Monitor & Media Player Combined? Not So Fast

The majority of digital signage installs that you walk across are comprised of three main components: 1- The monitor/screen, 2- media player and 3- software. However in the last couple of years, LG and Samsung come to mind as providers that have attempted to circumvent the traditional set up with “all-in-one” options. What they have promised is ease of use, and lower start-up costs. Depending on what you are looking for, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

It always comes back to the suggestion that a true digital signage solution looks a lot different than what these types of systems offer. However, an LG EZSign or one of Samsung’s Smart Signage Platform monitors would probably dispute the notion that you cannot manage both content and scheduling from within. The fact of the matter is you can, but at what level? For instance, it is just this “easy” to create new designs with LG EZ Sign.

Let me share with you a couple of lived-and-learned scenarios that we have experienced.

Samsung:
We were contacted by a sign company who had installed 50+ screens at a stadium. The content of the screens was designed outside of the system because the template options within were primitive. The signs were installed, the content loaded, and it was time to playback the content with the on-board Samsung media player. As the playlist ran its course the screens would go blank (black) intermittently. This was in no way, shape or form acceptable to their client. In our attempt to trouble shoot the issue, we received the following feedback from Samsung:

Subject- Black Frames between Videos

The SSSP does not support gapless playback between videos as the video needs to be loaded onto the video decoder for it to be decoded and rendered. Samsung claim the transition is normally complete within 1/3 of a second. Samsung are working on a resolution to this however it is not known if this will be available for this year’s models or next years.

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