Biology's Digital Sign Project
From College of Science IT Wiki
When our department head saw the digital sign that the Chemistry Department has, he asked BioIT to look into setting one up here in Lilly Hall.
Contents |
Starting Out
We talked with Robert Wild in Chemistry as well as with Mike Johnson in the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences’ IT group (who have also a digital signage project). Both had purchased large-screen LCD or Plasma televisions to be used as the display and are using dedicated digital sign appliance devices to drive them. I decided that these would be our requirements:
- A system that can be remotely managed and easily updated
- Hardware capable of driving a high-resolution display
- Software capable of rendering professional slides with minimal user training.
- A display device that also included an integrated TV tuner (CATV/OTA).
- Should not exceed a total depth-to-wall of 6”
- Should not exceed a total cost of $7,000
Project Process
Back End
We evaluated the follow possible solutions:
- Symon TargetVision SDA-600 Digital Appliance
- Exhibio Digital Signage System
- In-house build using Apple Keynote
(Displays were considered separately.)
Symon TargetVision SDA-600 Digital Appliance
TargetVision is the choice of the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences for their displays. The SDA-600 Digital Appliance is an embedded network device that supports displays up to a resolution of 1280 x 720 [720p HD(16:9)]. It can display dynamic content in dynamic form, such as a stock or news ticker, streaming video, and static information in multiple formats. This device requires that a back-end content management server be created and maintained. The approximate cost for this unit was not disclosed, but is estimated to be around $4,500-$5,000*. Creating and updating the display information requires use of a Windows application called “Symon Design Studio” (included).
*Price based on a cost of $35,000 for three SDA-600 + displays, with an estimated price of $1,500 - $2,000 per 36” LCD displays
Exhibio Digital Signage System
Exhibio is the choice of the Chemistry Department for their display in BRWN. This system uses a self-contained embedded system and supports displays up to a resolution of 1920 x 1440 [1440p HD (3:4)]. Using what appears to be an HTML based rendering engine, it can display both dynamic and static content, video, and Adobe Flash content. Content editing and creation is handled by a web-based interface. The approximate price for the unit the Chemistry Department purchased was $3,500.
In-house build using Apple Keynote
Keynote supports resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 [1080p HD(16:9)] Keynote 3 supports semi-dynamic content*, static content, streaming video, and other elements. Furthermore, Keynote provides built-in, “cinema quality” transitions and effects when transitioning between elements. It can be run on any OS X Macintosh computer. Content editing is handled with additional copies of Keynote. The price for Keynote and a computer to run it is approximately $1,300+.
* Semi-dynamic content can be achieved using custom written Applescript scripts. This is not a base feature of Keynote v3.
+Price include Keynote license plus an Apple Mac “mini” PC.
The Display
With the primary criteria of size, brightness, resolution, and visibility. We were able to quickly discount all displays less than 50” as well as those with depths greater than 5”. This left us with several choices which were narrowed down to these three best candidates.
- Philips 50PF7321D Plasma TV
- Sharp LC-52D62U LCD TV
- Samsung PPM50M5H Plasma Monitor
Here are the specs:
Philips 50PF7321D Plasma TV Display Size: 50” Resolution: 1366 x 768 [720p HD(16:9)] Brightness: 1100 cd/m2 Contrast Ratio: 10,000:1 DVI/HDMI Inputs: 1 HDMI TV Tuner: Integrated ATSC, NTSC, and Cable (64/256 QAM) Tuners Display Technology: Plasma Dimensions (WxHxD): 56.1” x 30.9” x 4.4” Sharp LC-52D62U LCD TV Display Size: 52” Resolution: 1920 x 1080 [1080p HD(16:9)] Brightness: 450cd/m2 Contrast Ratio: 2,000:1 / 10,000:1 (Using “Enhanced Contrast” setting) DVI/HDMI Inputs: 2 HDMI TV Tuner: Integrated ATSC, NTSC, Cable (64/256 QAM) Tuners Display Technology: LCD Dimensions (WxHxD): 49.75" x 31.75" x 4.9" Samsung PPM50M5H Plasma Monitor Display Size: 50” Resolution: 1366 x 768 [720p HD(16:9)] Brightness: 1300 cd/m2 Contrast Ratio: 10,000:1 DVI/HDMI Inputs: 1 DVI TV Tuner: None Display Technology: Plasma Dimensions (WxHxD): 56.1”w x 30.9”t x 4.4”d
Our Choices
So with all that lovely data, we ultimately went with Keynote running on a Mac mini and chose the Sharp LC-52D62U as the display. The grand total for the display, computer, software licenses, and mounting bracket came to about $5,000.
Setting it up
Tweaking the Display
Once everything was together, we discovered that the mini didn't want to drive the TV at full, 1080p opting instead for 1080i. We had to use DisplayConfigX, a neat little utility, to force it to run non-interlaced. We also made the following tweaks to the TV's settings:
Settings Menu OPC - OFF Backlight - +16 Contrast - +30 Brightness - 0 Color - (-5) Tint - 0 Sharpness (-5) <-- This was the most important setting! Settings -> Advanced Color Temperature - LOW Black - OFF Fine Motion - OFF Monochrome - Off Film Mode - OFF Range of OPC - (Default, -16 to +16)
Writing the Script
All that was left was to automate the process of displaying the keynote files. I wrote the following AppleScript to accomplish that. You can find the latest version of it, as well as helpful tips on implementing it on the MacScripter BBS.
Maintaining It
The system is very easy to maintain. The script will update the slides from a network shared folder on the mini automatically and it also emails us in the event of an error. We use Apple Remote Desktop to both monitor the display (see what's playing) and to update the system when manual intervention is needed.
See it in Action
The sign runs 24/7 in Lilly Hall on the first floor between rooms 126 and 127. Feel free to stop by and check it out!
