video setup for retail market

[Ray Garrison]

Hi guys. Not sure this is the right forum, but thought I'd start here.

My partners and I are opening a retail market. Part of our vision is to have a series of 3 displays hanging from the ceiling behind the counter. These will be showing a mixture of different images - pages from our website showing specials and images of products, streaming video coming from a variety of sources, TV feeds coming from places like CNN and other cable networks. I've got an 11'6" ceiling and the displays will be hung from a girder about 16" tall, so I figure I've got enough room for displays about 3' high and still have sufficient height to avoid banging heads.

In an ideal world, I'd love to have hi def plasma displays, but I'm trying to keep the whole system under $10K.

I've never done anything like this before.

Anyone have any suggestions as to the most appropriate type of monitor, and what kind of hardware I need in a PC (or PCs) to drive multiple video sources? Also, if anyone is, knows or can recommend a contractor in the Southern Connecticut area (New Haven county) that specializes in this sort of thing, I'd love to contact them.

Thanks!

Ray

http://www.flyingfishmarket.com

[Chris Robinson]

Ray, best of luck with your new venture!

I'd go with Panny displays, probably 50" for the high displays and 42" for the lower. If you're investing the money, go with the hi-def resolutions. It makes a big difference.

This approach you have is very similar to one my bro and I were thinking about in Bluffton, SC, except that it would be for real estate. I like the concept!

[efzauner]

I have a different opinion on this. You did not mention what you where selling. I am assuming your retail outlet is NOT going to be selling TVs. So you do not need the best HD plasmas. Unless you are going to get cable or satellite to display cnn in HD, a standard definition 42" plasma should be fine. Look for good brands like LG that are not premium priced. You should be able to get them on sale at Best Buy or others. Cosco has some nice Pioneers and even Sanyos for very good prices! I dont know of any real 1920x1080 native resolution plasmas anyway.

I really do not think that any customer is going to say or think: "My my, they dont even have expensive HD plasmas. The whites are a bit yellow and the de-interlacing and 3-3-2 motion pulldown is not the best. I wont buy here"

[Ray Garrison]

efzauner -

Thanks for the ideas. (Why is this BOLD?) there, that's better...

The reason I put the link to our website on the page was so folks would have an idea of what kind of market we're building. Check it out when you have a moment. Website is in very early stages of development, only a few pages up at the moment, and the whole "What's in the market today" segment won't be up until the market is, but I don't like the ubiquitous "Under Construction" page you typically see, so I thought I'd at put up what I've got. I intend to put shots of the construction up in the next few days so people can follow along as we build. We had a prototype up and running a few months ago colocated inside a large natural / organic grocer, and got a wonderful reception from the local community here. Unfortunately, they closed up so we had to pull out. This time the whole store is ours.

By the way, I'd love any feedback (either "That's a great looking website" or "Ugh, you really need to rethink that whole design concept") on the website anyone might have.

Chris -

Yeah, I agree in principle, but I only have $100K operating capital to build the store and cover staffing and ops until we start producing revenue, so I've really got to count the pennies on things like video displays, display cases, floor tile, exterior signage, merchadising, etc. etc. etc.... [][]

BobG -

Thanks!

[michael hurd]

Ray, a few comments on the website. ( actually just the front page ) The mixed font styles, sizes and colors give it a very busy look, with more effort required to pay attention to it. I would suggest sticking with 1 - 2 color fonts and styles tops.( save for your company logo )

There is too much info crammed in such a small vertical space, and even with a big monitor and the resolution I am running, the font is too small.

On the left side, where you have links to " our supporters ", could you use the actual Fedex logo, and the Periship logo? Believe it or not, it is instantly recognizable if you use a logo. Most companies have "ad slicks" available, and you can resize for your needs.

[Ray Garrison]

Michael,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm only using one font, but I do have alternating colors, bold and some headers are in a larger point size. I'll take a look at that.

re logos - FedEx has a logo I can use rather than the link text, but PeriShip's logo doesn't render too well at the size it'd have to be to fit in the left nav panel. I expect I'll have other companies listed there once I get some documents in place. If I have logos for some companies but not others, would you think using logos when available and linked text when not would be better, or would that be a bit jarring visually?

[Cal Blacksmith]

I am running a HTPC but the HT software is only setup for one display.

I have output for two displays on the video card and they can be setup

to run both together or as different screens through the windows

drivers. You might be able to run two windows at the same time, each

with different content but I don't know what you would do for the third

display. On the other hand, the PCs are not that expensive and the

video

cards are only about $200 for a middle of the road card. You would not

need ultra fast cards as you won't have intensive graphics to deal

with like in a game. Used PCs can be bought for low bucks and would be

just fine as video servers, each with it's own software and source. The

PCs output can be easily scaled to the native resolution of the

displays to get maximum advantage out of each. I agree that HD displays

would be a waste if you are NOT displaying HD content.

The project sounds interesting, keep us up to date on how it is going!

EDIT:

I just looked at your website and I think it is a good start. The

software to run TV on a PC is not expensive and you would need to have

tuner cards in each. Live Internet feeds from places like an aquarium

would be interesting for the customers to watch, perhaps a weather feed

for the area that your product comes from?

I do think that a dedicated PC for each screen would be the best way to

go if you are going to use them. Cable or Satellite feeds can be done

direct without the need for a PC. I believe that Dish (we have it)

offers a dual tuner receiver that could power two displays with different content at the same

time. Lots of options, REALLY INTERESTING IDEA!

[JeffDurbin]

I agree with efzauner. Here's a link to some inexpensive 42" plasmas:

http://www.pricemad.com/productdetail.asp?level=&catid=55&productid=2304

You can have 3 of them for a little over $4,000 plus shipping and cables, etc, which would put you under $5,000 total. They got an excellent rating from resellerratings (dot) com.

You can build the HTPC and run multiple displays off of it. You can use a simple cable or satellite connection into one of them. Total cost should be under $7,000.

[JeffDurbin]

Ray,

As IndyKlipschFan will happily attest, I am anal to the extreme. Here are a few comments on the website:

1) On the Philosophy page, 'source verified' needs to be hyphenated.
2) On the Philosophy and History pages, 'direct delivery' should be hyphenated.
3) On the Philosophy page, 'over development' is one word and not two.
4) On the Philosophy page, you should drop the word 'And' at the beginning of the sentence in the first paragraph - it is poor grammar to start a sentence with a conjunction.
5) In the Founders section, 'Information Technologies', 'Logistics' and 'Seafood Industry' should not be capitalized because none of them are proper nouns. (The same can be said for 'Food Service Industry' at the end of the paragraph.)
6) 'Business to Business' should be hyphenated.

As for the rest of the website, I think it is very, very good. I agree with the other suggestion to put in the FedEx logo as a hyperlink.

Good luck! []

[Ray Garrison]

Jeff

Thanks! I'll make fix the grammer you pointed out. Thanks also for the kind words.

[AV Theater Designs]

Hi Ray,

It is a small world after all isnt it. I just came across your post and was shocked to see your opening in Branford where our store is located. I would love to come down and take a peek at how the store is coming along and maybe run down some ideas with you on the whole audio/video setup.

Your also welcome to come down and take a peek at our brand new Klipsch Ultra THX 2 showroom which is only weeks away from being completed.Its the only Ultra THX showroom pretty much in the whole North East that I am aware of.

Its just a bit overkill for your store and besides at $10,000 for the speakers alone that would pretty much kill your buget right there Its still an awsome experience and well worth the trip over to give it a listen though.

We also work with a computer tech who is in the same buisness complex as we are so maybe between all of us we can sit down and figure out a great multimedia experience for your customers and at the same time keep you in your buget so you can get the buisness going sooner than later.

Trust me,I know how tough it is to work on a set buget. If it wasnt for companys like Sherbourn,Screen Inovations and Klipsch who helped out so much with demo deals for the showroom I dont think the room would have been done unit 2006.

Most of the building of the room was done by us because the prices we were getting from contractors were way,way out of buget.Phaze one which is the theater room is just about done and then we move on to phaze two which will be the multi-zone room with key pads and in-walls demo area. That wont be started until after the new year since we have a ton of work coming up that must be completed first.

Sounds like you have a nice place going up.Give us a call if you want.Our number is at the bottom of the page.