Mobile LED Screen Customer's Review

Most of us are in vacation mood, so I thought that writing about business tecniques was not the case. Instead, I'll share with you the nice words I just received from a Customer.

You must know that after 6 weeks from the installation of every LED Screen or Display, I personally ask all of our Customers the courtesy to fill a feedback form and send it back to me. I know that forms like this one can be annoying to fill, but these information are the key of our quality system.

After the Customer had the time to use the product for a few weeks, I find it very useful to understand how we are perceived and in wihch areas we need to improve.

So, here's a feedback I just got for a Mobile LED Screen delivered a couple of months ago. More reviews are available on our Customers' page.

Why Did You Choose EuroDisplay over the Competition from Milan?

"At the beginning we were rather skeptical because the company is not that large. And our order was actually a prototype."

"Then we chose you because the price of the equipment was very competitive. The company gave us a very good impression during the visit. And the atmosphere and the personal relations built up our confidence. We were not disappointed."

Today Are You Happy with Your Choice?

"Today we believe that your company keeps its promises. You have a good technical support, well combined with your conversation and negotiation skills. Full professionalism. What I like most in your product is the unrivalled image quality and the ease of use."

"I believe that the three most important advantages of the product are: the image quality, the mobility and versatility and the autonomy of the power sources."

"What also impressed me is that you have an excellent technical support. It respond quickly. And above all, it seeks to solve the problem instead of seeking procedural excuses."

"One thing you could improve is the module, to better withstand the conditions of "mobility". The product is employed in Poland, which is unfortunately prone to ruts and holes in roadways. That can cause the need for maintenance."

Would You Buy from EuroDisplay Again?

"Yes. I would recommend you because EuroDisplay is trustworthy, reliable, provides excellent technical support and offers high quality products."

Konrad Jakub B.
Partner of Online and Outdoor Advertising Agency

Too Many Digital Billboards Leaders

Recently I find a lot of new companies claiming on their websites to be "Leader in Digital Billboards Manufacturing, or to be a "Leading Digital Billboards Supplier".

I don't exaclty know how to define a leading company, but I know that they are not: the leader is only one, while here too many companies are claiming the title. And most of them didn't even existed a year ago.

So I started to ask myself, what really makes a company a leader in its own field? I tried to learn more about the different defitions of "leading Company" and "Leadership" and this is what I found:

Forbes Magazine

"The World's Leading Companies, is the new comprehensive ranking of the world's biggest companies, measured by a composite of sales, profits, assets and market value."

So for Forbes Magazine, a leading company in any market is a company which has the highest averaged performace when considering 4 precise indicators: (1) Sales, (2) Profits, (3) Assets and (4) Market Value

Accordind to this definition, the World Leader in Digital Billboards Manufacturing is Daktronics. Infact, since 2001, independent market research from iSuppli Corp has consistently ranked Daktronics number one with approximately 30 percent of the entire worldwide LED video display market share.

Wikipedia

"Leadership has been written as the process of social influence in which one person (or Company?) can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task."

This description is more vague and it doesn't list any precise indicator or measure. So in my interpretation of the Wikipedia definition, a leading company in a market is the one which provide most tools and support to its Customers to accomplish their goals.

According to this interpretation, the World Leader in Digital Billboards Manufacturing is Barco. Infact, since 1934 (!) Barco designs and develops visualization solutions for a variety of selected professional markets: medical imaging, media & entertainment, infrastructure & utilities, traffic & transportation, defense & security, education & training and corporate AV.

Business Week Magazine

"Here's our list of the top 100 global technology outfits -- on a price-performance basis"

For Business Week Magazine, a leading company is the one that is either (1) The Biggest, in terms of sales, (2) The Fastest Growing, in terms of revenue growth or (3) The Most Profitable, in terms of return on equity

According to this definition, a company can be a "leader" from 3 different points of view. But again the fist indicator is Sales/Revenue.

In this case, Barco seems to be the leader with revenue with EUR 638 million (in 2009). But we must consider that Barco has a widest range of visualization products, while Daktronics even if smaller (with revenues of EUR 461 million in 2009) is focused on Digital Billboards only. So I would say Daktronics is the winner again here.

Leading What?

So far, whichever definition you look at, there is no one that fits those new companies:

• Sales: They are not the biggest in sales, since Barco and Daktronics lead the way and the battle for the "leader" title is basically a private matter between them
• Profits: These new companies often claim to have competitive prices, so I can safely assume that they are not leader in terms of profits either
• Growth: Since the number of these companies reselling Digital Billboards is doubled in the past 2 years, they also can not be the leader in terms of revenue growth: it would be impossibile with so many other competing companies flooding the market and offering the exact same product, features and services
• Assets: They can not be leaders in terms of assets since they are Partnerships and not Corporations, therefore without deposited capital or assets by definition. All liabilities are covered with the personal assets of the partners. Well, if they have any.
• Support: I also dare to say that they can not be the company which provide most tools and support to their Customers, as Wikipedia's definition would request. Based on the time they have been on the market (12-24 months) I doubt they developed more tools than Barco did in 76 years

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

"A first or principal performer of a group"

According to this definition, a leader is always defined in comparison to a group. I personally find this is a good definition because it puts things in perspective.

Maybe you are not a World Leader, but you still can be a leader if you take a group small enough. For example you could be a leader among your friends.

This is probably the same definition that the new self-proclaimed leaders in Digital Billboards are using... they just failed to mention the group they belong to. Here's how a more accurate version should look like:

• Geographic Area Leadership
  "We're leaders in Revenues, among companies in our neighborhood"
• Age Group Leadership
  "We're leaders in Support, among start-ups with less than 12 months
• Company Size Leadership
  "We're leaders in Assets, among businesses with 3 employees

What to Do Next Time

Next time you find a company claiming to be the "Leader in Digital Billboards" (or in any other field for that matter), just ask them: "Leader according to what?"

• In terms of Sales / Revenue?
• Profits?
• Growth Rate?
• Assets?
• Support?

If They Don't Know

If they don't know what to answer right away, stop wasting your time. When people don't know why they claim to be "leader" it can not be a good sign.

If They Do Know

Instead, if they do know what to answer, there are two options:

• you are talking to Barco or Daktronics
• they read this article too, and they prepared a canned reply

If you want to discover how to recognize a real leading company from a hoax, don't miss the next post.

How to Choose a Digital Billboards Supplier

If you want to discover how to recognize a real digital billboards supplier from a hoax, you will find the following articles very interesting:

• How to Discover If Your LED Screens Supplier Is Reliable
• Are You a LED Screens Manufacturer or a Hoax?
• How to Recognize a Real LED Screen Manufacturer from a Hoax

Digital Billboards in Franchising

Another Advertising Agency Turns to EuroDisplay

It happened again, as more and more often. This brings to 18 the number of ad agencies that have turned to EuroDisplay after experimenting for a few months a digital billboard in franchise / concession.

So last month, another ad agency - after having an unpleasant experience with a digital billboard in franchise / concession - has decided to cancel the concession contract (and pay the penalty fee) to go with EuroDisplay.

"There are several reasons that persuaded us to finally go with EuroDisplay." confirms Angelo, the owner of an advertising agency. "It is not only the reliability of the product, but also the seriousness of the company and people."

"After Months of Suffering We Terminated the Contract"

"We did not have a good experience with our old digital billboard in franchising. It caused several service interruptions and many related complaints from our advertisers."

"After suffering for several months, we decided to pay the cancellation fee and to terminate the contract. And to return free to choose our preferred supplier."

"In recent months we have gained a lot of experience in digtal billboards. We have carefully considered all the options available and EuroDisplay seemed like the best in terms of quality, price and reliability."

"We Are Very Happy"

"The new EuroDisplay digital billboard was installed last month. It is a 6x3 meter easyScreen with 10/20mm pixel pitch. We assembled it in just a few hours and it worked at the first try, without any problems."

"At the moment we are very happy with how the deal was completed. The fact that the installation took place without problems, it has confirmed to us that we have made the right choice."

"We intend to grow our network of digital billboards, but to do that we needed a quality product and a reliable supplier. Before we did not feel confident that these conditions were satisfied."

"Only time will tell if we'll win our bet, but at least now we know we have a solid foundation on which to base our project."

Contacts and More Information

For more information, call us now at the No. +39/011-954-1015, or write to info@EuroDisplay.com. Click Here for the Quotation Online or visit the Clients page to see our latest installations and references.

Full Color Pharmacy Crosses

Last month ended the annual fair Cosmofarma, the most representative event of the Italian pharmacy, an international fair among the top 3 most important in Europe.

Like every year, EuroDisplay participated with its pharmacy crosses (see pictures at the bottom of the page), but this year with a huge novelty. After discontinuation of the exclusive distribution relationship with Nuova Neon Radelme infact, for the first time EuroDisplay presented its pharmacy crosses directly to the public and found considerable interest among pharmacists and technicians.

The New Full Color Pharmacy Crosses

During the fair, were presented for the first time the newest Full Color Pharmacy Crosses of 90x90cm, 120x120cm and the huge 150x150cm.

"The new full color pharmacy crosses are the result of our experience in LED screens, we produce since 1978," said Carmine Aversa, founder and owner EuroDisplay, who was present at the exhibition to feel firsthand the feedback from the market.

PharmaScreen: The Full Color Pharmacy Crosses

"The full color pharmacy crosses of the PharmaScreen© series are real jewels of technology: we took everything we learned on LED screens in the last 30 years and we have miniaturized it."

Full Color Pharmacy Crosses Prices

"The price for orders during the exhibition is 5.500,00 Euros for the double-sided full color pharmacy crosses 90x90cm. The complete pricelist will be ready to the public shortly."

"We've done a grueling job of cost control in order to offer a price mora than 32% lower than the competition. All 100% Made in Italy, as always."

"Obviously also the fact that they deal directly to the Italian end-customers, without intermediaries and without any exclusivity bond, has helped make us so competitive. By skipping a step will were also able to cut-off all the costs related to the retailer."

Full Color Pharmacy Crosses Are Small LED Screens

"As a matter of fact, these full color pharmacy crosses are fully functional LED screens in miniature, with an embedded Apple MacMini computer that allows you to display anything and in any video format. The playlist management is very simple and we have created an extensive collection of videos for pharmacists who do not want or do not have time to develop them independently."

"I believe that the fullcolor pharmacy crosses represent the future of this niche market and the feedback we received confirmed it in full."

"I have to thank my technical team for creating perhaps one of our best products ever at a such competitive price. During the 3 days of the exhibition we have received orders for over 20 fullcolor pharmacy crosses and at least 3 new companies have listed this new product in their portfolio, a clear signal of where the market is going."

Contact Details and Further Info

For more information on the new Fullcolor Pharmacy Cross, visit the Pharmacy Crosses Page or call us now at the No. +39/011-954-1015, or write to info@eurodisplay.com. Visit the Clients page to see our latest installations and references.

LED Screen Manufacturer or Hoax?

Following last week's article, entitled "Are You a LED Screens Manufacturer or a Hoax?" I received several interesting comments. Each one provided a slightly different angle, but basically all posed the same question: "How do I distinguish a real LED screen manufacturer from a hoax?"

How Not to Get Cheated

First of all, let's try to understand what it means to be a "LED screens manufacturer".

In addition to having the ability to select and mount LEDs, being a LED screens manufacturer means first of all have the competencies to develop a proprietary electronic control that can manage these LEDs to produce a realistic image.

The electronic control system consists of of the following:

1. A Printed Circuit Board (PCB), on which depends the effectiveness with which the LEDs are run, and therefore ultimately the quality of the LED screen
2. A Control and Management Software, with which the electronic board is controlled to determine and change the settings for brightness, contrast, gamma, diagnostics, remote control etc...

Developing these two components requires very advanced electronic competencies, that in Italy only 3 or 4 companies have developed. EuroDisplay was the first to develop this technology in 1978 (for mono-color display) then evolved into true full color screens.

How to Recognise a Hoax

To distinguish one real manufacturer producer from an import company, the best method is to visit their production site. Pretty easy, right?

If this is a real manufactuer, in fact, you will invariably find all the following tools. Since each of these devices requires a large investment, they are very hard to find in an import company, who would not know what to do with them:

1) Production Area

Trading companies are often quite small, consisting only in a sales office. In case there is a larger space, it is usually a warehouse for the goods in transit – at EuroDisplay for example, the manufacturing plant has a surface of over 4.500 square meters.

2) Office of Electronic Design

Any LED screens manufacturer, has first of all a team of electronic engineers, using one or more professional design softwares – at EuroDisplay for example we use the world's best software Protel®, which license costs about 6.000 euros (www.protel.com).

3) Office of Mechanical Design

LED screens manufacturers also have a team of mechanical engineers, using a professional 3D CAD design software – at EuroDisplay we use the leading 3D software SolidWorks®, which license costs about 7.000 euros (www.solidworks.com).

4) Electronic Microscope

Used to verify the quality of industrial production in printed circuit boards and soldering of electronic components, particularly the most critical – at EuroDisplay we use the state-of-the-art Vision Mantis® Electronic, priced at around 1.000 euros (www.visioneng.com).

5) Climatic Chamber

A LED screen manufacturer must necessarily tests printed circuit boards and semi-assembled at precise temperature and humidity values, to ensure they can withstand the weather when installed outdoor – at EuroDisplay we use an Angelantoni® (leader in climatic chambers) worth about 15.000 euros (www.angelantoni.it).

6) Chroma Meter

The Chroma Meter is a camera that allows measurement of the perfect calibration of the LEDs to ensure that the colors are more vivid and realistic – at EuroDisplay for example we use a CS-100A Konica-Minolta® from the Japanese manufacturer Konica-Minolta, worth approximately 8.000 euros (www.konicaminolta.com).

7) Oscilloscope

The oscilloscope is an electronic test instrument that allows signal voltages to be viewed, usually as a two-dimensional graph of one or more electrical potential differences – at EuroDisplay we use a Tektronix® TDS 5034 from the world's leader manufacturer Tektronix (USA), worth about 9.000 euros (www.tek.com).

Other Ways to Recognize a Hoax

There are other ways to recognize a hoax... do you know any? Use the form below to let us know!

Contacts and More Information

For more information, call us now at the No. +39/011-954-1015, or write to info@EuroDisplay.com. Click Here for the Quotation Online or visit the Clients page to see our latest installations and references.