Interactive Digital Signage
While the potential benefit of goal-line technology is still being debated, there are already technological advancements proving their worth in the football sphere. One of these innovations is the digital signage monitor, a product being utilised by ITV Sport during its Uefa Champions League and Uefa Cup coverage. However, the broadcaster is not the only business to have jumped on the digital signage bandwagon.
Primarily used for advertising or messaging services, digital signage monitors can often be found in museums, galleries, exhibition spaces and shopping centres. One of the main attractions of digital signage monitors is their large format touch screens, which enable users to make interactive presentations. ITV Sport uses Protouch's 32" NEC SAW USB LCD touch screens in its football coverage, and they also made an appearance at the 2006 World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Meanwhile, the BBC, Sky Italia, TV Globo, Hong Kong Cable, ITI Neovision, Al Jazeera, Sport TV and Digiturk networks also harness the capability of digital signage monitors to provide an added feature to their sports analysis systems as Red Bee Media has chosen to integrate Protouch's 32" and 40" NEC SAW USB LCD touch screens into its new 3D sport graphic system 'Piero'.
The Protouch technology, which was chosen by Red Bee Media for the clarity, size and intensity of its LCD display, enables analysts to make graphic demonstrations on the screen and facilitate an easy transition between real and virtual pictures.
Commenting on the suitability of Piero - and therefore the Protouch technology - to sports coverage, Musetta Wu, vice president of i-Cable Sports Ltd, Hong Kong Cable, said: "Piero's virtual stadium feature is completely unique to the market of sports analysis tools.
"We bought Piero because we wanted to make sure that we delivered the best possible coverage of the World Cup to our viewers and will continue to use the technology in our coverage of the English Premier League in Hong Kong."
Such has been the impact of Protouch's digital signage technology that it recently launched a new kiosk to supplement its interactive digital signage range - the Olympian. This new piece of kit stands two metres high and has a 40" display, making it ideal for large-scale environments such as shopping centres, exhibitions and corporate events. Significantly, the Olympian can also accommodate a 40" SAW touch screen, a PC and speakers while retaining its slight 17.5 cm depth. Extra RAM, Bluetooth and a Wifi technology can also be fitted on request.
Other products to have been introduced recently include the Protouch 46" Full HD optical touch screen and the Protouch 50" Full HD infra-red touch screen, both of which have been designed with retail outlets, museums and galleries in mind. What's more, with Protouch set to continue its collaboration with Red Been Media, further digital signage monitors are sure to be rolled out in the future.
Find out more about digital signage monitors.