Looking around the DSE show floor, there was lots of eye candy, but also some new announcements. To begin my hodgepodge of products, let me start with the nuts and bolts, or should I say cables.

Cables To Go announced three products at a press conference given by Garry Dukes, director of Marketing for Lastar, Cables To Go’s parent company. The company is now making available its TruLink AV over Cat5, which extends VGA and audio signals up to 300 and 500 feet over Cat5, Cat5e and Cat6. The company promises no signal degradation. According to Garry Dukes, the the transmitter and receiver are available in interchangeable wall plate or box form factors, giving the user a choice. HDMI over Cat5 using HDbaseT will be available this summer.

The company also announced TruLink HDMI over Coax. It supports a 1080p HDTV signal up to 390 feet over standard RG6, and supports cascading receivers to support up to 24 monitors, the company states.

Finally, the TruLink High Speed HDMI Active Optical Cable (AOC) is available. Dukes says the cable diameter is small and more flexible than copper and eliminates the risk of EMI/RFI. The cable supports 1080p resolution in 10 meter and 20 meter lengths and will soon be available in lengths up to 100 meters, the company states.

Black Box’s Wearable Digital Signage

In one of the more unique applications of digital signage, Black Box Network Services announced wearable digital signage, aptly dubbed the iCOMPEL WDS Wearable Digital Signage Player. The size of a laptop touchpad (2.4 inches), the signage allows up to 2 hour promotions to be download to the device and run. It supports video and jpeg messaging. The battery life is up to 11 hours, and it has 256MB flash memory. Users plug the device into a computer or a USB hub and the messaging can be updated immediately. The device is also designed to work with Black Box’s iCOMPEL EDS software for enterprise signage. Using this product, the content for thousands of players can be updated.

3D Signage from Philips

Reseller MMD was at the show demonstrating Philips Commercial Signage’s autostereoscopic (no glasses required) displays. It had a subtle effect, but very effective. Available as a 23-inch, 42-inch, and 55-inch sizes, the LCD screens have a viewing angle of 140 degrees, a brightness of 700cd/m2 (42- and 55-inch only), HDMI and DVI-D and an RS-232C multi-display port (42- and 55-inch only).

Gefen’s HDMI Connectors

Gefen was showcasing its Wireless for HDMI extender that it says is for small to mid-sized installations. The extender can send 1080p full HD content to displays up to 75 feet. It can deliver video and audio through walls and is “immune to light of sight requirements,” the company says. The extender requires a dongle-type sender that must be connected to an audio/visual source and a receiver to be connected to the remote display.

Scala’s Three New Software Announcements

Scala was busy at the show, demonstrating its new digital signage software Scala 5, release 6. According to the company, the new product has more flexible content creation, more video and streaming options, HD video capture card support and improved IT management.

Also announced was Scala Advanced Analytics, a cloud-based product that “digests millions of data records on sales, products, customer habits, trends, pricing changes, weather, time of day, day of week, season and the year and more,” the company says.

The third product introduced is the Leading Indicators CxO Board, a software geared toward C-level executives. The product allows for the importation of key performance indicators from Salesforce.com and other data sources. With it, you can view trends based on people, business, industry and environment factors dynamically, the company says. You can also “automate alarm events to highlight goal achievement as well as underperformance.”

Peerless Kiosk Enclosures and Mounts

In the nuts and bolts category, Peerless announced it 3x3 Universal Video Wall Cart. According to the company, it can hold nine flat panel displays measuring 46 to 55 inches. It also debuted three new portrait and landscape flat panel kiosk enclosures. The two landscape enclosures are silver in color and designed for 40- and 46-inch ultra-thin televisions. The portrait kiosk is big and quite imposing in a monolithic way.

About the author

Lisa Nadile - Managing Editor

Lisa Nadile is Managing Editor for TechDecisions. She has been a technology journalist for over twenty years and has never lost her love of technology and the way it changes (and improves) our lives. She has written for many magazines and websites on the development of computers and the Internet, and is enjoying her new mission in the audiovisual sector.