Best way to play video for digital signage

[The Friz]

I currently work for a complany that needs to post high quality video (rather than just flash) through a digital signage network. We currently use this company: www.dynasign.net to provide our hardware and programming tools. However, the only way we can post video is with .wmv's which often loses quality since the vids are high action.

Im working from a Mac and am using Flip4Mac to export. It stinks because if I want less frame drops, I have to lose quality. It also doesn't recognize slow fades or slugs but rather stops/starts a video at the last/first black frame it sees. Is there any way to improve my .wmv experience, or perhaps someone can reccomend a good signage hardware provider that is capable of handling higher quality video as we are hoping to start using HD content in the near future? Thanks

 

[doug454]

Best way to play video for digital signage

I went through this myself, and have developed a product that delivers video for digital signage. We built our system from the ground up and are capable of delivering video up to 1280 x 1024 resolution. Our system recognises all major vid formats with the same image quality you get through your mac.

Location and hardware are also a factor in some scenarios. We built solution to meet your criteria. Let me know if this is what your looking for and the best way of contacting you.

 

[The Friz]

I'm interested in learning more as we're getting ready to rapidly expand and want the best possible video quality. I can be contacted at dave_friz@yahoo.com. Thanks!

 

[Experiment13]

Use iMacs or MacMinis + LCD TV for Display Videos

I set up a system at Gavilan College. The first display is an iMac that wakes up in the morning, plays videos all day in mostly QuickTime DV or Animation CoDec which is the original file format. It then goes to sleep at 7:30 PM. Works great. Just hang the iMac on the wall. Updating can be done via network or by hand with a firewire drive.

I also use an Intel Mac Mini to drive a 40" Sony LCD TV. The Sony LCD sits high on the wall and the mini sits on a shelf. You can hardly see it from the ground. These are not networked, but can be updated by hand or wirelessly.

The software is MovieTime which costs a minimal donation. It can be found at sansworks.com. It supports other formats. I haven't tried Hi Def as yet, but the quality is great as is and could be cheaper than having some large system. With new control by remote built in Leopard and a little scripting, the Mac Mini could be automatically updated, too.

Good luck.

 

[gmat]

New Digital Signage Application for Mac OS X

There is a new Digital Signage Application for Mac OS X: ~sedna presenter. It allows users to manage, schedule and deliver digital content to any display, from single-screen delivery to perfectly synchronized multichannel, multi-display video walls.

Here's their web site:
http://www.sedna-presenter.com/