038 REPORT
work together - at the very least, that they don’t clash. As one of the most popular bloggers in the screen media business, Dave Haynes of Sixteen:Nine, has put it approvingly of MGM’s Las Vegas casino properties: “All of it, or damn near all of it, looks like it was always there. The merits of building screens into the design or redesign of a retail or other facility have always been apparent, but if you really want to see this done at its best, have a walk around the Bellagio, Monte Carlo, NYNY, MGM or one of the other properties in that group the next time you end up in Las Vegas. It really, really makes a big difference to spend the time to get the lines run, the walls cut out, metal fabricated and wood milled to build screens into, whatever the setting may be.” Sports stadia, too, are continuing to deploy screens in public places as a flexible, attention-grabbing way of communicating with and entertaining their customers, and taking care to ensure that the right screen types are shown to best effect in different parts of the venue. Ranging from giant LED displays over the pitch to smaller HD screens in concourses, they are being used not only to show games and scores, but also digital signage content such as advertising, information and sponsor branding. For displays visible during an event, size and clarity are all-important in involving fans. For example, the Borussia Dortmund stadium in Germany has installed four new video screens from Daktronics, with a total area of 160 sq metres. With one located in each corner of the arena, they are typical of the kind of giant screens now being used to give fans an up-close connection with sporting events even in the largest venues. Using 16mm LED technology, they replace two older Daktronics ProStar screens that had been in place for 13 years. “The 16mm is the perfect resolution for the fans to be able to connect to the content during the match,” said Christopher Backhaus, Project Manager for Daktronics. The Dortmund facility also has a slightly smaller screen on the facade of the north stand. Over the border in Poland, meanwhile, the PGE Arena in Gdansk also opted for Daktronics when installing a new video scoring system. In this case, slightly different from the Dortmund configuration, four 20mm LED displays are installed above the stands. “Images, live and recorded video presented on the large LED video displays during soccer championships bring the fans closer to the game. To create more excite- ment, we chose the world’s leading provider of full-colour LED video displays,” said Zbigniew Klonowski, Chairman of integrator Trias, which worked on the project. “The large LED video displays are, for fans, almost as important as soccer players,” agreed Michał Kruszynski of BIEG, the Stadium Developer. But it is not only in the arena itself that digital display technologies are enhancing the sporting experience and enabling fast, flexible communications between man- agement and visitors. At VfB Stuttgart’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, for example, a new installation includes more than 100 LCD screens in the business boxes, and digital signage in public areas. When there’s no match, the video infrastructure can also be
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used for training, conferences and workshops hosted by the venue. Digital menu boards are also becoming popular at food and beverage outlets, an application that has potential not only for sporting venues but also for festivals and other temporary installations. They allow menus and prices to be updated instantly, for example to promote hot drinks on an unexpectedly cold day, or to adjust the food offering to match the differing demographics of the crowd at each event. The same outlet can even be instantly re-branded using digital displays, perhaps acting as a pizza stand one day and an ice cream booth the next. Allied with screens in other areas of the venue promoting the food and beverage propositions, promotions on digital menu boards can create significant sales uplift. Given the scale of major venues, however, large rollouts of screens represent significant investments. The Texas Rangers’ Ballpark arena at Arlington, Texas, for example, last year spent $17m to provide HD digital content throughout the facility. So venue operators and suppliers alike stress that it’s important to explore not just the technology options, but also the numerous ways that ROI can be achieved, ranging from reductions in print costs to advertising revenue.
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There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when entering the digital signage market, many questions can be answered by analysing successful existing installations, and working with experienced suppliers. A first step could be to see what’s on offer at a major tradeshow such as Screenmedia expo, which runs 16-17 May at Earls Court in London. It’s an opportunity to examine products in action, to talk with vendors and integrators, and to put the screen revolution in context through the free learning programme. Show Director Mark Pigou said: “The event offers different benefits for busi- nesses at different stages in their involvement with digital signage. For those just exploring the idea, it’s a chance to actually see a lot of different digital signage systems up and running - always more informative than just reading about them or watching a video, and a big time-saver too - you could see dozens of applications in half a day at Screenmedia expo, something that would take you several days and a great deal of travel otherwise. “Then, for those ready to make an investment in digital signage, the expo is of course the place to talk directly to suppliers. Again, it’s a highly efficient way of investigating the options on offer, with all the major suppliers gathered together in one place. Finally, both for novices and for the more knowledge- able, the free learning programme offers a chance to gain insight from other users and specialists in the sector who’ve already been where you’re hoping to go.”
More information at
www.screenevents.co.uk/screenexpo2012
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