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Innovative digital signage solutions in Vienna’s Shopping City Süd (SCS)
Going shopping is a popular activity and not just for women. Large shopping centers with cinemas, restaurants, pubs and cafés are attractive social meeting points. Vienna’s Shopping City Süd – SCS for short – is a pioneer in this field. Established in 1976 and covering a total area of over 850,000 square meters, it is one of Europe’s longest-running and largest shopping centers. The center includes the SCS Shopping Mall, the SCS Multiplex cinema, a Swedish furniture company, the SCS Motorcity, various specialist retailers, a hotel and the Sale City Süd. Shopping City Süd attracts 25 million visitors a year – that makes 76,000 per day.
In September 2006 EPAMEDIA, Austria’ s biggest outdoor advertising company, launched a digital signage system in the SCS. The installation of this innovative digital advertising format at the point of sale was finished at the end of March 2007. Mitsubishi Electric delivered the more than 200 LCD displays placed in this system.
330 shops with a total sales floor area of 173,000 square meters and 4,500 employees await visitors to the SCS. Shoppers can wander along two kilometers of elegant promenades and see a total of three kilometers of shop windows. In the process, they also splashed out a billion euros last year.
Consumer research has shown that a large proportion of the purchasing decisions are made directly at point of sale (POS). This makes delivering target-oriented information to potential customers all the more important.
Providing the customer with the right information at the right time is the primary function of the digital signage system now operating at the SCS.
Digital signage guarantees a special shopping experience
High modularity (i.e. individual combination and configuration possibilities), networkability and the all-important image quality were the key selection criteria for the system displays. The decision went in favor of Mitsubishi Electric’s LCD monitors. Installation at the SCS began in September last year with 20 Mitsubishi LCD displays providing information and orientation at the newly opened Sale City Süd building complex. Now the SCS has over 200 Mitsubishi LCD displays in different sizes and configurations. They broadcast a mix of up-to-date news, traffic information, upcoming events, advertising and new daily offers.
Precisely targeted information on 200 Mitsubishi LCD displays
The system installed in Shopping City Süd is made up of ceiling- and floor-mounted displays. The bulk of the ceiling-mounted modules consists of back-to-back combinations using two MDT402S models. 80 of these displays hang at 20-meter intervals, providing a leitmotif through the shopping arcades. They alternate with floor-mounted tower displays featuring LDT371V and MDT461S models. These tower displays can be found in three different configurations at the SCS (types A, B and C). Type A towers consist of three LDT371V monitors arranged on top of each other in portrait format.
Type B towers are made up of eight MDT461S LCD monitors stacked in pairs. Type C towers, on the other hand, consist of three MDT461S LCD monitors stacked in portrait format. The latter not only provide information but also help decorate the SCS.
For the approximately 300 businesses in the main buildings of the SCS Shopping Mall, advertising is the most interesting application of the displays. Advertising and other relevant information can be adapted to the needs of the visitors and the wishes of the advertisers and precisely targeted according to the day of the week, the time of day and the area of the building. The content on most of the ceiling-mounted LCD displays (half advertising and half news or customer information) changes every hour. The content management system was developed especially for the SCS project by the Austrian communication experts Krautzer Lynn. The content is dynamic, strikingly designed and always up-to-date. It is fed and directed to all 233 Mitsubishi LCD monitors via central servers in the control room. The content management system allows absolute control of the content shown on every single monitor in the SCS. Currently there are 45 video players transmitting the data. The new system delivers excellent image quality even in brightly lit environments. Thanks to their high resolution, the monitors offer clear and brilliant images even from close up.
Installation process and participating companies
In August 2006 EPAMEDIA reached an agreement with the SCS concerning the installation of a new digital signage solution. EPAMEDIA commissioned system integrator VS Veranstaltungstechnik und Eventmarketing Johannes Fickenscher KG from Nuremberg to install the hardware. The Austrian company Krautzer Lynn was asked to put together and operate the software for the management and regulation of screen content. The contract for approximately 200 LCD monitors went to Mitsubishi Electric Europe B. V.
Installation work began in the fall of 2006 in the new Sale City Süd complex and was completed in the spring of 2007. An extension of the system to the “Attraction Area” is already in planning.
The Mitsubishi LCD public displays used in the project:
Ceiling: 156 x 40 inch (viewable) LCD displays
model MDT402S
- 40 inch viewable screen size; 16:9 LCD displays
- Contrast ratio: 1,000:1
- Image brightness: 450 cd/m²
- Response time: 8 ms
- Native WXGA resolution (1,366 x 768 Pixels)
Floor: LDT371V and MDT461S in three different configurations (types A, B, C)
LDT371V
- 37 inch viewable screen size; 16:9 LCD displays
- Contrast ratio: 1,200:1
- Image brightness: 500 cd/m²
- Response time: 6 ms
- Native WXGA resolution (1,366 x 768 Pixels)
MDT461S
- 37 inch viewable screen size; 16:9 LCD displays
- Contrast ratio: 800:1
- Image brightness: 450 cd/m²
- Response time: 8 ms
- Native WXGA resolution (1,366 x 768 Pixels)
Mitsubishi LCD public displays
The Mitsubishi range of display monitor sizes includes 32”, 37”, 40”, 42” and 46” screens equipped with anti-glare panel surfaces and DVI-D (HDCP) input. The HD-compatible LCD public displays have been specifically developed for professional use and are deployed as a medium for digital advertising and information broadcasting at shopping centers, banks, airports and train stations as well as trade fairs and exhibition halls. The monitors’ contrast ratios range from 800:1 to 1,500:1. All the LCD public displays come with a native WXGA resolution of 1,366 x 768 Pixels. Thanks to the high contrast and resolution and a brightness of up to 500 cd/m² they deliver sharp, crystal-clear images even in bright environments or difficult lighting situations. They are excellently suited to multi-screen operation (vertical or horizontal combination of several monitors). All the LCD display models can display 16.7 million colours and are characterized by fast response times. This allows even the fast movement of picture sequences, real-time images and tickers to flow smoothly on the screen.
The LCD public displays are equipped with a multitude of functions that ensure the optimization and adjustment of the image quality. A screen saver is included to help guarantee the monitor’s longevity. A scheduling function is also available to automatically turn the power on and off or preset the signal sources for individual week days. Computers and VCR/DVD players can be used as input sources. Gamma and black levels can be individually adjusted to optimize image quality in different light environments. Colour accuracy and saturation can also be adjusted according to the spatial and technical conditions.
The image framing possibilities include zoom, Picture-in-Picture and a side border colour function for images that are not in the 16:9 full screen mode. Adjusting the background colour helps to avoid the typical black border that appears when displaying light-coloured images. Viewers can enjoy optimal image quality from a viewing angle of up to 89 degrees (vertical and horizontal).
- Case study SCS, Vienna (73.00 KB)
