Transport venues and terminals represent one of the main concentrations of digital displays and audio systems both for informational and advertising purposes. InAVate explores the opportunities this implies for the AV market.
In the majority of cases where transport terminals have developed over a period of time, installations have evolved piecemeal. In newer builds the opportunity has been taken by the architects and interior designers to integrate the functions, thereby fulfilling a desire to combine information and advertising at a single point, often enhanced by the addition at the same time of entertainment. Eric Siereveld, Director of retail, transportation and venues for Sony Europe is heavily involved in the installation of AV systems in all types of transport terminals: “Railway and airport terminals differ from each other and with shopping malls in the mixture and type of content shown. In malls the mixture of the content triangle is roughly 10% information, 50% entertainment and news and 40% advertising. In transport terminals it is more likely to be equally split 30%, 30% and 30%. As with broadcast, ‘content is king’, meaning that the style of messaging and advertising needs to be appropriate to the location, audience and time of day: malls have a lot of product and offer advertising, whilst terminals are more likely to show branding and corporate awareness content.â€
If content is king, the ability to understand the audience is crucial and one that is well understood by the terminal operators. Eric Siereveld: “Airports and railways know very well who their customers are and can predict who will be around at a certain time of day. At an airport they can distinguish between business-long haul travellers and leisure-short haul passengers. At railway stations there is a radical difference during the day between commuters, shoppers and revellers.†This reflects the type of content and more specifically, advertising that is run during those periods. Mike Hemmings, Brand Manager of London Underground - CBS Outdoor, arranges advertising packages for London Underground and other transport facilities: “The really large digital screen systems only succeed when they are expansions of existing paper-based advertising networks. The trick is to fine-tune them so that they are time and audience specific. We offer a range of advertising packs, for example the commuter pack and entertainment pack that associates specific content with the prevailing audience at that time of day.†That said, it is clear that digital and hence video content is what is currently creating interest and attracting attention. Manfred Dolde, Managing Director of Innovative Communication Technologies works with many of the large European transport terminals, including Zurich, Copenhagen and Berlin airports: “Clients currently want bold and imaginative advertising but there is a difficulty in finding sufficient advertisers to fill the screen time. What is happening more and more is that digital signage, airport information and flight details are being combined and shown on the same displays and there will often be a mixture of LED, plasma and LCD screens on a single network within one site. These are generally shown without audio because of the intrusive nature of sound, although there are some locations where both are presented.†An extension of this type of combined information point is to link the screens into the emergency services network, allowing incident control for building evacuation and other messaging to override the normal display.
Networking of displays is an important factor in both system operation and the ability to attract advertisers. Digital signage networks are generally designed to be operated from a single remote point and many of the larger screens are self-contained network receivers; to the point where commercial LCDs manufactured by Samsung, NEC and others include the capability to receive, store and playout material. Which allows each screen to be addressed in isolation. The benefit of this to the operators and advertisers is that screens can be isolated or grouped into zones to deliver specific messaging appropriate to their location and footfall. Eric Siereveld: “The manner in which the displays are to be used is a critical step in the design process and one that we spend a lot of time quizzing clients over. In particular: how and why they intend to use networked audio visual systems; what type of content; how they can differentiate groups of viewers; whether they feel that both sound and audio is necessary; how external influences, such as weather or current affairs can influence the operation of the systems. Because without a full understanding of the aims and intents, the impact of the system will not be maximised. What is happening is that terminal operators are in fact becoming broadcasters, in that they are scheduling and transmitting content to large numbers of viewers, so many broadcast techniques and technologies are being used.†It is certainly true that these types of AV systems are becoming more sophisticated. Whilst it is still the case at the moment that people will take notice of video screens above static paper adverts, this may not last. Showing content that is entirely appropriate to the audience and making it reflect external surroundings helps, and can be met by well-considered and easily changed playlists within a flexible workflow. New ways are being developed to attract and hold viewers’ attention, beyond the basic content triangle. One of which is illustrated at some of London Underground’s stations, for example at the exit escalator on Tottenham Court Road, where a set of sequenced digital posters provide animation sequences across a number of LCD panels. Mike Hemmings: “The digital posters on the escalators offer a new and different slant to connect to viewers which is proving to be extremely successful. Currently they are installed in ten Underground stations and the technology is developing rapidly to its second generation. We are able to do things that cannot be done with static advertising.â€
Quality of presentation is also crucial, to the extent that most displays installed today are HD resolution – at least 1366 x 768 pixels. Again reflecting the convergence with the broadcast world. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, quality of presentation is important, Mike Hemmings: “Digital displays are replacing paper posters and to get the same resolution and image quality requires high definition, otherwise viewers will not engage with the messages.†Secondly, the lengthy legal notices that must be carried at a legible level on some adverts would be too intrusive, and actually become an overriding part of the image on a low definition display.
Magnitude and scale is not only an important factor in terms of audience and location, it is also of relevance in deployment. To be successful, a network must operate on a national scale, whilst retaining enough local control and application to offer local interest. Jörg Lammers, Head of Communication at Stroer, a company that provides out-of-home media campaigns to over 250,000 points across Europe. “Airports tend to act independently, marketing their services themselves rather than as a combined force to national advertisers, which presents them with difficulties and unfilled advertising space. For railway stations, on the other hand, we have managed to combine eleven of Germany’s mainline stations and have introduced Central Infoscreen which offers collective advertising opportunities to national advertisers.â€
In terms of technology, large venues can absorb major installations and will generally have reasonable budgets. All types of large screen display are utilised and designers are searching for artistic and innovative ways to deliver exciting and hence noticeable displays. One such example will be unveiled at the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, which includes a 24-screen display as a central feature of one of the World Duty Free stores within the terminal. Rather than adopt bezelless plasma displays or LED arrays to produce a continuous display surface, the designers have opted for a screen in which the individual screen bezels become a design feature. Tim Potter, Account Manger at Sony Europe is responsible for the new display: “We are building a large screen from a number of independent 40†LCD panels by placing them in portrait and landscape layout through out the screen, the bezels form an integral piece of the design resulting in an artistic style reminiscent of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The screen will be capable of showing multiple images on each segment or a single image across the whole screen which should result in an extremely attractive and noticeable element in the promotion of duty free products.†Again this screen forms a part of an overall digital signage system combined with other matrices and individual screens throughout the stores in the terminal.
Little has been said so far about audio capability, largely because the majority of screens currently being installed are sound-free. Audio distribution is, however, an important aspect of installations at transport terminals, not least because of the need to make global travel and security announcements. The major advances in public address systems lie in transition to digital; for both audio processing to enhance the clarity and performance of the audio, in all areas whether they are quiet or have high levels of background noise, and in its distribution as fibre is used to transmit content around large buildings. Bosch’s Praesideo Public Address and Emergency Sound System utilizes fibre to be conveniently located wherever it is needed and includes the ability to split a network into 28 digital channels allowing sound, messaging and background music to be delivered to a virtually unlimited number of zones. Martijn van Overveld of Bosch Security Systems: “The system can be connected to fire-detection and automatic flight-information systems. It has built-in automatic volume control to ensure that loudspeaker volume remains at comfortable levels regardless of the surrounding noise. A delay feature prevents audible echo, to ensure that speech remains intelligible even when heard simultaneously through several loudspeakers located at different distances from the listener.†A full all-digital PA and emergency sound system Praesideo system has recently been installed in Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport
It is apparent that there is significant opportunity and scope for the integration of audiovisual systems in all aspects of the transportation sector and even more for the deployment of exciting, new techniques in the future, although in each case this must be tempered with a need to operate according to a financially sound and justifiable business model; models that are only slowly becoming apparent and proven. There is sufficient technological capability around to meet those requirements with ease as they become clear.