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DSE: See-through display showing the way for retail digital signage?

STRATACACHE's Chris Riegel called the PrimaSee display an example of where retail digital signage is headed.

February 28, 2011 by Christopher Hall — w, t

STRATACACHE created some chatter at this year's Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas when it unveiled PrimaSee, a new translucent digital signage display.

STRATACACHE CEO Chris Riegel said the translucent display, intended for retail, grocery and c-store environments, is new to the marketplace but also a signpost for the direction digital signage needs to head.

PrimaSee showcases high-definition, dynamic video advertisements embedded in a see-through glass panel. These translucent promotional videos would correspond with products visible behind the displays, say in a grocer's freezer aisle, to convey point-of-purchase or point-of-decision brand messages.

(STRATACACHE also highlighted at the show its ActiVia for Media Audio Edition for driving in-store audio and its gestural mannequin displays for retail, which allow shoppers to view models or mannequins with different clothes with the swipe of a hand.)

The PrimaSee system, though, was what appeared to draw most of the attention. PrimaSee could be used in embedded retail environments, retail fixtures or architectural glass, he said.

So is the display basically an LCD without a black background? Sort of.

"Effectively it's an LCD technology, (but) the base nature of the screen is different than you'd have in a normal LCD, both because of the background and then the color masks and other things that go into translucency," Riegel said. "But in basic prospect, yes, same kind of idea."

The content for a translucent panel also has to be different, as is the way it is lit, but the technology of the display isn't the most important aspect of it, he said.

"I think the most important thing is that it shows an example of — if you look at all the digital signage in the show, too much of it is bolt-on, things that you can tell in a retail environment or a customer service environment after the fact," he said.

"This is a prime example of where the digital signage industry needs to move, which is integrating the digital experience into that consumer experience so that it's seamless for that customer and helps to transform or change an existing experience. Everybody can understand going to the freezer in the grocery store, going to the cooler at the convenience store. How do I integrate media into that environment ... to have digital media help that experience?"