Discover What Digital Signage Can Do For Doctors and Hospital Staff

By Dave Bradley

Stethoscopes, X-ray machines and heart monitors are the tools of the trade for any healthcare professional, now you can add digital signage to this toolkit, to ensure the healthcare professionals and patients are brought together.

These professionals are taught the leading techniques and therefore are equipped with the latest in medical technology.

So why is digital signage being associated with physicians?

Now you certainly would be surprised if they pulled out of their bag an LCD or plasma television, however crazy this may seem, do not dismiss it. Many doctors offices and hospitals are discovering that digital signage revolutionised they way they interactive with patients.

The reason for this?

Dynamic signage is flexible and the content can be changed within seconds, normally dynamic signage is used for advertising, however in the medical arena it is used to educate patients, for example it can soothe the nerves of a little girl suffering form tonsillitis by providing her with something to look at whilst she sits in the children's emergency room, even touch screen displays are used to speed up patient check-in procedures.

The revolution has started.

Since sales of flat screen displays have eclipsed Cathode Ray Tube sales (CRT), screens are now so affordable they are a similar price to printing costs of static posters, this is why the boom in the digital signage market, but who would think of hospitals deploying LCD screens for patients, never mind networking them up!

Now we will see these displays hanging from walls, rather than taking up precious space as did CRT televisions.

Dave is the owner of the Worlds leading manufacturer of LCD enclosures, this range of LCD Enclosure have been designed for protecting the screens in volatile areas, were potential damage is almost guaranteed. They supply these enclosures to America, Australia, Europe and Russia.

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NHS Hospital Kiosks

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Sainsbury's Pharmacy Kiosks

Asteres Inc. announced today the installation of Express prescription kiosks at UK retailer, Sainsbury’s, for the deposit and collection of patient prescriptions. The retail chain is the first commercial location in the UK to install the kiosks, which offer shoppers a convenient way to quickly deposit and collect NHS prescriptions without waiting in a line and even if the pharmacy is closed.

Sainsbury’s professional services manager, David Gilder, said: “The vending machines provide a secure and convenient way for customers to obtain prescribed medication at a time that suits them. At the same time we also know that our customers value the option of speaking to a pharmacist so this is an additional service for customers who may prefer it.”

The Express prescription kiosk is quick and secure. Patients who want to use the service register at the machine to create a user ID and password. To deposit, customers sign in, fill out a prescription form, place into the envelope and follow the on screen instructions after which, a receipt is printed with the collection time and other relevant details. To collect, customers sign in and all prescriptions due for collection will appear on screen including payment details if applicable. Customers can also group their whole family's prescriptions together and collect them all at once.

“We are thrilled to work with Sainsbury’s, as the first UK retailer to bring our Express prescription kiosks to their patients,” said Martin Bridges, Vice President, International at Asteres Inc., makers of automated pharmacy and retail kiosks. "The Express prescription kiosk helps pharmacies give their patients fast, convenient, and safe prescription deposit and collection services whilst maintaining a relationship with their trusted pharmacist."

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Multi Touch Interactive Signage

By Dave Bradley

Now dynamic signage is pushing the boundaries of technology with this unique new solution for digital advertising.

This solution comprises a special mesh that adheres to a window and has connections for either a computer or device then the media is then displayed on to the surface in such an amazing way - this will for sure get passing customers to stop and take note, as well as use it!

This solution is very new and only a couple of suppliers offer it, so as you can expect with new technology, it comes at a cost, buy if you want to be the first on the block with this type of marketing it will certainly increase your company image with consumers.

This has already been deployed in New York at several high end fashion designer stores. This is not restricted to the window this can also be fitted on floors to advertise in shopping malls or even a multi touch table, for say a design team, enabling them to work more closely and interact more efficiently.

What makes this special, is that it is totally consumer interactive, a user can select images and with a flick of their fingers increase the pictures size, scroll through product data and even send a message to their mobile.

You know about creating your own Nike trainers, now imagine walking into a shopping mall and using the interactive window, producing your own shoes then sending the order with all the specifications of your design to your cell phone, then going into the store to place the order. This could be something to look for in the future as technology leaps forward.

This technology is easy to deploy, and is just plug and play technology, using gesture recognition is something for the future, the only other device needed is a projector or a computer depending upon your requirement and use.

Dave owns the leading manufacturer of monitor enclosures they also offer a range of LCD display enclosures for 17" to 80" screens, these are used throughout the world through a network of integrators.

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Digital Menu Boards Utilized at Transportation Hubs

By Dave Bradley

Digital signage is a sword with 2 edges, it can be used to give customer information as well as providing marketing media to potential buyers, learn how it is being used in transportation hubs.

There are two choices for installing dynamic signage in a transportation hub such as a train station or ferry port, they are:

• An all in one digital menu board with a built in media player

• A separate TV with a hard wired or wireless media player wired together

Each one offers an affordable solution but there are some limitations, we will review them below.

All-In-One digital menu board.

This is an LCD commercial screen with a media player in built, these are the most cost effective solutions on the market and can be up and running in a matter of minutes, these are ideal for quick none permanent solution such as train stations as the transport company can provide information on the days comings and goings, these are uploaded using a flash drive within the media player to update the content for the next day.

Separate digital menu board system.

This is the most flexible solution allowing businesses to update content at any time they wish across a network, for example if 90 displays where on site at a train station and there was a problem with a line, a message could be sent to the TVs in the network informing passengers of the issue and possible delays.

The additional costs associated with this type of solution are well justified as the control over the network is excellent, even certain zones can be changed leaving others as they where.

With the use of day parting, these are perfect for replacing the old chalk boards outside the transport hub cafes; here you can actually see the food you are buying.

Dave owns the leading manufacturer of monitor enclosures they also offer a range of digital menu board for digital posters these are used throughout the world through a network of integrators.

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Chassis Power Panel PCs

The Kiosks4Business Power Platform Panel PC range is is built around the Intel® 965GME Chipset

Intel® socket P mobile CPU Core™ 2 Duo / Core™ 2 Solo with 65nm process technology 2 x DDR2 SO-DIMM up to 4GB 1 x VGA, 1 x DVI, 2 x GbE_LAN 4 x COM powered, 4 x USB, 3 x SATA Mini-ITX form factor(170mm x 170mm)

Panel PC Touchscreen Available:

• Resistive Panel PC touchscreen
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Panel PC 4:3 Aspect Ratio

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Golf Club Dynamic Advertising

By Dave Bradley

Digital advertising is being installed on golf courses to improve the courses image with the business users among their clients, as well as providing valuable data for general customers.

So let us look at the options available in electronic signage hardware and where they could be best utilized.

LCD advertising screen.

These are free standing dynamic advertising posters, usually with displays in excess of 40", complete with an internal media player and are ideal for sites in general meetings areas where visitors meet, such as foyers.

Uses - used for promoting information to guests and regular members alike, on new events, such as the Christmas Do, or any charity event, as well as providing data these units can also be interspersed with advertisements from local companies promoting their service and goods, from the local cab company to restaurants and hotels, perfect for when businesses have organized a "golf day".

Digital poster.

These usually have smaller screens from 17" in size up to 40" but there are some exceptions that do go up to 80". These are wall mounted and also have an integral media player, ideal for locker rooms and just outside restaurant doors.

Uses - these can be used for marketing special offers that are available from the on site shop, or breakfast deals with an SMS number, "just say how many guests are in your party for a bacon sandwich and tea for each member of your group only £2.50 each". And then it is delivered direct to you and your party on the green.

Both of these solutions are entry level electronic marketing solutions and cost any where from £400 up to £2,500 for massive free standing LCD advertising screens with a 46" display. These are ready to work straight out of the box, you just have to create the content and done you dynamic marketing solution is working and if you are selling ad spots on your signage systems the return on investment will be very fast.

Return on investment.

What if you have 20 companies who market on your hardware in your venue and you charge each company £100 every month, in the first two months you would have generated 2 x £2,000 and the solution will have been paid for as well as hiring someone to produce media, the following 10 months are pure profit, giving you an extra revenue stream of 10 x £2,000, not bad for an investment of £2175.

Dave owns the leading manufacturer of outdoor digital signage protective cases, as well as a range of monitor enclosures that are used throughout the world through a network of integrators.

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Radio and Media Kiosks

If you work in the media you will know how important it is to gather the opinions of the general public to help report the events. Gathering information isn’t always easy and at times can take a long while as information is recorded in text form, filmed or recorded with audio equipment. A multimedia enabled media kiosk can speed up the process and can capture information in multiple formats.

How the Media Kiosk works...
The multimedia-enabled kiosk is taken to where the information or data is to be collected - a busy high street maybe. The busier the location, the bigger the sample of recordings will be. The kiosks then need to be erected. The kiosks are mounted on large stands that can be set up in ten minutes or so, including safety checks. The kiosks can also be supplied with ‘Phone booth’ type portable boxes, which offer some soundproofing, and privacy for the kiosk user.

Read more about Radio and Media Kiosks...

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Eye Catching Design - A Must For Kiosk Solutions

By Sundar K

Interactive kiosks have proliferated into every aspect of modern life. From computer kiosks at airports, catalog kiosks at the department stores, a gallery guide at an art museum, informational kiosks on a busy downtown street, kiosks help people buy tickets, shop for unique products, learn new information, plan vacations, surf the internet, and much more.

Although you may have seen them everywhere, you might be wondering what exactly an interactive kiosk is. They are free-standing computer terminals designed for public consumption that provide a self service option of some fashion; an example of a kiosk that most people are familiar with is the ATM, or automatic teller machine.

Kiosks are transforming public places, including the ways consumers purchase goods and the manner they access information. One of the quickest kiosk areas of growth is that of self-service checkout. Many grocery shoppers and other retail customers today use the self-checkout kiosks to speed the conclusion of their shopping errand.

When a kiosk is on the more utilitarian side, such as an ATM or a self-checkout at the local hardware store, its design elements match that function. These interactive kiosks usually reflect their workaday appeal with low-key, matter-of-fact visual design.

Yet although these kiosks are so widespread they are probably the most familiar version for many people, they have counterparts in luxury hotels, art galleries, international plazas and other locations that require much more dynamic visual appeal.

A longstanding rule of sales, as well as in the related fields of marketing and advertising, is the Seven Second Rule. It states that you have seven seconds to intrigue the interest of a passing shopper, website surfer, tourist or anyone coming across your ad, website copy, or other information. If you don't grab their attention firmly enough in those first seven seconds, they will lose interest and pass on by. If you do catch their eye for that long, they will stay to take in more of what you have to say.

The Seven Second Rule holds true for kiosk design as well. A head-turning design can supply the "wow" factor that will engage passersby and make them want to use the kiosk. Furthermore, a well-thought out kiosk design will match its aesthetic elements to the environment in which it is placed-enhancing both its own appeal and that of the space.

In addition to its aesthetic appeal, a good kiosk design is ergonomic in its hardware placement while taking into consideration regulatory guidelines such as ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) or UL (Underwriters Laboratories.) The design should also have an intuitive flow in the user interface design, the graphics on the screen should be easy to read and attractive. Using the kiosk should be comfortable and easy.

Again, if a kiosk patron can't figure it out within seven seconds, he or she will likely move on. As with all computer based devices, user friendliness is a key factor. Depending on the kiosks functionality, additional areas of concern involving privacy arise. If the kiosk is designed properly there are many things that can be done to ensure private information stays private.

When a kiosk design is thoroughly thought out they make convenient and effective additions to a modern landscape. When kiosks also offer an intriguing and enriched design elements they enhance their environment's visual appeal; in some cases rising to the level of modern sculptures.

Sundar K is the author of this article about Kiosks. This article dives into the importance of the aesthetic appeal of a kiosk in order to attract passers-by.

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Selecting the Right Touch Screen Monitor

Touch screen monitors are becoming increasingly popular in museums, heritage centres, visitor attractions and many other locations. This article describes some of the features of touch screen monitors to aid the selection of an appropriate device.

Unlike LCD TV screens the touch-screen monitor does not include any video decode circuitry associated with decoding satellite or terrestrial TV signals. LCD monitors do not include an arial input though analogue monitors will include composite or YUV input signals.



Industrial touch screen monitors are also designed to have a long lifetime of product availability.

Read More about Selecting the Right Touch Screen Monitor...

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Patient Information Point on Doctors Surgery Kiosks

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Why Touchscreens are Ideal for Kiosks

Kiosks are information points that are often in the public sphere and because of this they have to be durable and withstand high traffic usage. Because the general public includes everyone, kiosks have to be very user friendly and easy to use, so that the computer novice can access the information as easily as a computer whiz kid, and this is why touch screens are perfect for using with Kiosks.

Due to the nature of flat screen kiosks, the interactive ‘buttons’ on the screen are virtual buttons rather than using a physical keyboard. The software running on the kiosk recognises parts of the screen as buttons that activate other functionality. The screen can contain as many buttons as needs be, all of, which are flat. Because there are no mechanical keys to press, it means that there is less hardware on the machine that could get damaged during day to day use or misuse. Therefore flat screen kiosks save money because they have fewer mechanical inputs which could be vandalised or misused.

Read more about Why Touchscreens are Ideal for Kiosks...

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Are Leaflet Racks About to Disappear?

Reading based manufacture of innovative touchscreen products for public services, is pleased to announce the launch of their latest module for their Information Point kiosks.

Information point kiosks are touchscreen systems designed to be used in public spaces such as schools, hospitals, libraries and many others. The information points provide safe and secure access to a range of services designed to assist and provide guidance for parents and youth on issues such as jobs, education and training, drugs and health and much more.

Our new e-leaflet module can be added to the information point kiosk to provide your users with always up to date leaflets and other documents. The touch screen e-leaflet module works in a similar way to an online shopping basket whereby users can view the document and touch a button to add it to their basket. Once they have the various forms and other documentation of interest the user is requested to enter their email address. The e-leaflet module then automatically creates one or more emails with the documents attached which is sent to the user.

Our new e-leaflet module is intuitive and can be branded to fit with your organization. Leaflets can be organized by category and documents including pdf, word, xl and many others can be provided. The e-leaflet module can provide leaflets in a number of different languages to satisfy the need to serve various nationalities.

The e-leaflet module is provided as a module within the information point touchscreen software and administration of the system is all done online. Having entered your username and password you can then upload the leaflets and other documentation which you would like to be made accessible to your users. Our real-time reporting system can provide you with a continuously updated record showing which documents have been accessed by your users.

The e-leaflet module deals effectively with what appears as a visual overload of information presented to clients as they enter your building. The leaflets are always up to date so no need to weed-out the old leaflets.

If you would like to find out more information about using our e-leaflets module please give us a call.

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Digital Video Test

The 780 handheld HDMI test instrument is a battery powered, portable multimedia pattern generator that enables you to conduct quick, on-site verification testing of your HDMI system and analogue video displays.

The 780 is equipped with both a reference source and a reference sink HDMI interface allowing you to test audio, video and protocols - HDCP, EDID, CEC & infoframes - of any type of HDMI device: sources, repeaters and sinks. You can test and calibrate your high definition TVs with a variety of standard patterns and formats including deep colour and HDMI 1.4a 3D. Its portability makes it ideal for your bench and for use in the field. Because the 780 has both an HDMI output and an HDMI input, you can test your HDMI cables and systems with splitters, extenders and switches as well with the optional pixel error rate test feature.

A colour touch display makes the 780 easy and convenient to use and when testing a source device you can view the incoming video on the built in LCD.

You can monitor the DDC transactions, hot plug events and CEC messages using the 780's (optional) Auxiliary Channel Analyzer feature.

See all of the 780's applications depicted in the 780 data sheet.

Standard Features (included with all options)

• Battery powered for portability. Device is powered via internal batteries or externally via an AC charger.


• Video pattern testing. Test a display's HDMI and analogue component inputs to ensure that it can render video test patterns including deep colour and HDMI 1.4a 3D patterns. Over 25 video patterns supported. Add custom bitmaps. Scroll bitmap patterns to test for motion artefacts.


• Audio testing. Send audio patterns, tones & noise through HDMI, SPDIF or Optical digital audio outputs. Program audio parameters such as sampling rate, bit depth and channels. Use a variety of audio formats including LPCM, Dolby, and DTS.


• Confidence test of an HDMI source. Emulate a known-good HDMI sink device to test video and audio content from an HDMI source device with HDCP content protection. View the incoming video from a source device on the LCD display even when content is protected with HDCP.

Network Analyzer Option

• Verify HDCP on repeaters and displays. Send HDCP encrypted video content to a downstream repeater (e.g. AVR) and/or sink (e.g. DTV). Check the authentication response from the sink.


• Verify video timing. Verify the timing of an HDMI source. Compare against a known-good timing.


• Verify video type. Verify the video type of an HDMI source. View AVI infoframe content.


• Identify EDID problems. Run a verification test on the EDID of a sink device such as an HDTV or input of a repeater device. Check the contents of the EDID of the sink device.


• Verify an HDMI source's response to an EDID. Emulate the EDID of any HDMI sink device to check how an HDMI source device responds to it.


• Verify audio data. Read the audio infoframes and audio sample packet headers including channel status bits from a connected HDMI source.


• Check for CEC devices. Poll an HDMI installation for CEC devices.

HDMI Cable & Link Test Option

• Test HDMI cables. Run tests on HDMI cables. Test for pixel errors on multiple formats (resolutions) on the TMDS video and check continuity on the 5 volt, hot plug and DDC lines.


• Test HDMI networks. Run tests on HDMI networks comprised of cables, audio/video processors, extenders, switches, repeaters, etc. Test for pixel errors on multiple formats (resolutions) on the TMDS video and check continuity on the 5 volt, hot plug and DDC lines.

HDMI Auxiliary Channel Analyzer (ACA) option - Two options available

• Option 1 - Emulation monitoring of DDC transactions and hot plug events. Monitor the HDCP and EDID transactions on the DDC and also monitor hot plug related events while the 780 is emulating a known-good source device, a known-good display device or both.


• Option 2 - Passive monitoring of DDC transactions and hot plug events (includes emulation monitoring option). Monitor the HDCP and EDID transactions on the DDC and also monitor hot plug related events while the 780 is passively monitoring an HDMI system comprised of multiple devices.

What's in the box?

• 780 Handheld Video Test Instrument for HDMI


• 12V, 1.5A power supply adapter. 100-240V IEC mains input. Use Strontronics DSA-0151D-12 if replacement is required.


• US Line cord for power supply adaptor


• HDMI-HDMI type A cable (2.0m)


• USB 2.0 cable (1.8m)


• VGA to 3RCA adapter cable (0.9m)


• 780 Quick start manual


• Certificate of Calibration/test & conformity

Ordering Information

Description	Part Number	Notes
780 Handheld test instrument for HDMI	00-00226	Base unit
HDMI Cable test	95-00056	Option
ACA - Emulation monitor (2x HDMI)	95-00063	Option
ACA - Passive monitor (4x HDMI)	95-00064	Option
Network analyser for HDMI	95-00065	Option

Notes:

1. Unit is shipped with a 1 year parts and labour guarantee.


2. The ACA Emulation Monitor (95-00063) is automatically
   included with the ACA Passive Monitor (95-00064). You cannot
   purchase both.


3. Existing customers are able to upgrade their 780 to add any
   option not currently fitted. Please contact Sequoia Technology
   Ltd for details.

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