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Large LCD screens can be found on the train, at the railway station and in railway control rooms. Recently, January 9, 2009, the Indian Western Railways announced that they may install 4,000 large panel LCD screens in 67 trains. The LCD screens will soon be installed by an OOH media company who'll earn revenue from the advertisement on the screens and Western Railways will get a license fee of Rs 7 Crore (approx. US$1.75M) per year for the duration of the contract (which is 5 years). These LCD screens will play a mix of entertainment, information and advertising for 18 hours per day in most trains. LCD screens can be within the railway stations. Trivandrum Central, the biggest railway station in the state of Kerala in India, is considered “swanky” by most visitors consequently LCD flat screen televisions adding to the entire look and feel 807532-001.
However the LCD display needs for these railway displays are usually similar. Below we outline key needs of LCD screens for railways:
Price: Price is an important criteria however many OOH media companies, for their detriment, usually buy the lowest priced LCD screen designed for certain format size. Railways require rugged closed LCD displays. Buying cheap LCD displays or LCD TVs which are not closed boxes, may bring about premature failure of the screen.
Ruggedness and 24x7 Operation Capability: LCD screens for railways must be rugged. Because of this, it is essential to own LCD informational displays vs. LCD TVs as LCD informational displays are fan-less closed box units that may offer protection from dust and other contaminants. Further LCD informational displays are manufactured for 24x7 operation while LCD TVs are manufactured for limited viewing. Ruggedness and life of the LCD screen is essential to reduce failures of the LCD screens. LCD failures may cause inconvenience to passengers and may disrupt traffic flow at railway stations.
Network Capability: Be sure that the LCD screen has RS-232 and LAN network connectivity. The network connectivity provides for remote monitoring of the many LCD screens. Alarms can be set if an LCD screen is powered down or when it is not working. Power and other controls can be monitored remotely. Like, an energy saving feature can be activated so that if you find no signal, an electric save mode is activated to reduce the brightness of the LCD backlight.
Picture Quality: Most large LCDs are high definition. Hd LCDs provide better picture resolution, better contrast ratio, high brightness, high colour reproduction and fast response time resulting in better picture clarity. Hd, high brightness and high contrast ratio are important features for LCDs to own in railway environment for easy picture viewing. Further, the non glare feature of LCDs allows for easy viewing in ambient light or where there's background light being reflected on the screen. Most new LCDs have 176° viewing angle, making it easy for viewing. Check the viewing specifications to ensure meets your quality requirements
Slow-scan (legacy) Signal Capability: If the LCD screens are now being installed in the old chassis of the old CRT television or in a combined network of CRT televisions and LCD displays, the LCD screen must be slow-scan legacy signal compatible.
New LCD screen features are continuously emerging. Seek advice from the LCD screen manufacturer to master about new features. Read other articles and make the right decision for your LCD purchase.
Shaikh Mohammed Meraj is a complex writer who writes articles about LCD technology, LCD Monitors Review etc. and help to locate “what” to buy through aggregating expert reviews, user reviews, buyers guides, thoughts and questions and answers from a crowd of trusted people and sites 807532-001.