This is the time of the year when many Customers ask me about the operating temperature of the LED video walls. The winter has come and apparently this is going to be a cold one. So the question I hear a lot these days is "How cold is too cold?"

In the months between December and February, we can reach extremely low temperatures, generally as low -20°C / -25°C in urban areas of central Europe (but we can get to -50°C in northern countries such as Sweden and Finland).

So how does a led screen respond when the temperatures are so extreme? The general rule of thumb for led screens is this: the colder it is, the better it runs.

Some jokingly say that a led screen runs best with a thin frosty layer on it. The reason that's a joke is because humidity and electronic printed circuits don't mix very well, so ice is better than water.

But how low can the temperature go before becoming an issue? Led chip suppliers (such as Nichia, Cree etc), generally indicate the lowest operating temperature of the leds at -30°C. This is a pretty good minimum temperature and it is enough for 90% of European cities and countries.

But how can you protect your led screen when the temperature is even lower? Or when the thermometer is at -30°C for several consecutive days?

When the LED billboard is working, its components (led tiles, power supplier and control boards) heats up. This heat is then contained within the metal cabinet of each single module. This process creates a warmer and drier micro-climate inside each cabinet, which is ideal for the led screen.

Your goal should be to preserve this micro-climate. This means to keep the led screen working 24 hours a day, even at night. In fact, turning the led screen off at night (from midnight to six in the morning, for example) is one of the worst things you can do in extremely cold weather conditions.

When you turn the led screen off at night, the internal temperature drops dramatically in a very short time. This may not damage the components directly, but it might create problems when you want to turn on the led screen again. The PCs in particular are most sensitive to these temperature changes.

If you can not have the LED screen working 24 hours a day (e.g. for some city regulations), then the second best thing you can do it to keep the led screen in stand-by (or black) at night. This means that the led screen is actually "alive" but it is simply not displaying any image, exactly like a TV when you shut it down with the remote control.

From the outside you can not tell the difference between a screen that is turned-off and one that is in stand-by, but this makes a big difference inside. When the led screen is in stand-by, its components are alive and still producing some heat. Of course, it is much less than the heat produced when the led screen is working, but it is still much better than no heat at all.

EuroDisplay playlist software has a particular function that allows you to put the led screen in stand-by mode at night in one single click. This feature was developed specifically for led screens in these conditions. It even allows you to select between a totally black screen or a clock with current time and date when in stand-by mode.

Instad, if you are absolutely forced to turn off the led screen completely at night or for longer period of time, there is still one option. Higher quality digital billboards will have no or little problem when you turn them on again (but the temperature is still extremely low).

Instead, if the led screen does not turn on anymore, there is still a solution. Before you turn on the led screen again, try to warm up the cabinets with some electrical heaters. Let it warm up for thirty minutes to an hour (depending on weather conditions). Then try to turn it on again.

So to summarize, here's what you can do to preserve your led screen at at extremely low temperatures:

• Ideally, keep your led screen working 24 hours a day
• If that's not possible, at least put it in stand-by mode at night
• If you are forced to turn it off and you have problem to turn it back on, then try to warm the led screen up

For all Customers visiting us at VisCom Italy on October 21, 22 and 23 (FieraMilano Rho), here's some useful information.

How to Find Us in Just 3 Minutes

From the Visitors' Entrance, take the lane on the left

Walk Past the Info Point

We are on the Left Side, before the ViscomLab and on the left of the Digital Signage Forum

How to Contact Us at the Exhibition

• Call us at the number +39 / 335-627-6697
• Visit us at the Hall 1 - Booth N1 / P2

How to Download the Map

CLICK HERE to download the map below in pdf format

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 definitions 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 performance when considering 4 precise indicators: (1) Sales, (2) Profits, (3) Assets and (4) Market Value

According to this definition, the World Leader in LED 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 LED video walls 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 LED screens 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.

LED Screen Manufacturer or Hoax?

Following last week's article, entitled "Are You a LED video walls 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 digital billboards 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.