Month: July 2020

 

When the owners of the District Tap sports bar in Indianapolis decided to open a second location in the city’s downtown area, they identified one crucial technology upgrade that would enhance the guest experience and greatly simplify daily operations for staff: 4K IP video distribution through Mediatune, a dynamic digital solution available exclusively from LG Business Solutions USA and Technicolor.

Mediatune is a multicast video distribution system that is compatible with LG’s Pro:Idiom^® and Pro:Centric^® applications found on hospitality-grade LG displays, and can also be added to a compatible display with LG’s STB-550 set top box. In the District Tap solution, the system uses 38 LG UU670H Series 4K Smart TVs, and several LG set top boxes with Pro:Idiom software allow projectors and a large video wall to be part of the Mediatune system as well. Mediatune utilizes a DIRECTV™ COMM51 card that can hold up to 23 DIRECTV tuners and serves as a web server that runs the control interface.

With the LG TVs paired with the Mediatune multicast video distribution system, operation is simple. With full access to all 38 LG TVs, staff members can turn all the TVs on or off at once, change the channel on a number of TVs at once, and control every TV from an iPad or mobile device right from the restaurant floor, as soon as a customer requests a change.

The wiring installation was simple as well, requiring only a single Cat6 cable run to each display, virtually eliminating distance issues that can arise when using HDMI distribution. In addition to the displays and Mediatune equipment, they also installed a sound system with satellite audio and a microphone for announcements, a music video system, and ran Cat6 cable for the POS computers, IP surveillance cameras and wireless access points.

Mediatune can expand to control virtually unlimited TVs with up to 138 tuners or unique content sources. LG’s Pro:Idiom software unlocks access to premium content to help assure rapid and broad deployment of high-value digital content. The Pro:Centric application makes it easy to switch between content options, including broadcast TV, streaming services, external devices and today’s most popular entertainment providers.

For all the details read the full case study here.

At the non-profit Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, things are looking a little brighter these days – literally. Working with local integration firm Owen Security Solutions, the museum invested in a wide range of vibrant webOS™-based digital displays from LG Business Solutions USA and a dedicated video wall mounting system designed and manufactured by Peerless-AV^®. The eye-catching digital signage installation includes a 15-foot-wide by 8.5-foot-tall, 2.5mm pixel pitch LED Signage video wall featured at the very center of the museum, which they use to present a variety of content.

The installation location proved to be challenging, because the selected wall area for the large LED Signage was slanted at an obtuse angle. Despite this hurdle, Peerless-AV’s SEAMLESS custom flat video wall mount was successfully installed in just a day.

LG commercial displays also provide digital signage at the reception desk and cafe, with four digital displays in each location. At reception, two displays mirror the content from the LED Signage video wall, while the remaining two share membership info and admission prices, respectively. In the café are three LG digital menu boards and one screen that mirrors the LED Signage video wall content. These displays were installed with LCD mounting solutions from Peerless. The museum’s largest banquet room features two 110-inch LG video walls, each composed of four LG 55-inch narrow-bezel displays and Peerless-AV SmartMount^® video wall mounts.

With the old AV infrastructure using consumer-grade TVs, updating a single display required the museum’s A/V manager to load new content onto a USB thumb drive, then physically go to the display and update just that one unit. Using the webOS platform, he can now instantly update content on any LG display from his office PC, or remotely, saving time and frustration on a daily basis.

According to museum officials, the tech makeover has enabled greater flexibility to manage and schedule content while creating an environment that’s more attractive to its school-age audience whose educational experiences and upbringings have included frequent use of digital technologies. From the stunning LED Signage video wall, which has become a center of attention, to fun animations on the menu boards, the museum now has the wow factor they desired.

Read the full case study here.

 

LG Business Solutions USA has introduced two new all-in-one Thin Clients, a 27-inch 16:9 model and a 34-inch 21:9 UltraWide™ model, each with full HD resolution and quad-core Intel^® processors. Both models feature LG’s In-Plane Switching (IPS) screen technology, which provides high quality images with a wide viewing angle, making them ideal workstations for finance, healthcare, education, hospitality, government and other industries.

Offering high performance, enhanced data security, reliability and cloud-ready connectivity for virtually any work environment, LG Thin Clients are space-saving workhorse computers, and these two new models provide flexibility and choice for business owners to address a variety of needs for various employees, including those working remotely. Businesses can benefit from LG Thin Clients’ various connectivity options and simplified deployment needs while enabling efficient use of desk space.

 

Why Thin Clients

A thin client is a network-connected computing device that interfaces with the cloud, with limited storage and applications. Unlike a typical personal computer or “fat client,” thin clients provide access to information without the system-draining memory, storage and power consumption.

With thin clients, data resides safely on secure network servers, not at the individual endpoints or devices. This allows individuals to view the information they need, while IT maintains jurisdiction over sensitive information—helping reduce the risk of data breaches and giving organizations greater control over data ownership, along with decreased hardware and maintenance costs.¹ It also means that the data stays secure, even if the machine or device used to access the data goes missing.

For the end users, the computing experience on a thin client can be similar or nearly identical to what they’re used to on their PCs. For today’s employees suddenly challenged with working from home, LG all-in-one Thin Clients are a plug-and-play win.

Both the 27-inch (model 27CN650N-6A) and 34-inch (model 34CN650N-6A) LG Thin Clients deliver powerful, reliable computing with an Intel^® Celeron J1045 quad-core 1.5GHz processor (up to 2.5GHZ burst), integrated graphics, and a 128GB solid state hard drive. Conferencing is simple with a microphone-in port, built-in dual speakers, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, a pop-up HD webcam and an adjustable stand, while the fanless design ensures quiet operation.

To offer the most benefits to the most businesses possible, LG Thin Clients are compatible with today’s most popular VDIs including Citrix, Amazon WorkSpaces, Microsoft Azure and VMware. Each model houses two USB 2 ports, four USB 3 ports, one USB-C port, one HDMI input and one DisplayPort output, and provides 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time and 300-nit brightness. The 27-inch model offers Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, while the UltraWide 34-inch model has 2560 x 1080 pixels to deliver crisp imagery across the wider panel.

1. http://www.techadvisory.org/2020/06/how-to-reduce-it-costs-with-thin-and-zero-clients/

Experts are stressing radiology preparedness for COVID-19. Radiology preparedness during the COVID-19 public health crisis requires radiology department policies and procedures designed to have enough capacity for continued operation during a health care emergency of unprecedented proportions and to support the care of patients with COVID-19, while maintaining radiology support for the entirety of the hospital and health system.¹ Because of this, the importance of teleradiology has emerged.

Teleradiology involves scans from one location being read by a specialist in another. This is especially important right now as doctors can’t always be present due to lockdowns or self-isolation. In the midst of this global pandemic, medical staff can be overworked and in short supply. The sharing of information, and the ability to call upon a radiologist in a different location, can be a major lifesaving benefit.

 

Potential Challenges of Teleradiology: Displays

The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) developed the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM^®) international standard for the communication and management of medical imaging information and related data. They included a complete section (Part 14) relating pixel values to displayed luminance levels and defining a grayscale standard display function (GSDF) to help achieve accuracy and consistency.² Displays that are not designed specifically for medical use can face various challenges in teleradiology:

Image Accuracy Issues – Consumer-grade displays, for example, may not meet the clinical standards needed for viewing subtle differences in contrast, color and brightness. Diagnoses are made by looking at monitors, so even small differences and defects in image quality must be avoided to reduce miscommunication among staff.

Difficulty with Maintenance – In hospitals, monitors are calibrated by specialist companies that frequently visit to take measurements and make technical adjustments. It’s a demanding task that would be difficult without the help of experts and specialized equipment.

Undeveloped Working Environment – During this unprecedented time, many medical professionals are working long hours at home. But when ergonomic working conditions are lacking, repetitive behavior can lead to chronic pain and eye fatigue, and also reduced work efficiency.

 

Medical-Grade Displays Are the Solution

Excellent Image Quality for Reliable Reading – FDA-approved medical-grade displays, such as those from LG, comply with DICOM Part 14 for optimal grayscale images and also support a wide color gamut. This ensures reliability and consistency in the reading of X-ray, MRI, and CT scans. What’s more, LG’s IPS panel also provides stable contrast, color and clarity at virtually any viewing angle.

Easy Maintenance – LG medical displays measure the backlight brightness stability and compensate for brightness fluctuations caused by product aging, for consistently stable images over time. Monitors can be calibrated and maintained with software. And the 21HK512D model, for example, has a built-in front sensor for auto calibration.

Comfortable Workstation – The LG Diagnostic Monitor has an auto luminance

sensor that detects ambient light and optimizes brightness. The ergonomic design helps the user work in a comfortable position for long hours at home.

Learn more about LG medical-grade monitors. Discover the LG Medical Monitors Digital Experience 2020 today.

 

1. https://www.rsna.org/en/news/2020/March/Radiology-Preparedness-COVID-19

2. https://www.itnonline.com/article/medical-displays-crucial-accurate-diagnoses

It’s about a quarter of an inch at its thinnest point – a beautiful glass digital display, and you can see right through it. Best of all, when you start interacting with the displayed content by touching the transparent screen, the experience is almost like interacting with bright, colorful images in mid-air.

The new 55-inch LG Transparent OLED Touch Display 55EW5TF delivers rich colors and high contrast even though transparent, by nature of OLED’s self-lighting pixels. Content can be seen at wide viewing angles to naturally blend into the display’s surroundings. It excels at captivating onlookers.

The Transparent OLED Touch Display is equipped with projected capacitive (P-Cap) film technology for a highly responsive touch experience. P-Cap gives fast response to user interaction and supports up to 10 touch points at a time. It can elevate the customer experience beyond imagination, delivering relevant information and promoting products while allowing a transparent view of the objects behind the screen. The display creates a new level of engagement as the content magically appears, ready for inquisitive viewer fingers, and is ideal for specialized commercial applications particularly in high-end retail, hospitality, art galleries and museums.

The LG Transparent OLED Touch display is built with tempered, anti-reflective, shatter-resistant front glass to protect it for commercial use. It comes semi-assembled so that businesses can install it in different structures and spaces depending on the physical environment and desired effect, and it supports landscape and portrait orientation.

The display is capable of up to 400 nits of brightness, depending on application, and a 150,000:1 contrast ratio. Extensive connectivity options come as part of the display’s digital signage box, including HDMI in, DP in/out, RS-232C in/out, audio out, USB 2.0 in, and touch USB in/out, LAN and IR.

For businesses wishing to stand out from the crowd, consider elevating your brand experience with the LG Transparent OLED Touch display.

Last time we told you how LG Business Solutions USA announced the introduction of over three dozen indoor and outdoor LED Signage displays. We described four categories and today we’ll conclude with the remaining six.

 

UltraSlim Indoor LED Signage

LG’s new UltraSlim LSCB Series are ideal for tight or high-traffic spaces, featuring an innovative design and mounting system that requires just 37.5mm (1.5 inches) of clearance off the wall. Available in 1.5mm, 1.8mm and 2.5mm pixel pitches, these UltraSlim displays satisfy a wide variety of needs, especially when Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements are a design concern. With a front-accessible design and a simple magnetic tool, integrators can easily attach or detach individual LED cabinets from the front.

 

LED Cinema Display

The new LADF Series LED Cinema Display offers Dolby Cinema^® Server compatibility, 4K cinema resolution and equal brightness across the entire screen. Using a 3.3mm pixel pitch this model is designed exclusively for cinema environments whether in movie theaters or large, low-light corporate or educational presentation environments.

 

Fine and Standard Pitch Indoor LED Signage

Ideal for indoor needs of any size, the LAS Fine Pitch Series features 10 models with pixel pitches ranging from 1.2mm to 2.5mm. The models offer webOS™ Signage 4.0 and feature excellent picture quality, 16:9 aspect ratio, as well as lightweight cabinet design and front serviceability for easy installation and maintenance. The new LAS Standard Series are workhorse LED cabinets designed for fixed installation, rental & staging, large venues and event applications. They feature magnetically attachable unit cases with quick-lock systems to facilitate easy installation and a front-serviceable design.

 

Standard Pitch Value Indoor LED Signage

Offering four models and two pitch sizes, LG’s new LSCA Versatile Series allows users to combine 1:1 (500mm square) and 2:1 (500mm x 1000mm rectangle) cabinets to create custom screen sizes to meet virtually any demand. Each size is available in either 2.97mm or 3.91mm pixel pitches, for a total of four distinct SKUs. Users can choose front or rear service and installation options, and every cabinet features a simple lock fixing function to replace LED modules or power units.

 

Standard Pitch Outdoor LED Signage

The new GSCA Versatile Series, like its indoor counterpart LSCA, also allows users to combine 1:1 (500mm square) and 2:1 (500mm x 1000mm rectangle) cabinets to create custom applications. Installation of this 5,000-nit signage occurs via this model’s fast lock and one-handed control features, requiring no tools for assembly. The two GSCA models come in 3.9mm and 4.6mm pixel pitches. Designed for fast assembly, easy maintenance and front-or-rear serviceability, the new GSCC Essential Series comes in three pitch sizes: 6.66mm, 8mm and 16mm. The 16mm GSCC model has striking 8,000-nit brightness. Rounding out these new outdoor models is the lightweight, 10mm-pitch GSCD Ultra Light Series. All three series have an optional 90-degree corner design option that minimizes discontinuity of content displayed around building corners.

 

Standard Pitch Outdoor Stadium Signage

Both the LBS Stadium Series and the LBS-V Slim Series are ideal for stadium applications. Both have outstanding visibility with 6,000 nits of brightness, and both can operate outdoors with temperatures up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The five models in the LBS Stadium Series come in 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and 16mm pitch sizes, while the LBS Slim Series comes in three pitch sizes: 6mm, 8mm and 10mm. Whether the application is a jumbo screen at one end of a 75,000-seat stadium or a narrow band of signage around the outside mezzanine level, the LBS Series is an excellent choice for reliable, easy-to-service signage with smooth playback.

Dan Smith, LG Business Solutions USA’s vice president of business development commented, “As the pace of technological innovation increasingly approaches the pace of client needs, all signs point to a future where LED Signage displays, including mini- and micro-LED solutions, dominate the global digital display marketplace.”

A few weeks ago, during the InfoComm 2020 Connected virtual trade show, LG Business Solutions USA announced the introduction of over three dozen indoor and outdoor LED Signage displays – impactful and cost-effective displays that are ideal for commercial applications including retail stores, restaurants, conference rooms, hotels, theaters, museums, sports fields, stadiums and more.

The 46 models, which span LG’s 10 different LED Signage categories, will all be available in 2020, and 19 models are shipping now. With pixel pitches of 0.9mm to 16mm, these LG LED Signage displays deliver high brightness capabilities and excellent off-axis viewing quality, with low power and physical infrastructure requirements. Such characteristics make LG’s LED Signage displays the optimal solutions for rooms with a lot of natural light, rooms where off-axis viewing is critical, projects that require 24/7 visibility and reliability and for clients that want to reduce energy usage.

LED Signage is transforming how commercial venues think about their digital messaging and design today. A key advantage of LED Signage over traditional displays is the ability to break out of the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio with custom displays built in virtually any size or shape.

There’s a ton to cover so we’ll do this in two blog posts. We’ll begin by looking at some of the indoor models.

 

Cable-less Fine Pitch Indoor LED Signage

The new LSAA Series offers cable-less connections between LED cabinets, replacing cables with snap-in connections along the module’s frame, and the robust 4-in-1 LED package technology is more durable than standard individual surface-mount LED technology. The LSAA Series also features webOS™ Signage 4.1, and is available in 0.9mm, 1.2mm or 1.5mm pixel pitches, perfect for up-close environments such as meeting rooms.

 

Cable-less Indoor MicroLED Signage

Also cable-less between cabinets, the new LSAB Series MicroLED Signage displays utilize a 50,000:1 contrast ratio to increase the display’s native black surface area from 59 to 93 percent, delivering deep black levels. The 0.9mm and 1.2mm pixel-pitch will be available with the webOS Signage 4.1 platform. This MicroLED display is ideal for close-up 4K or 8K viewing in places such as control rooms, broadcasting studios, home cinema and flagship stores.

 

Flexible, Curvable Fine Pitch Premium Indoor LED Signage

Available now, LG’s LAPE Series is a flexible, curvable LED Signage solution available in 1.5mm, 2.0mm and 2.5mm pixel pitches for a variety of viewing distances and installation environments. The LAPE displays offer webOS Signage 4.0 and are composed of flexible modules that curve to form either convex or concave displays, including 360-degree displays and designs that bend around corners.

 

All-in-One Indoor LED Screens

Combining the vibrant picture quality of LED with the hassle-free connectivity of all-in-one displays, these LG models are specifically designed to be mobile. The existing 130-inch LAAF Series model features a 1.5mm pixel pitch and 500 nits of brightness, and it includes innovative Immersive Surface Sound that uses 36 4.5 Watt Exciter speakers in the actual display modules (no external speakers needed). The new LAEB Series’ 136-inch model has a 1.56mm pixel pitch and 800 nits of brightness. Both models have Full HD resolution and include built-in HDMI, DisplayPort and USB inputs. A rolling stand is available from LG as an optional purchase.

Stay tuned. In our next post we’ll cover the rest of the new LG LED Signage offerings for 2020.