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    <title>Tetrad Digital Signage</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/" />
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    <id>tag:www.tetraddigital.ca,2009-08-14:/1</id>
    <updated>2010-08-19T01:10:09Z</updated>
    
    <generator uri="http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/">Movable Type Pro 4.3-en</generator>

<entry>
    <title>Right content for the right context</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/08/right-content-for-the-right-context.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigital.ca,2010://1.44</id>

    <published>2010-08-19T00:40:06Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-19T01:10:09Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[Short post, but we thought it to be an&nbsp;interesting&nbsp;expose&nbsp;that surfaced from our creative team's brainstorm with the latest project, so we are sharing.When you plan your network, your displays your 'strategy' - do you consider that different screens may be...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="contentstrategy" label="content strategy" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignagecontent" label="digital signage content" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[Short post, but we thought it to be an&nbsp;interesting&nbsp;expose&nbsp;that surfaced from our creative team's brainstorm with the latest project, so we are sharing.<div><br /></div><div>When you plan your network, your displays your 'strategy' - do you consider that different screens may be serving audiences in varying 'contexts' and thus varying attention spans or interest levels?</div><div><br /></div><div>Take a&nbsp;corporate&nbsp;communication example:&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>In the&nbsp;elevator&nbsp;the visitor is stuck for at least 15 seconds and has&nbsp;time to ingest only a short news clip, weather or a narrative of a corp&nbsp;communication&nbsp;piece.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a boardroom or front reception, the audience&nbsp;spends longer time and is&nbsp;more receptive to longer&nbsp;corporate&nbsp;narratives&nbsp;or&nbsp;possibly&nbsp;a full 'headline news' reel. The viewers&nbsp;can&nbsp;even&nbsp;divide their attention between&nbsp;various information that may be segmented on a screen with multiple content layers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Conversely, in the&nbsp;hallways of the building&nbsp;or in a&nbsp;busy foyer, visitors can likely only catch a few seconds of the screen content, leaving room for only 3-5 second branding spots...</div><div><br /></div><div>In these three examples, the content&nbsp;strategy&nbsp;(type,&nbsp;duration, length, level of detail) should be different among all 3 'zones'. The long reception and meeting room spots won't work in hallways or high traffic areas. The Quick hallway spot will look rushed in the boardroom.</div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously the content can be re-used&nbsp;and repurposed between the 3 areas (to keep costs down) but it does need to be altered to be most effective.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>The Cost of Saving Money</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/07/the-cost-of-saving-money.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.43</id>

    <published>2010-07-21T22:44:32Z</published>
    <updated>2010-07-26T18:34:22Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[Redundancy, disaster recovery and planning for failure - how much do you pay attention these terms in your attempts to squeeze out every ounce of cost from the project? If not much, do so at your peril.&nbsp;While we ALWAYS try...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="backup" label="backup" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="failure" label="failure" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="menuboards" label="menu boards" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="redundancy" label="redundancy" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigitalsignage.com/assets_c/2010/07/IMG_4381-130.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/07/IMG_4381-130.html','popup','width=1600,height=1200,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/07/IMG_4381-thumb-230x172-130.jpg" width="230" height="172" alt="Screen Fail (Licks Burgers)" title="Clearly, someone didn't plan for failure." class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a><div>Redundancy, disaster recovery and planning for failure - how much do you pay attention these terms in your attempts to squeeze out every ounce of cost from the project? If not much, do so at your peril.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>While we ALWAYS try to analyze all possible failure points and resulting consequences with our customers we are always so very surprised when cusotmers seem to have almost no interest in doing the same (or paying for an adequate solution addressing these). Why? No idea, especially considering that it's their business we are looking out for.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's take menu boards for example. You would think these are pretty mission critical items, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>When our sales guys come begging to me to remove $900 or so dollars it costs to add a second player to a dual menu-board configuration promising to close a major deal, our tech desk strongly opposes.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>We don't do menus with a single player. It's just not bulletproof.</div><div><br /></div><div>Consider what happens if one of the players or screens die, for whatever reason: dust, heat, vandalism, whatever. You have no menus!&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Even the best of SLA's is not sufficient to get you back up and running in an acceptable time... How much money have you lost in the process? How much confusion would this cause with your customers? I bet it will exceed the money you saved by running an extended desktop, single license/player set-up with no failure plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a dual menu set-up, we always recommend an emergency playlist that combines all essential elements of the menu on a single display. If one player/display fails, the back-up menu playlist can be urgently deployed while the issue is resolved. Total downtime is minutes, not hours or days.</div> ]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Our digital tags photographed in the Toronto Star</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/05/our-digital-tags-get-in-the-starcom.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.42</id>

    <published>2010-05-18T00:38:54Z</published>
    <updated>2010-07-26T18:37:23Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[In&nbsp;process of&nbsp;trying out new&nbsp;business&nbsp;models, we recently started offering rental options for the&nbsp;wearable&nbsp;digital tags&nbsp;we typically re-sell only.&nbsp;Before you know it they got in the paper! Very small image (see the tag above the button), but we thought it was neat that...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="toronto" label="toronto" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/blogcontents/Digital%20Tag.jpeg"><img alt="Digital Tag.jpeg" src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/05/Digital Tag-thumb-350x230-125.jpeg" width="350" height="230" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a>In&nbsp;process of&nbsp;trying out new&nbsp;business&nbsp;models, we recently started offering rental options for the&nbsp;<b>wearable&nbsp;digital tags</b>&nbsp;we typically re-sell only.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>Before you know it they<a href="http://www.thestar.com/yourcitymycity/article/801814--ttc-gets-an-earful-from-angry-riders"> got in the paper</a>! Very small image (see the tag above the button), but we thought it was neat that the TTC Rider's&nbsp;committee&nbsp;(who rented them for internal use) got photographed in the Star!<div><br /></div><div>If you are looking to make an impact at your event, trade show or other&nbsp;function&nbsp;these wearable&nbsp;media players are a great way to get noticed and start the conversation. Also ideal for retail application to deliver promotional information at point of purchase.</div><div><br /></div><div>We now rent them for special promotions and events!<br /><div><br /></div></div></div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Video Wall Made Easy (well, easier)</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/03/video-wall-made-easy-well-easier-1.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.41</id>

    <published>2010-03-27T17:38:23Z</published>
    <updated>2010-03-27T18:04:06Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[Building video walls has long been a heavy-lifting project. Not only&nbsp;precise&nbsp;expertise were required for a very finicky AV portion of the set-up but heavy construction muscle was a must for the install. Walls often needed to be reinforced, special mounting...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="retaildigitalsignage" label="retail digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="samsung" label="samsung" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="videowall" label="video wall" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[Building video walls has long been a heavy-lifting project. Not only&nbsp;precise&nbsp;expertise were required for a very finicky AV portion of the set-up but heavy construction muscle was a must for the install. Walls often needed to be reinforced, special mounting brackets created and the in some cases full reno permits were required.<div><br /></div><img alt="SamsungID.jpeg" src="http://www.tetraddigitalsignage.com/images/features_02%5B1239632751117product%5D.jpeg" width="271" height="140" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /><div>Thankfully the new SamsungID video wall solution at least removes the hardware complexity for those installs that can be deployed w/in 2ft of floor-level. (In other words a jumbotron-like video wall is still a huge undertaking to install, but in-window, floor display and most&nbsp;common&nbsp;configurations are now a breeze.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Now one comment would be that despite Samsung's&nbsp;promise&nbsp;to solve the video wall problem with their own software and a 'single cable to connect' that has been slightly&nbsp;oversimplified.&nbsp;Even Samsung's high-priced UD software (also&nbsp;available&nbsp;from the OEM Hiperwal) isn't exactly single-cable or turnkey by any&nbsp;stretch&nbsp;of imagination.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, although we would not encourage our customers to attempt to run this puppy via a single AV cable, we do really enjoy the new Lego-like ease of&nbsp;hardware&nbsp;install made possible with the SamsungID solution. Thank you!</div><div>&nbsp;</div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Flavor of the Month</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/02/flavor-of-the-month.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.38</id>

    <published>2010-02-07T14:33:28Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:43:33Z</updated>

    <summary>We were delighted to find out that iBizBook decided to feature us as February&apos;s &quot;Business of the Month!&quot; iBizBook is an interesting online community that definitely helped us connect with new clients and created new leads. We encourage all companies...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="toronto" label="toronto" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/02/100204-0001-113.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/02/100204-0001-113.html','popup','width=327,height=244,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/02/100204-0001-thumb-150x111-113.png" width="150" height="111" alt="100204-0001.png" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a><div>We were delighted to find out that iBizBook decided to feature us as February's "Business of the Month!" iBizBook is an interesting online community that definitely helped us connect with new clients and created new leads. We encourage all companies to get involved in similar online business exchanges.</div><div><br /></div><div>BizBook is an online community that lets businesses and consumers connect for free.</div><div><br /></div><div>"We live in a new economy an economy based on trust. We just don't trust advertisers and marketers, anymore, instead we trust our friends. iBizBook lets you connect with real businesses and real consumers for real conversations and savings."</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks iBizBook -&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ibizbook.com/live/">http://www.ibizbook.com/live/</a></div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Digital Signage brings versatility to automotive displays</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/02/digital-signage-brings-versatility-to-automotive-displays.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.39</id>

    <published>2010-02-04T20:48:02Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:46:29Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[Strolling&nbsp;through the ACC before Tuesday's game we snapped a few photos of the Ford Exhibits. What struck us as&nbsp;interesting&nbsp;was that less than one week prior, these displays displayed an entirely different set of cars. If the display used&nbsp;conventional&nbsp;signage and vinyl...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="aircanadacenter" label="air canada center" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="automotivedigitalsignage" label="automotive digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignagecontent" label="digital signage content" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignagehardware" label="digital signage hardware" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/02/photo-116.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/02/photo-116.html','popup','width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/02/photo-thumb-150x112-116.jpg" width="150" height="112" alt="ACCford_exhibit.jpg" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a>Strolling&nbsp;through the ACC before Tuesday's game we snapped a few photos of the Ford Exhibits. What struck us as&nbsp;interesting&nbsp;was that less than one week prior, these displays displayed an entirely different set of cars. If the display used&nbsp;conventional&nbsp;signage and vinyl graphics, there&nbsp;would&nbsp;have been considerable work involved to switch the displayed vehicle and rebrand the display. By using digital to deliver model-specific information to the audience, it was considerably easier to switch the exhibit around for a new car.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>This is an important factor for dealership owners. By using digital signage to promote vehicles on the showroom floor, the dealership is no longer tied to a particular layout or arrangement of vehicles. Instead the messaging can be easily adjusted based on models in&nbsp;available&nbsp;inventory.<br /><div><br /></div><div>We only wish the screens at the ACC were bigger. Imagine a 57" in place of that 42"? Impact&nbsp;would have been exponentially magnified.</div><div><br /></div></div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Is Digital Signage a Green Strategy?</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/02/is-digital-signage-a-green-strategy.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.37</id>

    <published>2010-02-01T21:28:06Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:47:51Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[We are an increasing environmentally-aware world. As our&nbsp;clients become&nbsp;increasingly&nbsp;aware of environmental&nbsp;responsibility&nbsp;they carry, they ask for more ways their signage and marketing can be 'greener' or 'eco-friendly'. Becoming more&nbsp;cognizant&nbsp;of the&nbsp;tremendous waste generated from printing and marketing&nbsp;collateral our clients are&nbsp;increasingly&nbsp;asking if Digital...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="carbon" label="carbon" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="ecofriendly" label="eco-friendly" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="greensignage" label="green signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<div>We are an increasing environmentally-aware world. As our&nbsp;clients become&nbsp;increasingly&nbsp;aware of environmental&nbsp;responsibility&nbsp;they carry, they ask for more ways their signage and marketing can be 'greener' or 'eco-friendly'. Becoming more&nbsp;cognizant&nbsp;of the&nbsp;tremendous waste generated from printing and marketing&nbsp;collateral our clients are&nbsp;increasingly&nbsp;asking if Digital Signage is a solutions to a greener marketing and communication strategy.</div><div><br /></div><div>To&nbsp;address&nbsp;these questions we prepared a brief .pdf titled&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/images/IsDigitalSignageGreen.pdf">IsDigitalSignageGreen?</a>.&nbsp;We hope it will help us to easily&nbsp;explain&nbsp;the eco-benefits of adopting a digital signage strategy and showcase what we do to ensure our solutions are as&nbsp;environmentally&nbsp;responsible&nbsp;as possible.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>We are excited about the amount of attention environmental aspects of signage is receiving and encourage everyone to pay more&nbsp;attention&nbsp;to the environmental aspects of their actions.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div> ]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Haiti Content from Preset Group</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/01/haiti-content-from-preset-group.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.35</id>

    <published>2010-01-27T03:46:55Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:49:07Z</updated>

    <summary>We wanted to thank the folks at Preset Group for creating and freely distributing simple, effective Digital Signage PSAs for the Haiti relief effort. We had a chance to share these with our customers and and received great feedback. Seems...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="advertising" label="advertising" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="psa" label="psa" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/images/PresetPSA.jpg"><img alt="PresetPSA.jpg" src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/01/PresetPSA-thumb-150x270-109.jpg" width="150" height="270" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a><div>We wanted to thank the folks at <a href="http://www.presetgroup.com/">Preset Group</a> for creating and freely distributing simple, effective <a href="http://www.presetgroup.com/downloads/index.html">Digital Signage PSAs</a> for the Haiti relief effort. We had a chance to share these with our customers and and received great feedback. Seems these spots were exactly what many HR departments were looking for to help rally their staff behind the case.</div><div><br /></div><div>Digressing, it's great to see so many Digital Signage companies supporting the aid effort and donating&nbsp;content&nbsp;or space on their networks to promote fundraising. Such instant response is another example of flexibility of digital signage compared to classic "plywood" out of home billboards. Although classic billboard advertisers (Patison, Clear Channel, etc..) often donate space to PSAs in slow booking months, such gestures incur costs and take time to be deployed. Digital Out of Home by contract was able to mobilize almost instantly, taking up the relief cause.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the point of this post, big thanks to the team at Preset!</div> ]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Can you out-shine the Sun?</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/01/can-you-out-shine-the-sun.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.34</id>

    <published>2010-01-16T19:14:46Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:51:02Z</updated>

    <summary>Why use commercial-grade displays when installing outside or street-side?</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignagehardware" label="digital signage hardware" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="toronto" label="toronto" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/01/outdoor-106.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/01/outdoor-106.html','popup','width=600,height=800,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/01/outdoor-thumb-150x200-106.png" width="150" height="200" alt="Outdoor Install" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a>When working with the latest client on an in-window&nbsp;street-facing installation we&nbsp;received&nbsp;much resistance attempting to justify use of&nbsp;commercial&nbsp;LCD's. ...until we took the store manager for a brisk walk on Yonge street. Attached picture was shot on an overcast day, in a relatively shaded window&nbsp;outside&nbsp;the Eaton&nbsp;Centre. Even under these 'optimal daytime conditions' the screens are barely noticeable. (NOTE: We even had to re-upload the picture emphasizing the screens in the picture....)<div><div><br /></div><div>Suddenly the "screen brightness" lesson became clear. (Consumer LCDs typically offer 450 nits brightness, while Commercial DX range from Samsung runs at 700 nits, and the DR range at 1500 nits).</div><div><br /></div><div>For those deploying outside or street-side, here are a few quick notes:</div><div><br /></div><div>1 - Minimum screen brightness&nbsp;should&nbsp;be 700nits, 1000+ is preferred.</div><div>2 - check your spacing from the window. Not enough space and you may have an internal ventilation issue, compounded by heat from direct sunlight.</div><div>3 - Check window orientation and how much sunlight is allowed by&nbsp;surrounding&nbsp;landscape.</div><div>4 - Design content using&nbsp;colors&nbsp;offering highest readability in brght sunlight (our content team made us&nbsp;promise&nbsp;we won't&nbsp;divulge&nbsp;all their secrets, so if you want to know more, please drop them a line)</div><div>5 - PILOT, PILOT, PILOT!</div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div>&nbsp;</div></div></div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Toronto Digital Signage Mixer, January 12, 2010</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2010/01/toronto-digital-signage-mixer-brings-me.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2010://1.33</id>

    <published>2010-01-13T04:42:43Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:52:24Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[ Six Steps Restaurant Lounge, Tuesday January 12, 2010 my first opportunity to show-off TetrAD's new business cards. What a success. Thank you Dmitry @ Samsung for the invite.&nbsp; Hosted at Six Steps, a trendy lounge known for their collection...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="torontodsmixer" label="#torontoDSmixer" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="socialnetworking" label="Social Networking" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/01/IMG_0332-103.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/01/IMG_0332-103.html','popup','width=1600,height=1200,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2010/01/IMG_0332-thumb-200x150-103.jpg" alt="IMG_0332.JPG" class="mt-image-right" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px; float: right;" width="200" height="150" /></a> <div>Six Steps Restaurant Lounge, Tuesday January 12, 2010 my first opportunity to show-off TetrAD's new business cards. What a success. Thank you Dmitry @ Samsung for the invite.&nbsp; <br /><br />Hosted at Six Steps, a trendy lounge known for their collection of wines, event was well on the way by the time I arrived. I was asked to <i>tweet</i> with hash tag: <a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23TorontoDSMixer">#torontoDSmixer</a> during the event, but the mingling caught me the second I stepped in. It was difficult removing my scarf, let alone working the iPhone. <br /><br />Side note: Anyone who's interested in Digital Signage, Dave Haynes is the man to follow.&nbsp; Check out his blog @ <a href="http://www.sixteen-nine.net/">http://www.sixteen-nine.net/</a>. Dave's articles are absolutely worth the RSS feed. <br /><br />Event turned out to be a great opportunity to meet face to face many of the people/companies involved in my past media buys and installations. Putting faces to phone calls and trading business cards with people who sell, design, install, feels encouraging.&nbsp; It's good to know Toronto has so much talent in digital signage space.<br /><br />At the next event, look for me, the guy with the transparent haircut!<br /></div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Digital Signage in the Wild</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2009/11/ds---good-bad-and-ugly.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2009://1.32</id>

    <published>2009-11-27T19:34:47Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:53:41Z</updated>

    <summary>With so many Digital Signage installs sprouting in and around Toronto, we thought we would dedicate a section of our blog to our field research - what&apos;s out there and our thoughts on the quality or execution of the install....</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="automotivedigitalsignage" label="automotive digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="dsinthewild" label="DS in the Wild" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="toronto" label="toronto" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; ">With so many Digital Signage installs sprouting in and around Toronto, we thought we would dedicate a section of our blog to our field research - what's out there and our thoughts on the quality or execution of the install. Tagged "DS in the Wild", this section will bring you a weekly example of real installs in and about Toronto. We hope our&nbsp;observations&nbsp;will help our&nbsp;customers&nbsp;get ideas on what's possible and what to avoid with Digital Signage.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><br /></span></div><a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2009/11/photo-96.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2009/11/photo-96.html','popup','width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2009/11/photo-thumb-150x112-96.jpg" width="150" height="112" alt="LandRover.jpg" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; ">Bellow&nbsp;is the first example: <b>LandRover</b>&nbsp;display&nbsp;outside the National Ballet Building in Downtown Toronto... Prime location, Brand with a rich heritage... and an in-window TV playing commercials!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; ">Why not use window projections,&nbsp;interactivity, anything more than just TV on a stick? Our Advice: Think Big With Digital!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><br /></span></div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Can Digital and Print Co-Exist?</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2009/11/can-digital-and-print-co-exist.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2009://1.28</id>

    <published>2009-11-06T23:23:22Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:55:00Z</updated>

    <summary>I&apos;m a traditional print business, but I want a chunk of this new digital signage market. What do i do? I invent a WAFFiL! What&apos;s a WAFFiL? It&apos;s a Wireless Ad Frames For Interactive Loyalty. &quot;WAFFiL was invented by ScreenWorks...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="mobilemarketing" label="mobile marketing" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="sms" label="sms" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/blogcontents/text-winbud.jpg"><img alt="text-winbud.jpg" src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2009/10/text-winbud-thumb-150x135-90.jpg" class="mt-image-right" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px; float: right;" width="150" height="135" /></a>I'm a traditional print business, but I want a chunk of this new
digital signage market. What do i do? I invent a WAFFiL! What's a
WAFFiL? It's a Wireless Ad Frames For Interactive Loyalty. <br /><br />"WAFFiL was invented by
ScreenWorks Media and is focused on reaching consumers in fun, relaxed
and captive environments. We are the first to build a product that
wraps around the perimeter of a plasma or LCD television that utilizes
otherwise dead space as marketing opportunities."<br /><br />In
shorthand, it's a cintra board wrap for LCD displays that can be used
for printed advertisements or 3rd party mobile marketing via SMS short
codes. Although this product would not suit ad-based networks (diluting
the value of existing screen real estate), it may have a place in bars
and hockey arenas where screens primarily broadcast games and TV
content. Unfortunately, as a 3rd party ad-on, the WAFFiL has no ability
to integrate with on-screen content trough SMS services such as
<a href="http://www.polleverywhere.com/">poll everywhere</a> or the like.&nbsp; <br />
<br />
Still, it caught our attention, so best of luck to the product with a funny name!<br />]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>News Update!</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2009/11/news-update.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2009://1.27</id>

    <published>2009-11-05T12:10:01Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:56:00Z</updated>

    <summary>Are you using weather and news content on your digital signage? Do you know where this info comes from and is it licensed? Apparently that may or may not matter... Confused? Although we use only licensed data feeds in our...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignagecontent" label="digital signage content" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/blogcontents/registered.jpg"><img alt="registered.jpg" src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2009/10/registered-thumb-150x150-88.jpg" class="mt-image-right" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px; float: right;" width="100" height="100" /></a>Are you using weather and news content on your digital signage? Do you know where this info comes from and is it licensed? Apparently that may or may not matter... Confused?<br />
<br />
Although we use only licensed data feeds in our installs, many players in the industry do not. After-all, it's easy to pull an RSS feed from CBC.ca or the like and re-format the data for the screens. While there are great paid options (such as <a href="http://www.screenfeed.com/">ScreenFeed</a> and <a href="http://www.accuweather.com/">AccuWeather</a>), many small companies prefer to save a buck or two it would cost to use the paid service. Are they committing piracy?<br />
<br />
Apparently it's not clear, says Lorraine Fleck, an IP lawyer and trademark agent.<br />
<br />
"There are potential exceptions to copyright infringement in the current Copyright Act under the fair dealing provisions concerning news reporting that may apply to digital signage and news reporting in the absence of other agreements, such as the CBC's T's &amp; C's, provided certain conditions are met. However, the Canadian government is looking at reforming the <i>Copyright Act</i>, so the legal landscape may change in the future. The government just<br /><div class="im">
finished a consultation so it's anyone's guess at this point as to how the law will change."<br />
<br />
This tells us 2 things: T's &amp; C's of RSS feeds are instrumental in the legality of the data and none of this matters as we wait for one of the the oldest piece of IP legislation in the developed world to be reviewed. (The Canadian copyright act has not seen review since 1997, "<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/download-decade/ottawa-gets-tough-with-illegal-downloaders/article40764/">four years before the introduction of the iPod.</a>" </div><div class="im"><br />
It's interesting to note that CBC does have an official stance on use of their RSS content in digital signage: networks must pay - there's even a public price list, per screen, in volume tiered pricing.<br />
<br />
Complicating the issue is the difficulty of policing the use of web RSS content in digital signs. Since digital signage software often uses an HTML page to format and present the RSS info, the result looks just as a web-page to the source of the feed. In fact, sometimes it's indistinguishable from a typical web page, save for larger than normal font size!<br />
<br />
Where does tetrAD stand in this legalese landscape of free, unpoliced or uncertain? We believe its not just legal requirements that drive us to use licensed content. Our main concern is reliability and quality. When you are paying for content, you are notified when the feed address or properties change. When you are 'appropriating' a free RSS feed, your only notification is a blank screen or an error message. Do you want an error message associated with your brand onscreen? We don't!<br />
<br />
If you have any more questions on legal issues surrounding the<i> Copyright Act</i>, (we certainly do) Lorraine can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:lorraine@fleckfirm.com" target="_blank">lorraine@fleckfirm.com</a> or <a href="http://www.ipaddressblog.com/" target="_blank">www.ipaddressblog.com</a> . We are not responsible for any legal fees though! </div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>High-Impact Video Wall?</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2009/10/high-impact-video-wall.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2009://1.30</id>

    <published>2009-10-27T21:20:16Z</published>
    <updated>2010-08-03T17:57:33Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[Planning a video wall in your store? Consider the following musings. An average 3×3 video wall requires a minimum of $20-25K hardware investment (assuming&nbsp; costs of premium-priced thin-bezel displays). Installation costs are high as well. Let's peg the total at...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignagecontent" label="digital signage content" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="digitalsignagehardware" label="digital signage hardware" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="retaildigitalsignage" label="retail digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2009/10/sony-92.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2009/10/sony-92.html','popup','width=600,height=800,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/assets_c/2009/10/sony-thumb-150x200-92.jpg" alt="sony.jpg" class="mt-image-right" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px; float: right;" width="150" height="200" /></a>Planning a video wall in your store? Consider the following musings. An average 3×3 video wall requires a minimum of $20-25K hardware investment (assuming&nbsp; costs of premium-priced thin-bezel displays). Installation costs are high as well. Let's peg the total at a moderate $30,0000. Where is content cost in all this? Often completely ignored.<br /><br />Attached example from Sony retail store (to which hardware costs would have been significantly lower than those of a typical end user) illustrates how inadequate content planning can diminish the great impact potential of a video wall. For comparison, see <a href="http://www.sixteen-nine.net/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=924:microsofts-first-retail-presence-a-great-show-of-whats-possible-when-screens-are-planned-in-from-the-start-&amp;catid=1:latest-news&amp;Itemid=50">HERE</a> for a beautiful video wall example from newly launched Microsoft store... Any 15 ft of wall space of the Microsoft's 2-high video wall would have carried a similar hardware cost, yet yielding multiple-times the visual impact. The difference is content!<br /><br />The moral: don't settle for .JPGs on your high-impact video walls!<br /><br /><br />]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Toronto Digital Signage Mixer is back on!</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/2009/10/toronto-digital-signage-mixer-is-back-on.html" />
    <id>tag:www.tetraddigitalsignage.com,2009://1.29</id>

    <published>2009-10-26T16:11:18Z</published>
    <updated>2009-10-26T16:33:55Z</updated>

    <summary><![CDATA[Dmitry Sokolov from Ingram Micro just sent out some great news: Toronto Digital Signage mixer is back on for November!&nbsp; This month's event is sponsored by Samsung, details from the invite are below:Toronto's Digital Signage Mixer - November 17thJoin us...]]></summary>
    <author>
        <name>Tetrad Digital Signage</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="digitalsignage" label="digital signage" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="event" label="event" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="mixer" label="mixer" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="samsung" label="samsung" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="toronto" label="toronto" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.tetraddigital.ca/">
        <![CDATA[Dmitry Sokolov from Ingram Micro just sent out some great news: Toronto Digital Signage mixer is back on for November!&nbsp; This month's event is sponsored by Samsung, details from the invite are below:<br /><br />Toronto's Digital Signage Mixer - November 17th<br /><br />Join us on November 17th at 6:30 for the Toronto Digital Signage Mixer event. As always, mixer takes place at Six Steps Restaurant &amp; Lounge. Note that due to scheduling conflicts, this will be the only Fall'09 Mixer. Don't miss out.<br /><br />We encourage that you also invite your technical staff to get an opportunity to see the latest products from Samsung.<br /><br />Please feel free to invite anyone you see to be a good fit for this event. Remember your business cards, great ideas and enthusiasm!<br /><br />RSVP (<a href="mailto:dmitry.sokolov@ingrammicro.ca">EDIT:to Dmitry's attention</a>) is not required, but strongly encouraged!<br /><br />Address:<br /><br />Six Steps Restaurant &amp; Lounge<br />55 Colborne Street<br />T - 416.504.4800<br />F - 416.504.4880<br /><a href="http://sixstepsrestaurant.com/">http://sixstepsrestaurant.com/</a>&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;<br /><br />Below are links to Dave Hayne's reports on past mixers. <br /><br /><b>Past Mixers</b><br /><br /><a href="http://sixstepsrestaurant.com/">http://www.sixteen-nine.net/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=600:mixer-report&amp;catid=1:latest-news&amp;Itemid=50</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.sixteen-nine.net/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=483:mixer-review-march-10&amp;catid=1:latest-news&amp;Itemid=50">http://www.sixteen-nine.net/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=483:mixer-review-march-10&amp;catid=1:latest-news&amp;Itemid=50</a><br /><br />]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

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