This year’s show was indeed another year of technical achievement and innovation from the Future Software development teams showcasing our core digital signage product DigiSHOW now in its 12th year, proved a success with multi display synchronisation, instant ticker update, live IPTV and external data source integration and our new SDIX product to name just some of the features on display.

The all new DigiSHOW SDIX media player saw its first showing at IBC this year and was well received. The DigiSHOW SDIX range of media play out includes some high end features but at an attractive price point. The feature highlights include HD or SD SDI output, seamless back to back play out of clips, configurable up to 5 channels of output, accurate synchronisation across output channels, remote control, monitoring, built in TFT screen, keyboard and roller ball. These features alone make the DigiSHOW SDIX an attractive proposition for Broadcast events and high end digital signage applications.

Also new at the show was the first showing of Version 3.7 of the DigiSHOW play out and control software for professional and enterprise digital signage markets. Our key display was four screens using four DigiSHOW ActiveSIGN’s which synchronised the playback of stills, flash and movies to produce a seamless display. This feature can be expanded to include more than four displays. Also on show was IPTV live video sources and regular updates from live data feeds via the internet. We were also able to demonstrate the speed at which messages and content could be updated within seconds using our flexible and easy to use interface. While this feature alone is not new, it did prove a winner just to see your name on screen so quickly!

Behind the scenes we were able to demonstrate the power of the Matrox Veos graphics extension product being powered by a DigiSHOW solution to 3 screens that were well over 150m distant with perfect picture quality and original picture resolution. The power and flexibility of this product should not be underestimated when considering large building deployments.

We also had on show an AOpen Atom powered digital engine. While a lot of people seemed unsure by the choice of Atom processor, our DigiSHOW software showed a full range of media playback including smooth ticker and “green factors” that make this product with DigiSHOW software an ideal choice for digital signage solution requiring play out at point of display.

A very good show with lots more on offer from Future Software and DigiSHOW, to find out more please get in touch here, or on the link below to arrange a time or call +44 (0)1628 829 811 now, and we’ll be happy to discuss with you how we can help with your next project or deployment.

View from the newbie working for a small but perfectly experienced manufacturer at the largest broadcast show outside the USA., IBC 2009.

Well the show all went rather well really! We arrived... we set up... we got loads of high quality leads...we survived the five days...and nights in Amsterdam and we came home again!!! What more do you want from a show? I think the worst part was when we got back and the boss announced...”Well now - this is where the hard work starts!” try telling my aching feet that!

So, what happened at the show? We introduced the latest update to our software, version 3.7 and we also showed our newest broadcast product, the DigiSHOW SDIX, that we have recently supplied to ‘a well known broadcaster’. The SDIX allows SDI and HD SDI playback, with field level synchronisation of up to five outputs, so you can’t see the join.

At IBC we were able to spend time with each visitor, giving them the benefit of the twenty plus years that we have been developing software and more importantly, as we were in the Digital Signage Zone, the twelve years we have been supplying our digital signage product range for. What was Digital Signage called all those years ago?

As a newbie myself, in this marketplace anyway, it was interesting to see people’s reactions when we showed them how easy it was to use our product. Users do not need to use some strange programming language, they can just drag and drop as they do with most of their existing Windows based products. The rich feature set and true flexibility of the product seemed to impress those who stopped by at our booth – using DigiSHOW we showed four screens with synchronised output, nice smooth tickers and samples of our existing clients usage. Being able to show IPTV, over the IBC broadband, onto numerous 46” screens in the DS Zone certainly helped.

One of the hot topics of IBC this year was 3D, and yes there were some fine exponents of the art, with butterflies flying out of the screen towards you, with no need for those strange glasses. It looked great if you were in the right position, but is it the best way to impart information? It’s a great attention grabber, so maybe for advertising signage it has a place but in these difficult times do people really have the budgets to spend on those type of luxuries?

There was also a lot of talk at IBC about Software as a Service (SaaS) where a company hosts all the data for their client, and sends the content that needs to be on display over the internet to each display live. We find that the majority of our clients like to have full control over their content, so all the data is stored on their network, within their firewall, and under all their security controls. It is not stored somewhere...anywhere by a third party company that impose monthly fees usually with monthly usage limits. We have heard that if the system is managed by a third party any changes will have to be uploaded to the third party company before they can manipulate them and send them back over the internet to update the displays. If a DigiSHOW user wants to change something, they can – there and then, immediately if necessary, all controlled via Windows desktop from their existing network.

For added robustness, DigiSHOW works in such a way, that even if the internet and/or the network goes down, the displays will continue playing the individual playlist that is allocated to that display, as it is all stored locally.

...So to keep the boss off my back – please give me, Tom, a call to discuss your digital signage needs, ideas, comments and questions on +44 (0) 1628 829 811