.” – Gizmodo
I’ll be looking into who the LCD panel manufacturer is and why the technology is limited to 13.1-inch.
Update 2009.10.01 4:37pm PDT: According to John Jacobs, Director of Notebook Market Research at DisplaySearch, a dear friend who knows more about notebook PC displays than anyone I know, the 13.1-inch LCD panel is most likely from Toshiba. The LTPS (Low Temperature Poly-Silicon) LCD is very light at just 162g and makes use of either a RGB or RGBW LED backlight for the much-higher-than-standard 82% color gamut. The LCD panel is light due to the very thin LCD glass being used: 0.2t, 0.25t or 0.3t. This LCD panel is most likely manufactured at Toshiba’s Singapore LCD fab (730×920 mm) that can cut 12 pieces with a glass efficiency of 95% or more; that just means Toshiba doesn’t waste much glass when making this 13.1-inch panel.
I’m attending DisplaySearch’s Digital Signage Conference today held at the San Jose Marriott in downtown San Jose, CA. Actually, I’ll be here tomorrow and the day after that too. It’s not like listening to Steve Jobs at MacWorld, but there should be some interesting morsels in the presentations. I’ll be updating this post throughout the day so make sure to come back to get a synopsis of presentations.
Samsung is promising that zero-bezel LCDs will be in the future. Not thin bezels but absolutely none: now that would be cool. You can tile together 250 LCDs on a display wall using Samsung technology. It is interesting that Samsung is dissing very large LCDs for digital signage (I’m thinking indirectly Sharp), especially the 100-inch and larger ones. Here are the reasons: High production costs & low yields, viewing samples & demo units, pre-site inspection required (US$500+), special delivery & install charges (US$500-$1000), high freight costs (~US$1000), wall load-bearing factor (~600lbs), energy consumption (4x versus titled 2×2), service maintenance (de-mounting).
Did you know that Intel is using its Atom CPU for digital signage applications? I didn’t. The Atom powers Intel’s “Basic Digital Signage” architecture that is described as, “Single-player per screen, Single-source video advertisement content, Limited content blending.” The extreme architecture is called “High End Digital Signage” and described as “Extremely Interactive and Wall of Displays” and powered by Intel’s i7. The Core 2 Duo gets to play in the middle of the pack, as expected, called “Mainstream Digital Signage” and described as, “Remote Managed Interactive Rich Media DS.” I’m not sure what all of these words mean in terms of how it looks to consumers at a retail location but just know that Intel is invested in digital signage because the computers that run the ads on digital signage use the company’s CPUs. Not surprising since Intel pretty much owns the PC market. Intel is also getting into software management tools too: Support Metrics for Advertising Effectiveness (Anonymous Video Analytics), Remote Management Capability (Repair & Maintenance: Intel Active Management Technology, Energy Efficiency: Scheduled Power On/Off), Support Rich Media Content Processing & Blending. What’s the big deal? Intel helps reduce total cost of ownership for digital signage solutions and increases ROI (Return on Investment) for customers.
HP is working toward providing the whole enchilada with hardware (dynamic display, USDT/TC, server, mount) and services (design consulting, installation & deployment, network monitoring, service & support), with software (content creation, data management software, device network management software) to be coming in the near future. HP will also be coming out with HP-branded mounts in the near future: smart, since mounts still have one of the highest profit margins in the IT industry except for maybe bags and cables. The bottom line is HP wants to be a one-stop shop that provides everything you need to deploy a digital signage solution.
Figure: Cisco Digital Media Suite
Cisco is in on the game too and thinks that video is where it’s at. Among Cisco’s video strategy, digital signage is the fastest growing. Cisco looks at the overall digital signage system to be composed of the display, IP network, content, technology partners, management and software systems. The company believes that collaboration is the most critical element to scale digital signage deployments. If you look at the figure above that shows Cisco’s Digital Media Suite, the company is involved in hardware and software areas related to digital signage.
It’s 12:42pm and I’m ready to take a lunch break!
2:52pm Lunch was great. Yummy salad, chicken and cake. Coffee was good too.
What are the differences? MTBF or Mean Time Before Failure. The consumer versions has a MTFR of about 50,000 hours vs. 100,000 for professional-grade displays. It makes a big difference when you’re running the display 24/7. RS-232 is another feature that is only available on professional-grade displays. There are many more differences. The bottom line is you don’t want to sell consumer-grade displays into a professional environment. The initial cost of a digital signage implementation might be reduced by using consumer-grade displays but the total cost of ownership over the long run will increase due to failures. In addition the consumer-grade display’s warranty will become voided when used in a commercial environment.
From simple static images to digital signage the next step is interactivity via touch-enabled displays. Horizon Display is pushing interactivity to improve the experience. There are many touch solutions including SAW, infrared (Samsung: 32- to 82-inch), optical (Panasonic: 103-inch), DST (NEC), etc. Standardization for touch is important and Horizon Display has aligned with Ingram Micro to educate via a Digital Signage Roadshow and Bootcamp events. NEC M46 LCDs were deployed at Oakley stores as part of an immersive display concept that enables customers to research products, test lens performance, and email photos of themselves wearing fashionable sports optics to their friends, family, or colleagues for immediate feedback. Oakley has reported a 30% increase in sales where this immersive display has been deployed. Some examples are: Samsung touch-enabled 305T displays were deployed at Raytheon to improve training regarding the Patriot missile systems. Other markets that a touch-enabled display system could foster interactivity include healthcare (education, training, patient care), automotive (custom model creation by potential customers), sports (interactive statistics), and education (Central University: donor wall), etc.
GDS Displays displays presented information sharing that the company is focused on outdoor displays. Since 1996 the company has shipped more than 500,000 outdoor displays. The overall digital signage market was 1.3 million units in 2008 with displays that are 26-inch and larger. GDS is focusing on the display hardware side and work with others to provide the total solution. MIDAS is the company’s outdoor display brand. MIDAS has enhanced optics due to bonded laminated anti-reflective safety glass to improve sunlight readability. Bonding also eliminates dust particles or condensation between glass and the LCD panel. There is also an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the screen brightness level depending on ambient light condition for power saving. Diagnostics are built-in with sensors that send the status of the display via RS-232 ASCII codes to a local PC. The diagnostics include TFT primary colors, backlight, humidity, internal temperature, controller temperature, fan speed, fan stall, vibrations. MIDAS displays can work in a wide temperature range from -30C up to 50C degrees and can operate in direct sunlight and features an anti-vandal glass, a weather-proof design, IP65 (NEMA 4) rated, hinged for on-site maintenance, a MTBF of greater than 100,000 hours with a technical life up to 15 years. There is also a dedicated AC line surge device that protects from line spikes and lightning, which is a common challenge for outdoor LCD displays.
Delphi Display Systems is also focusing on outdoor digital signage (ODS) and in particular the connectivity challenges such as: content, size, resolution, interactivity, location, access to power & data, security, temperature, humidity, shaed or direct sun exposure, environmental considerations, etc. There are wired and wireless connectivity solutions: wired may be impractical or cost prohibitive while wireless connectivity may not be reliable in some outdoor environments. There are several connectivity architectures: wired, wireless, video extender, streaming video wired/wireless, cellular, broadband over Powerline (BPL), etc. The correct choice depends on the particular requirements and limitations of the digital signage deployment.
Picture: McDonald’s Viva in Las Vegas
Lyle Bunn from BUNN Co. talked about the gradual development of the digital signage market. “Let there be light… and there was light.” -Genesis 1:3. Light was invented and then used for enhancing health (cooking food). Light from stars were used for navigation to explore the world. Managing light enabled the changing of the world. Thomas Edison developed the light bulb that made possible the industrial revolution. Light was then used for outdoor lighting that allowed people to move about at night. Entertainment was catalyzed when film was created. Now we have an assortment of light creation such as LED. The managing of light has created wealth. Light has influenced, educated, informed and entertained. Digital signage is used to describe digital out-of-home (DOOH), in-store TV, the “OuterNet”, location-based media and narrowcasting. Content is specifically created to an audience based on location and only as often as needed. The “Enabling Effect” allows for cost reduction (doing the same with less), quality enhancement (doing more with less), extension of current approaches (doing things differently), establishing a new paradigm and business (doing different things). Mobile digital signage is developing and WRAL is trailblazing this space and broadcasting its radio into buses in North Carolina. McDonald’s is changing what it is concentrating on food, fun and folks by incorporating digital signage as you see in the picture above. CognoVision is an anonymous image analyst company that allows for identifying whether someone is looking at the display and measures ethnicity, age range, sex, etc. Content in the context of the viewing environment that provides measurable results is relevance: content is no longer king; relevance is king.
NEC is touting digital place-based media due to some advantages: visually engaging, mass reach, consumer focused, highly targeted, just-in-time delivery, accountability, proximity to purchases. Digital signage can generate 32.8% more in-store traffic and increase the average purchase by 29.5%. Digital place-based advertising is evolving: difficult media planning, test situation rather than integrated into overall communications mix, complicated due to no centralized serving tool, hard to validate metrics. Place-based media will improve foot traffic and dwell time to improve revenues. Digital place-based media has the potential to change the media landscape in similar ways to the Internet.
Joe Westhead, Product Manager at Jigsaw Systems, has informed me that DisplayBlog readers can get a Mac mini and Formac’s W2300 23-inch 1080p LCD monitor for just £479 (about US$792). I believe you’ll need to reside in the UK or Ireland to get this awesome deal. The 1.83GHz Mac mini comes with 1GB of RAM and a 80GB hard disk. The Formac W2300 is a 23-inch LCD monitor sporting a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 400 cd/m2 of brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio, a 5ms response time and an anti-glare cover. Connectivity options include: DVI, VGA and a 4-port USB hub. Speakers are built-in. Check it out at Jigsaw24.com.
Here is some more information about Formac’s W2300 23-inch LCD monitor (you can download the product spec sheet):
- Size: 23-inch TN TFT LCD Panel with Anti-glare Surface
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Viewing Angles: 160/160
- Brightness: 400 cd/m2
- Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
- Response Time: 5ms
- Connectivity: DVI, VGA, Audio, 4-port USB Hub
- Speakers: Two 5W
- Power Consumption: <45W (operational)
So the W2300 is a 23-inch 1080p LCD monitor and Formac is targeting the casual user with an eye for design. The 160/160 viewing angles are a bit limited but standard on most TN TFT LCD panels. The W2300 is quite bright at 400 cd/m2 and the contrast ratio is a solid 1000:1–I’m guessing the number is for static contrast ratio not dynamic. Response time of 5ms is not the fastest in the world, but it is still very good. Connectivity options are DVI and VGA with a 4-port USB hub, always nice to have.
