From Vegas Vic to the Stardust’s googie stars to the fabulous welcome on the Strip, Las Vegas enjoys a long history of innovative signs.
JCM Global hopes to contribute to that tradition with its newest offering: signage featuring multiple LEDs sandwiched between two layers of clear glass and able to display full-color customizable messages, images, or animations while also allowing viewers to see what’s on the other side of the sign. The products, called DSS CLEAR, can be placed inside or outdoors in a variety of sizes, providing what a media advisor called “unlimited awesomeness.”
James Smith
“We’re really excited about DSS CLEAR,” said James “Smitty” Smith, audio/visual product manager for JCM Global’s Digital Signage Solutions. “This is something casinos can adapt how they want and in a new and unique way.” The signs can hang from a ceiling or on a wall or be used as a door or partition that displays ads or artwork while simultaneously allowing people to see through.
The product launch of DSS CLEAR will be at the JCM booth at the Global Gaming Expo Oct. 10-12 in Las Vegas. Smith said he does not know of any casino currently using such a display, but thinks it will become a popular option. The technology has been installed as interior and exterior signage for stores, fast-food restaurants, and even a U2 concert.
JCM’s DSS CLEAR offerings, most available in customizable sizes, include a full-wall display ranging from 6.5 to 10 feet tall. The G2E booth will include an LED half-wall about 4 feet high and 30 feet long. JCM also will offer panels that can function as a sliding door, window front, or partition. A ceiling-hung sign comes in one size, about 22 inches tall.
Smith said the signs could be deployed in a variety of places throughout a casino: the entrance to a high-limit room or a smoking room, at the players club, and at a shop, restaurant or “any type of room that they would like to have a barrier on.” He said one potential client asked about installation in a bar area because nearby slot and table game players like to see the bar’s TVs and bar patrons want to deaden the sounds from the gaming floor.
The patented technology behind DSS CLEAR products includes multiple rows of circuit boards with LEDs attached to the edge. The LED circuit boards, only 1.6 mm (about a sixteenth of an inch) thick, are between two sheets of tempered glass. The resolution depends on the distance between the LEDs, known as pixel pitch, with various options available. Each LED can emit a full range of color. The signs are clearly visible in daylight and consume 30 percent less power than regular LED screens.
“We will have content at G2E that’s developed specifically for the display so there won’t be any distortion,” Smith said. Clients also can design their own images or messages. “As long as you and I can get it down on a piece of paper, we can make it happen,” Smith said. The hardware includes a media player and a controller. The media player can scale images to prevent distortion; the controller provides the brains for sign, determining the brightness and color of each LED and when it turns on.
Changing or programming the display requires only minimal training on the media player and controller, Smith said. JCM will provide that as part of the installation.
The full display is visible from only on the front of the sign, although some color reflects out the back.
“I hope this is going to generate a lot of buzz for G2E,” Smith said. “The industry has never seen transparent displays like this, and JCM Global is proud to introduce this new technology to gaming.”
