Retail and Hospitality

JD Sports displays wow factor

22 February 2008

Sports fashion retailer, JD Sports, has deployed an advanced moving media display from digital interactive specialists Handy AV at its flagship London, Oxford Circus store.

The solution was designed by Handy AV’s managing director Aubrey Wright, working closely with the client and their in-store designers. It fires images along six seamless plasma screens, following the line of the diagonal escalator up to the first floor. There is a further portrait column of eight plasma screens, which can form either a single media display or vertically chasing set of three images, running down the facing stairwell.

The solution also features 42 metres of continuous LED tickertape digital signage, which runs up and across the store’s first floor ceiling, to deliver high-impact sales and promotional messages.

The displays receive continuous video feeds from Handy AV’s rack mounted Media Players and Content Management System, located in an adjacent building and running on XP Professional with Service Pack 2. The system also comprises individual Management Stations, providing screen management and scheduling, to regulate operational times. The whole system is protected by an un-interruptible power supply, for optimised up time.

The Content Management system runs on high resolution QuickTime/Movie files, formatted to allow the video scalers to apportion the video image across all screens. Fiber/DVI distance extenders are used to connect to a Kramer HDMI distribution amplifier for connection to each screen. The web-based software is designed to allow for easy control of content and scheduling, and offers a scalable enterprise management solution.