Category Archives: Multiple Monitors

Security Improvements with Multiple Monitor Video Walls

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Throughout the years security personnel have discovered that keeping people safe, loss prevention, and overall wellness of a business can be maintained through careful planning, study and watching closely at how potential trouble makes behave.  It really is special set of skills to learn what people do just before a crime is committed, but the bigger struggle is figuring out how to find these people so that you can identify these behaviors.  In this modern day in age, however, we have learned to adapt and part of that adaptation is the use of power video wall technology that allows us to watch and see what people are doing more closely.  I’ve picked out some of the best video walls in security

offices around the globe to help give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

AT&T is home to the world’s largest security video wall.  It’s officially 12 feet high and 250 feet long and monitors the overwhelming majority of the world’s phone calls.  It looks like the set of War Games, but it actually does keep us all safe, which is what makes this room so special.

If you ever saw the movie Hackers then you probably remember the computer security room in the movie, home of the Gibson Super Computer.  Well this is what a cyber security and hacker specialist actually looks like.  It might not be as impressive as the scene from Hackers, but it’s still pretty darn cool.  This network admin and security specialist uses as many as 11 screens to look for anomalies and ward off any potential threats.

Another security room that most people probably never even think about is the guys watching over your electricity.  This is the security room for The California Independent System Operator Corporation, which is responsible for the flow of electricity across California’s power grid.  In other words, they keep the power supply pumping.  Can you imagine the chaos if they weren’t around to look out for our state’s power supply.  Their job is of the upmost importance and using multiple screens is a key part of that job.  In teams of 2 they monitor various sections with a multiple monitor setup, and also have a video wall to monitor big picture power issues.

This is what a typical CCTV operator room might look like.  These are the “eyes in the sky” that help prevent theft, monitor crowds and help keep us safe.  They use over 30 monitors on the video wall alone and additional monitors to zoom in and look for particular behaviors that might indicate a problem.  It takes special training to know what to look for, but more importantly it wouldn’t be possible without the help of the multiple monitor video wall that they use.
camera feeds from various government buildings all feed to, including the airport and the port of Palm Beach.  In addition, properties such a few malls are also monitored (with the owner’s permission.)  Interestingly enough, while it monitors dozens of properties, nothing actually gets recorded; they just use the room for monitoring.In Palm Beach County local and federal officials are working together to keep everyone safe through the use of what they refer to as “The Situation Room.”  This is where

If you’ve ever wondered where all those traffic cameras are feeding, they probably go to a room that looks a bit like this.  Usually a small team keeps an eye on the video wall to look for anything odd that may require further investigation.  These video walls aren’t exactly cheap, but they do serve a good purpose, ensuring the safety of everyone around.

As you can see from all of the above-mentioned examples, the security of our business, our nation and lives depend on the multiple monitor video wall technology.  And the cool thing is that the technology is only getting better, leading to even more security.  As this technology continues to improve, we’ll probably see even more services that utilize this type of multiple monitor technology to help keep businesses and lives safe from the dangers of the world we live in today.

Take Advertising to the Next Level With Digital Signage

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It’s not just the new millennia anymore; we’re in a new decade and a new exciting time for business owners and advertisers alike.  Video walls are being used as an advertising tool all over the globe because they make sense.  They allow advertisers to bring sharp, engaging and interesting ads to customers regardless of where they are.    They’re appearing in arenas, airports, stadiums, and even on the sides of buildings.  In fact, you’ve probably even seen them on the side of the road.  That’s why it’s easy for me to say this: in the next 10 to 15 years, nearly every advertisement that you see will be part of a multiple monitor video wall or video screen style advertisement, because it just makes sense.  The advertiser can deliver a higher quality message and the person selling the advertising space can get more money per ad, plus deliver a wider variety of ads and make changes as needed.  It would be crazy to think that this trend won’t continue and grow.  I’ve put together some of my favorite video walls and advertisements, see below:

This is a video wall at the Shanghai Airport that displays over 209 messages on this 64 screen video wall.  They use a software call C-nario’s messenger and universal play to deliver their messages.  This is just one of many screens at the Shanghai Airport though.

Here’s an example of another, albeit smaller, digital advertising display.  It might not be as large, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deliver a powerful punch and grab the attention of passersby.  The combination of video walls large and small really attracts the attention of customers and gives advertisers a big voice in an overflowing airport.

I like this video wall because it does a couple of cool things.  They display some really amazing artwork on this wall, but they also use it as an advertising display.  This type of rotation of content versus advertisements is a very common idea, one that TV advertisers have been using for half a century.  Online advertisers do this as well; they engage their users with content and then display related ads.  The retention of the ad material is much higher this way.  The video wall is located at the Recoleta Mall in Buenos Aires Argentina.   Proving that this type of video wall and video advertising is a global phenomenon that is going to disappear any time soon.

There is something about this display that I really love, I think it’s the way that it’s set back into the wall, almost becoming part of the wall.  But its high definition doesn’t blend in and certainly can’t be ignored.  This video wall display can be found at the Swiss International Airport in Switzerland.

Ok, so this video advertising display might not be as impressive as the 64 screen video wall we saw above, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t deliver a powerful advertising message.  In Australia, they rolled out over 1800 of these to gas stations all over the country and Australians are being advertised to while they fill up their gas tanks.  This is pretty clever if you ask me.  We’ll probably start seeing smaller video advertising displays in the future too, as this is a great way to connect with new customers while they fulfill normal, everyday tasks.

Here’s another LED advertising display that can be found in China.  This large display sits over a busy intersection in China and reaches 100,000 people each and every day.  This isn’t an unfamiliar site for Americans though, as we have our own versions of this type of displays in major cities throughout the USA.

I like this display and it stands out to me because it’s located outside of a resort, as visitors pass by on monorail.  This is a neat way to bring in advertising dollars and let visitors know about up coming events at the resort that visitors could potentially be interested in doing.  This just goes to show that no matter where you go, even if you’re on vacation, video walls and video advertising are probably going to be there too.

Here’s a Sharp video wall at the Indianapolis International Airport.  The screen was installed by media and advertising giant Clear Channel Airport, a division Clear Channel Advertising.  The screen apparently cost around $300,000 to install and delivers a stunning display to thousands of airport patrons every single day.  Because the message can be rotated and changed so quickly, I’d put my money on the fact that this sign is probably worth its weight in gold.  It did cause some controversy when it was installed because it replaced an iconic sculpture, however, video walls are often used to display artwork amid advertisements.

In Vancouver, these monster wall presentations are just as common and just as powerful.  The locals call this nine screen video wall the “monster wall.”  It can be found in one of the busiest bus stations in Canada, downtown Vancouver.  National telecommunications mogul Telus launched the very first campaign on the “monster wall,” but since then many other have joined in to the advertising display.

These video advertising displays are pretty neat.  They hang from the ceiling at the HP Pavilion in San Diego, CA and serve a couple of functions.  One of those functions is guiding visitors to the center to their seats and displaying other important information.  They also display sponsor information and include ads for some of the biggest brands in sports.

At Toronto’s biggest airport, you’ll find a number of these, 15 screen video walls that display everything from beautiful artwork to ads for some of the best brands in the world.  These are noticeably bright displays that really tend to grab the attention of airport patrons.  They really are quite stunning and quite impressive.

Video walls and malls go hand-in-hand and at Primall this is no exception.  They use video media all over the mall to help drive customers into stores by displaying promotions and events.  This particular video wall has 12 47-inch HD displays that display brilliant colors and fascinating images.  Stores within the mall love the ability to display their message when it comes to sales and events that are up and coming.

In this image you’ll see that once again the Aussies really know how to be creative with their video walls and video advertising displays.  This particular one is found hanging above a car wash entertaining and advertising to the car wash customers as they wait in line for the next available vacuum.   This particular display is an extra light LED display that features a stunning display.  It really packs a powerful punch.

A real estate agent that displays the most recent updates to their listings uses this sign.  It’s a great way to entertain clients as they come through the door and get them excited both by the prospect of buying a new home or if they are selling their home by the idea of how well this real estate agent understands technology.  It’s a beautiful 2×2 LED display that does justice to some really beautiful homes.

This giant video screen was featured at the Beijing Olympic games and really stands out to me.  It’s absolutely huge and served a variety of purposes.  Obviously it showed the events, but even more important, it displayed important advertising messages, event information and much more.  It such a huge screen that it dwarfed anything and everything else in the stadium.  Fans were pleased to be able to see events so clearly without having to use binoculars or other specialty equipment.  China is well known for their ability to put awesome technology to work and this was no exception.

This ad for BMW was displayed at the Hamburg airport and actually won awards from the New York Festivals.  The video wall uses 50 2m screens lit up along a huge wall.  If you visit the Hamburg airport, this video wall can’t be missed, as it lights up the entire arrivals hallway.

Here’s a video advertisement in Rotterdam at a bus stop.  Because the cost of video technology has come down so much, these types of screens have become more prevalent and will most likely continue to become more popular than ever.   The typically bus patron is nearly a captive audience as they are dazzled with beautiful images and advertisements while waiting for their bus to arrive.

Lamar billboards are a common site in nearly every US city (and indeed cities around the globe.)  While the technology continues to improve, even these relatively lower resolution billboards leave a lasting impression with me.  This is probably because they are still somewhat new.  I simply love the idea of an advertiser being able to swap out advertisements on the fly.  These are easily programmable and that means that they are a greater asset to the billboard site owner and the advertiser himself.  As a direct marketer I can tell you that being able to test and measure the effectiveness of a particular advertisement is key to running a successful campaign and these types of changeable advertisements seem to be the best solution for this for everyone involved.  We’ll likely see more and more of these digital billboards as the technology improves, becomes cheaper and as older traditional billboards need to be replaced.  The future of our interstate drives should be much brighter once the majority of these billboards are digital.

It’s undeniable that digital signage and digital advertisement on video walls is becoming the staple of the future.  We’re already seeing more and more of this and this trend is only going to continue to grow.  As the technology improves, the displays will be increasingly captivating and increasingly interesting, which what makes it so fun to watch this type of technology develop.  I look forward to the days when it won’t just be airports and hotels that lead the way with this technology.  Video walls should be an integrated part of every business and everywhere that we go.

Casino Security Rooms that Use Video Walls

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They use some of the most advanced security tactics in the world, including some of the most highly trained individuals in existence.  But it isn’t at your local airport and it isn’t your military.  In fact, this security has far less to do with safety, but their reason is highly motivated- they are the security force that looks after casino floors, and they are very good at what they do.  The security agents for casinos know literally every trick in the book.  In fact, casinos often employ former cheats to help detect cheating.  That’s why they know that if they are going to beat cheating they need to have some of the most advanced tools in the world.  Casino security rooms often look like something NASA would be using, not a part of the entertainment industry.   Over the years they have developed some extremely advanced tactics for catching cheating and it takes a highly trained staff to do so, but the real star of the anti-cheating show is the video wall that allows high definition images to be transmitted into the security room.  Below I’m going to post some of my favorite security rooms in the casino industry and talk about how they utilize multiple monitors to make their job possible.

Believe it or not, this is an older image from a casino in Copenhagen.  They are using about 5 different monitors, each able to monitor multiple tables at once.  They are also using software that will allow the security engineer to call up any particular table, and more importantly different players at different tables and monitor their actions.

Before the days of computer technology though, security analysts would use a wall of CRT monitors.  Even then they were able to deter and catch a reasonable amount of cheating through close monitoring of casino floors.  This image was from a PBS documentary called Spying on the Home Front that discussed in detail the use of civilian monitoring, particularly in casinos.
Gran Casino uses a technology known as NUUO to help monitor their casino.  One of the areas that they have to watch the closest is actually employee cheating and theft.  They carefully monitor the interaction of casino players with the actions of casino workers too.  It’s amazing how this technology can actually recognize unusual events at the game table and alert casino owners on the fly.  It even has the ability to monitor both large crowds for strange behavior and more importantly it can monitor large cash transactions.

This picture comes from inside a large and well-known Las Vegas casino where they monitor the activities of their guests very closely.  Because of the size of this casino they have rather large (especially in comparison with some of the other casinos) staff that monitors these video walls very closely.  They use a large video wall and each security guard is given an area to monitor.  Most of the security staff has been highly trained and knows exactly what anomalies to look for when they are scanning the casino crowd.

Here’s a shot of the surveillance room at the popular M Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Agents here monitor one large wall looking for strange behavior, but can quickly zoom in on a given player or table at their station where they have multiple high definition monitors setup to help pick out oddities in player action.  The M Resort has a group of men that are working around the clock at any given time.  They are experts in their field!

At London’s West End, the Empire casino can be seen from 3 blocks away with its bright lights that call out to passers-by, inviting to them to come play.  But if you aren’t on the up-and-up you’d better be aware, their security team doesn’t take cheating lightly and chances are they will catch you if you try to cheat.  They use advanced video wall technology, such as video walls and screen splitting and pinning security.  This is precisely how they were able to catch a group of cheat back in 2009.  The message is clear: the technology to catch you is stronger than any cheating skill that you may have acquired, so don’t try it, you will be caught.

At Treasure Island in Las Vegas, you can watch shows, drink drinks and play games, but you’d better not cheat.  This is their newly upgraded security matrix, which includes some of the top of the line technology.  They are serious about beating cheaters, so don’t do it.  Teams of 2 monitor a large video wall that’s comprised of multiple monitors.  At any given time, security staff can call up a particular window on to a large monitor and analyze game play (or cheating) more closely.  High definition cameras and monitors mean that security personal isn’t just looking at blurred images like they might have in the old days.  They can call up razor sharp images in real time to help detect would be cheats.

Here’s another image of a security pro watching players.  He refers to his job as a Las Vegas security expert as “watching people professionally” and he’s very good at what he does, and thanks to his video wall and high definition monitoring equipment, he’s even better at it.  Interestingly enough, in a interview with one of the best in the business, he says that most the of the time these days employees are to blame for mistakes, usually just because they aren’t paying attention.  It has become increasingly difficult to cheat in Vegas thanks to a few tricks, like not using full decks for blackjack, etc.  But undoubtedly he tells some funny stories about the patrons as well; saying that the most money he’s ever seen anyone lose in one hand was $25,000 and a lot of other interesting stories.

Regardless of the state or even the country that the hotel is located in, you’ll find high tech, multiple monitor video walls in nearly every security room.  With specialized training and advanced software, the days of cheating a casino are long gone.  While casino cheats may hate this, the casino owners love multiple monitor technology and the additional security that it provides.  In the end, the advantage is also given to players, as the revenue saved from cheaters is passed on to consumers in the form of comps and other hotel perks.  Multiple monitor technology and in particular video wall technology have made casinos a safer and more fun place for everyone.

Digital Signage – Changing the Way You See Everything

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You’ve probably noticed popping up everywhere: digital signs are changing the way we see everything- from fast food menus, billboards, weather displays, art, entertainment, sporting events and everything in between.  Digital signs are the wave of the future and are only going to become more prevalent throughout the years.  And there is a good reason.  They give advertisers an opportunity to make changes on the fly.  They mean rotating billboards is almost as simple as a push of button.  They also mean that changing out menu items and specials can be done in seconds.    They save time, money and energy.  They give you an easier route to grab perspective clients’ attention and reel them into your business.  All in all digital signage makes life better for business owners, advertisers and for customers too.  It’s only a matter of time before traditional signs become extinct, like an ancient dinosaur, which is practically what anyone still using traditional signs is anyways.  Below we’re going to discuss some of the typical and practical applications of digital signs and how they can be put to use in your business.

One of the first uses of digital signs that I remember seeing, as long ago as the 1990’s was on airports.  Airports began using digital signs for a variety of things, but probably most noticeable was the use of digital signs for arriving and departing flights.  The cool thing about this was that in the even of a delay or anything out of the ordinary, I could be
updated almost instantly.  This is great as a traveler.  There is nothing more frustrating than flying and not knowing what’s going on with your plane.  I noticed a few years ago though, that airports have caught on to the advertising trends in airports as well.  They are using digital screens to display advertising messages all over the airport.  In undoubtedly raises revenues for the airport and helps keep costs lower to you in the long run, so I’m all for it.

More recently though I noticed something even cooler than what I mentioned above; I noticed a few billboards popping up that were huge video walls with rotating messages.  Can you imagine the benefit to both the advertiser and the advertising company?  Let’s
put it this way, if you are sharing a billboard with 3 other people, that means that your advertising cost is going to be divided by 3.  But the advertising company still gets raise more income than with a traditional billboard.  The other big advantage is that it’s significantly easier to change the display (it can be done remotely) and requires les upkeep.  This is pretty brilliant if you ask me.  And I only see this trend growing.  Billboard companies, such as Viacom/CBS are going to be constantly switching out their traditional billboards for more traditional ones.  These bright and rotating displays are bound to be helpful.  Another cool feature that I noticed with these billboards is that they can be used for PSA announcements such as a “Amber Alert” to display pictures of missing children, who they were last seen with and the vehicle in which they may be traveling.  I would image that this is going to save many lives, especially as more and more of these boards start popping up everywhere we go.

Another cool use of digital signage that I’ve started to see is digital menus at restaurants.  I thought that this was particularly neat at a fast food place.  Do you remember when they use to have to change those little letters on their menu to change the sign?  I would
imagine that this this took hours, meaning it cost management a significant number of employee hours to do this.  Well, those days are long gone.   Restaurant owners can now update specials, include new images and remove old/unpopular items with a few mouse clicks.  No more spending hours fooling with little letters to update the menu.  This is a great perk of using digital signage in the restaurant business.

Art is going in such an amazing direction thanks to digital displays and it’s only going to get better from here.    For years now, artist have been perfecting their art with Photoshop and things are only getting more intense and more realistic.  Artist can then choose to either print these images or display them on a digital screen.  Those that opt
for the digital screen likely do so because screen technology is becoming so advanced that you can include millions of additional colors that simply art available for standard prints.  This means that you wind up with a high quality image that may end up being more captivating to the audience that you are trying to impress.

Probably one of the most prominent places that large video Wall displays are appearing is in sports arenas. I don’t think that anyone can say that haven’t seen a JumboTron of some sort at a sporting event, but what makes the new screens so much better is that they are
significantly higher quality (i.e. higher resolution) and much, much larger than anything we could have every imagined.  The 3 three largest displays that come to mind are the Dallas Cowboys’ mega display, the Charlotte Motor speedway display and the Tokyo Horse Track display.  These are the 3 largest displays in the world and inspire awe to anyone that has never seen them.   In particular the Dallas Cowboy’s display and the Charlotte Motor Speedway display are 1080p, a higher resolution than what most people have in their home.

Digital signage is becoming a way of life, making life more convenient, art more impressive, events more exciting and helping advertisers and businesses generate more cash flow.  As the technology continues to improve there is a good chance that you will see digital signage and video walls in even more places you know and love.  Be prepared, the sky is the limit on what we can accomplish, and it looks like we’re only going up!

Trade Show Displays and Video Walls

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In a worldwide economy it’s important that everyone know and understand how they can
 meet others that are in their field.  It’s important that others know how they can find new prospects with the eventual goal of being able to find new prospects that will lead to strong business growth.  In fact at popular trade shows, it’s not uncommon for the guy (or gal) with the biggest and flashiest display to get most of the floor traffic.  In fact, I’ve been to trade shows where people were literally lined up past other vendors because a particular display or promotion caught their attention.  In this article were going to show off some of the coolest trade show displays and talk about where they were at and some of the particulars.  In particular we’re going to discuss multiple monitor and video Wall displays because the trend tends to be going toward all video displays these days.

Now this may not seem like a big deal to most people, but this is actually one of my favorite vendors, and they are demoing one of my favorite products, the Matrox TripleHead2Go.  This display is pretty simple, but it catches your eye because if you’re not using multiple monitors, you’re probably wondering how they were able to pull this off, and what the little box behind the monitors is and what it does.

In recent years Microsoft sold their famous Flight Simulator to war machine Lockheed Martin.  This is their display at a trade show demoing the awesome flight simulator.  I like this setup because it gives anyone that hasn’t seen the flight simulator in action a chance to play with great graphics on a 1080p 40 inch display.

Here is a great tradeshow display from Nike and there are a few things that really stand
out in this display.  Of course they have multiple screens that are showing off different new product features and benefits, but they also have some strong bright visuals that attract attention.

 

 

My favorite thing about this display is the, uh, big screen in the background that shows
my favorite car, the Porsche, performing.  Reel them in with the car and deliver interesting facts or other information with your digital wall display.  This works like a charm.

 

 
Other than being the king of search Google has been known to be king of the trade show, often giving great presentations to demo new products or features.  Here they just have a few computers setup and are undoubtedly showing off one of their new apps, features or something else cool, because that’s what Google does!

 

 

WOW!  Samsung really knows how to make an impression.  This is their video wall when they were announcing the competition that that they were releasing against the iPhone
and the iPad.  Apparently they nailed it too because they are really penetrating the market, but that’s a whole other article.  What we can talk about are the 173 screens that made up their wall of vision at this trade show.  It was quite a site to see.

 

 

Sony loves to do it large and at this trade show it was no exception.  They have a huge display with their name and big lights.  But it doesn’t stop there, behind that big sign they had various displays lined up behind the flashy lights and they were demonstrating some of their newest products, including the Sony Vaio.  There’s no doubt though that these
displays make

 

 

 

Here’s an Apple iPhone tradeshow display and I love what they’ve done here the use of multiple monitors to create a video wall inside of an iPhone.  This is a great example of how you can use an interesting visual presentation to grab attention and sell your product.  The iPhone went on to revolutionize the way we thought about
personal communication, it’s undoubted that this display played a small part in the build up to its original release.

 

 

If you’ve been to any tech related trade shows, and as I a blogger I try to attend at least a couple each year, then you know that eBay always has a strong presence.  Much like the way apple revolutionized the personal communication industry, eBay was up and running in the late 1990’s and
changed the way we thought about buying and selling online.  But they haven’t stopped and have continuously tried to improve the way they run their company.  Their displays always pack a punch and trade shows and I love to stop by their both to see what new service they’re going to be offering next!

 

Last, but not least, I really like this Panasonic display, because I think it captures a lot of cool features of a good trade show display.  They have black lights with white objects to grab your attention.  They also have a strange video wall configuration that looks more
art deco than trade show.  I just think it’s a cool way to grab the attention of potential clients.  Panasonic is a big brand that has been around for a long time.  It’s likely that they will continue to impress trade show attendees with stunning visual displays.

 

Hopefully this has shown you a little bit of what is possible at trade shows these days.  More and more companies are using powerful video wall displays to grab attention, but it doesn’t always have to be the traditional video wall that we think of when we think video wall.  The creative minds of big and small companies think of amazing ways to put video to work for them at these shows that they guarantee that no one is going to miss their booth.

When it comes to creating a great trade show display, I think one of the most important things to remember is that creativity and uniqueness counts.  Making your display stand out with a multiple monitor video wall is an excellent way to grab extra attention.  And if your business is like mine, one important thing to remember is that a new client or customer is worth its weight in gold, so don’t be afraid to go all out with your video wall display and create something that will really impress those potential clients.  A video wall display can deliver your message and create a positive scene that no one will forget.

Video Walls Help Maintain Security Offices

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In this modern day in age, we have to be prepared for the worst.  Being vigilant and having strong security protocols are part of what keeps us safe.  Fortunately for us
technology has made this significantly easier than it use to be.  In fact, I’ve walked into malls before and I’ve seen control rooms with as many as 20 monitors on the wall.  Technology has made it significantly easier to watch, split and monitor large areas for things that might be suspicious.  Technology is lending a hand video help keep you safe.

It was so long ago that a security officer would sit around watching a black and white monitor in a small isolated room.  He probably did more donut eating then he did security though.  In reality his one monitor was probably split 4 ways, giving him tiny images that were nearly impossible to watch.  It was really more of an illusion of security than actual security.  I can only imagine that the eye site of those security officers went bad after a few short years of staring at tiny black and white images.  It’s pathetic really.

Well fortunately for everyone that has changed.  If a crime is committed it’s going to be caught, and if it’s not, well at least it isn’t the security guard’s fault.  Large high definition LED displays don’t hurt your eyes, even after hours of viewing.  They also make it significantly easier to catch small details.  In fact, with modern technology, images may even appear almost real- it’d be hard not to catch a criminal in the act.  The beauty of this whole thing is that this technology is not extremely expensive.  You can build a custom video wall display inexpensively and it will make a huge difference in your ability to secure areas effectively.

In addition to high definition monitors, specialty software is available that will allow you to split your video wall in nearly any configuration that you see fit.  This gives you the ability to monitor high traffic or high danger areas far more carefully than without.   Casinos even use special facial recognition software to help keep banned parties out of the casino.

Video wall controllers, such as the Xtreme4vs allow you to hook up as many monitors as necessary (up to 9) so that you can create the ultimate video wall.  The even allow high definition monitoring.  The cool thing is that this relatively easy to do too.  You don’t have to be an expert to setup a high-end video wall for your security office.

Hopefully this article has taught you about some of the advantages of using a multiple monitor video wall set up for your security office.  With a little bit of planning you can improve the security of your business.  Once you’ve upgraded your facility to a multiple monitor wall facility it will pay for itself very quickly with the added benefits of less chance of crime, reduced shoplifting.  In the event that there is a crime that takes place, you’ll be able to quickly reduce help police solve the crime that has take place.  A video wall will help keep you safe and you’ll quickly come to appreciate the benefits of using a multiple monitor video wall.

Video Walls in Hotels

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Hotels around the globe are known for their extraordinary features that lure guests in to make them feel particularly significant while staying away from home.  One new trend is the emergence of giant video walls in the rooms, the lobbies and elsewhere.  These video walls create that extra feel of extravagance while the visitor is visiting.  And it really doesn’t matter where you go.  It use to be that only hotels in the biggest cities, like LA, New York, Las Vegas and more had such extravagant features, but not any more.  These days it’s hotels everywhere from east coast to west in the United States, as well as all over the globe.  Check it out some of my favorite below:

Check this out, it’s one of the coolest uses of video walls I’ve seen, this is the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.  They use these stunning video walls to entertain guests while they wait to check in or check out.  The cool thing about this video wall is that doesn’t actually look like a video wall unless you pay close attention.  Then you might notice that images aren’t painted on, but rather are moving in a sequence.

Just down the street at the MGM grand you find this video wall behind the reception
desk.  It has a big Twitter logo on it and streams Twitter feeds 24/7.  This is an awesome video wall too, and grabs guests’ attention as they wait to find out about various concierges perks or if you’re just waiting to check in or check out.  If you’ve ever been to the MGM Grand, then you already know that there is usually a line.

Kiosks like this liter Las Vegas with information about everything from dinner,
shows, tours and more.  At Hotel Paris, these signs help guide you through this monstrosity of a hotel.  But you know, frequency isn’t that important.  What is important is the fact that they add to the overall beautiful atmosphere of Las Vegas.

Located inside the Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana is Oro Nightclub, one of the coolest clubs around.  But one of the things that I find so impressive about this club is the video screen that can be found all around the dance floor, the walls, behind the bar and more.  They really add to the
atmosphere and make the club feel like a one of kind special experience.  These giant LEDs show off Tron like images and really make the club feel futuristic.

At the Banshan Hotel in China, check out these giant window like video walls that give the room a bit of artificial sunlight, add to the rooms elegance and really show what a little creativity and a few LED monitors can do.

Check out this video wall in the St. Louis Hilton, which is located right next to Cardinals stadium.  Fans can watch up to 4 games at once with the ultimate 4 monitors TV, or they can take advantage of the ultra small bezel that creates one giant 92-inch screen.  Either way, you’re bound to be impressed.

This video wall has got to be one of my absolute favorites.  It’s located at the Hotel de Luxe, which was designed as a tribute to quote, “Golden Era Hollywood.”  The cool thing though is that in the lobby they have this massive video wall display golden era images, some of my favorites like Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.  You really have to admire the charm of this place.

The MGM Grande is known for its boxing matches and now its MMA fights, and that’s why you’ll find advertisements on these giant mega video walls behind nearly every help desk in the place.  They spend months promoting what sometimes turns into really awesome fights.

Inside the lobby at the W Hotel in San Diego California, you’ll find this massively tall video wall decorating the lobby.  It’s a quite a sight.  The W Hotel is known for its cosmopolitan contemporary feel and the video wall fits in perfect with this style.  Just check out how massive this wall is and imagine how small guests must feel when they stand underneath it.

The Starwood Hotel chain is pretty well known. 
This is inside the lobby of the Aloft Baltimore Washington airport branch.  This is a very class and contemporary chain that is well known for its style and elegance.

This is a large-scale video wall that was created exclusively by Robert Taussig for a fashion show inside of the Claridges Hotel in London England.  This particular screen was found inside the Ball Room and took up almost an entire wall.

Even though this isn’t exactly a huge video wall I thought it was really cool and wanted to include it in this photo journal.  This is at Disneyland in California in a suite known as big thunder.  If you look closely, there is a video wall above the fireplace that displays art when not being used, and then is converted into a TV for the latest news, sports or entertainment.  The whole room really is beautifully done, but I love the way they incorporated this video wall.
Check out these video walls located at the Hotel Sax in Chicago, IL.  They partnered with Microsoft to provide conferencing facilities along with entertainment too.  Definitely a cool hotel and the video capabilities are really neat too.

Hotel Grange, St. Pauls has notable video walls at every turn.  I’ve included a couple of my favorite, including the towering screens that sit about one of the hotel’s dining areas.  Not shown is a 103-inch screen that sits in the Royal Presidential suite.

At the Crown Plaza in the Chicago area, visitors are greeted by two monster displays as they walk through the door.  On either side of he door you’ll find 9 monitors that tower a little over 9-feet.  It’s a heck of a way to be greeted as you make your way
into their lobby.

The Renaissance Mumbai Convention Center Hotel, located in Mumbai, features the “Media Wall” which is a great way to break away from meetings and conferences and catch up on news, a game or listen to music.  This hotel is owned by Marriot and features some very modern offerings, including the Media Wall.

As you can see, many hotels are now featuring the latest and greatest in videos walls to help dazzle their guest and encourage new guest to take in their accommodations.  As video technology becomes more affordable the likely hood that more hotels are going to have massive video wall displays becomes increasingly likely.  They are a great way to draw a crowd and even keep a crowd entertained while they take care of mundane tasks like checking into their hotel room or waiting in line to buy tickets to the latest show.  They’ve become a centerpiece for hotel lobbies too because they give the hotel owners the opportunity to show off the latest and greatest promotions all while entertaining new and arriving guests.  It’s not rocket science, video walls are the wave of the future and hotels are going to continue to ride that wave.

One Impressive Video Wall – the Comcast Center in Philadelphia

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On the Northwest corner of 17th and Arch Streets in one of the oldest and best-known
cities in the U.S., you’ll find the Comcast Center.  Inside sits the largest four-millimeter LED display in the world!  It stretches over 83 feet wide and 25 feet tall, the square footage of a 3 bedroom home (2100 feet.)  Over 18 hours a day this screen broadcasts high-impact imagery to visitors of the Comcast Center, which consists of completely unique programming that was designed specifically for the Comcast center.

Video walls have become a public art form.  I mean think about it, in 16th century England, gothic buildings were amazing to look at, but now buildings in big cities are designed to display large signage.  And sure, there are advertisements that are part of that signage (you’ve got to pay the bills somehow,) but more importantly are the displays that aren’t just about bringing in cash.  There are video screens that cause us to OHHH and AHHHH when we see them.  The CEO of Comcast agrees, saying this about the Comcast Center video wall:

“Given the strong relationship between Comcast and Liberty and Philadelphia, we wanted to make this special gift to the City in connection with the construction and building of our new headquarters.
“Philadelphia is known for its public art and The Comcast Experience is a tribute to the spirit of creativity and technology that is part of the fabric of this city.”

And he’s right; creativity can shine through a video screen.  Modern artists are more Photoshop experts then painting experts.  Have you seen some of the designs modern digital artists can create?  It’s amazing.  In fact there are YouTube videos demonstrating this, starting from scratch.  I’m pretty sure Picasso would have been quite impressed.

The technology that makes screens like the one at the Comcast Center possible is a technique called 3-Camera Panorama, which is basically taking 3 very powerful cameras, placing them side-by-side and filming just about anything you can imagine.  Some of my favorite shots are the cityscapes such as New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, London, Paris and Milan.  But the nature shots can be amazing (and just as awe inspiring as well.  The cool thing about this technique is that it offers a full 10 million pixels, creating this ultra real image.
  With this amount of pixels, it’s actually 5 times the resolution of the best hi-definition TVs.  The images are so vivid that you might just forget where you are.  The images are randomly selected from a drive that stores thousands of amazing shots.  This means that the images are constantly changing and you never know what you’re going to see next!

The Comcast center is officially the tallest building in the Philly, so it only makes sense that it would have such a spectacular screen inside, adding the building’s beauty.  And it’s worth mentioning that this isn’t just a run of the mill office building, there are plenty of reasons to stop by and check it out.  There are over 20 stores in side the building and some of your favorite restaurants too.  If you like seeing new attractions, then come by   and check out this building.  You can grab a cup of coffee at Bucks County Coffee Co. or eat Mexican Post’s primo quesadillas.

Whatever your reason for stopping in the Comcast Center, the video wall is bound to impress you.  Modern art has taken a new twist that inspires, impresses and is overall a great addition to the city of Philadelphia.

Everybody is Feeling the Benefit of Multiple Screens

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So we look at gamers and the high-tech guys on 24 hour news channels and we see multiple screens, but to be completely honest I hadn’t even considered hooking up a 2nd (and certainly not a 3rd) screen until fate had it that I had to buy a more powerful video card.  I had been messing with some video editing software and a RAM and video card upgrade was needed.  A positive by product of that was that I had an extra video output.  This made me wonder, could I just hook up my old 15 inch LCD so that I’d have extra screen real estate?  Turns out it was pretty easy and that was way back in 2005 when I
was using Windows XP.  Even then it was quite easy, it only took a few mouse clicks and a quick adjustment and VIOLA!  It was all hooked up.  It didn’t take long to realize that my productivity improved once I started using the second monitor.  One screen was for work, the other communications and all in all, I was beginning to save a fair amount of time each day.

I have no idea why I was surprised; I mean survey after survey and study after study all reveal the same thing- that having a second screen improves productivity under nearly any circumstance.  As a writer I even added a third monitor that helps out tremendously.  I can easily display an outline of a project or tools from various programs.  I can compare rough drafts and much more.  If I have tables or spreadsheets open it allows me to see all columns open and see them all at once.  And as I mentioned before, I can have my communication channels on a screen by themselves.  This means that email (of course) is always open.  I don’t have to hunt for the right window when I hear the familiar BLING! Indicating a new email.  I also have messengers open- AIM & Skype; this means that there isn’t any bouncing between screens.  Now it’s true that you can use your keyboard to quickly move through windows, in Windows it’s alt-tab, but that’s time consuming.  I mean honestly- a study released by the University of Utah says that you’ll save an average of 10 seconds per 5 minutes worked just by having an additional screen.  Those increments add up very quickly through out the week, and trust me, by the end of the year you will have saved a LOT of time.

Game players have been pushing elaborate 2+ screen setups for years.  In fact, they’ll often have 4 or 6 screens stacked and arrange in a near oval shape to create the ultimate 3D environment.  If there is room on their desk, there is room for another monitor, or at least that seems to be the theme.  Especially for first person shooter games (like Call of Duty and Quake, multiple monitors seem to be significantly useful.  One of the most popular and best-known multi-screen “games” was Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X (and beyond.)  Users have found that they can use extra screens for maps, panoramic views, views to the side, exterior views, and the instrument panels.  In fact it makes the game so real that experts use this type of setup to train for actual flight before jumping into a new aircraft.

Of course there are those that prefer to expand their screen real estate by using larger monitors.    You can get a 24-inch LED for around $300 and it will provide you with 50% more screen than a single 19-inch monitor.  The advantage of this is that it takes up less space than 2 19-inch monitors.  But there are those of us that just prefer the two screens.   Not to mention that you can probably get 2 19-inch monitors for less than you’d end up paying for the 24 inch.

A few years ago, people might have though that 2 monitors looked tacky or not stylish, but oddly enough as it has become more popular, desks almost look somewhat empty without the extra monitor.  In fact, there so popular these days companies recruiting new employees actually use multi-screens as a selling point.  In fact many new recruits almost demand multi-screens.  The tech sector in particular finds it particularly useful.  If you’re a coder, then you probably have one screen filled with information nearly all the time.   If you’re staring at code and you get interrupted, then finding the spot you left can be pretty difficult.  It wastes valuable time and as they say time is money.  Having multiple monitors makes this significantly easier to manage.  That’s probably why most tech companies don’t even debate having multiple monitors, it’s a given.

Setting multiple monitors really isn’t that difficult.  And regardless of whether you are using MAC or PC, there are just a few settings that have to be quickly adjusted to get everything setup.  There are some really neat devices these days to that help make the transition to multiple monitors even easier.  For example, you don’t even have to buy a 2nd video card anymore.  There is a device by the company Matrox called the DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go.  Just like the name implies, they allow you to hook up either 2 or 3 monitors, respectively, without the need to install a new video card.  For those of you that are less technically savvy, this is an excellent device that can take your production to the next level, without a lot of expense.  I’ve written about the
DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go before, and there is a reason why.  These are excellent devices that I highly recommend.

But regardless of how you decide to hook up your extra monitors, the key is that you make the decision to make the upgrade.  You’ll soon appreciate the time you save as so many others have.  We make jokes about an office with multiple monitors looking like mission control or something out of The Matrix, but in all honesty trends are moving towards every office and every profession using multiple monitors.  There is enough evidence available these days to suggest that having multiple monitors will benefit your company, so it would be silly to go against the current and try to only use one monitor.  As so many others have discovered, you too will soon discover that the additional screen real estate will be a huge advantage to your business and your life.

How You Can Create A Seamless Video Wall

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There are more reasons than I can name for you to want a seamless video wall, but regardless of what it is, the big question that is how do you create a seamless video wall for your office, digital signage, trade show display or whatever other purpose you have.  In this article we’re going to try and discuss a few of the basics that you need to know when you put together a video wall system, and how you can create a seamless video wall display that will attract business from new prospects that will be amazed at just how stunning your display is.

There are essentially 2 types of jumbo displays that your company can use to impress your perspective clients.  You have single monitor displays and multiple monitor displays.  The difference is just like it probably sounds.  When you have a single monitor jumbo display you actually have a truly seamless display, which is what most people are after.  Depending on what monitor or unit you are using, this can be extremely high resolution, despite being extremely large.  There are a number of makers that make very large displays that can be used for this type of display.  NEC is known for their stunning color and the technology that they use behind it.  That’s probably why they are such a popular choice for multiple monitor computer systems.  The problem with NEC is that they tend to be on the expensive side of things.  For example, they offer quite a stunning 82-inch display (completely seamless of course.)  It’s price, on sale, is just under $50,000.  That’s quite a purchase regardless of how big your company is, so it’s important to be sure that you’re looking for a true seamless monitor before making this purchase.

On the flip side of things, the other style of video wall that is available is a wall using multiple monitors that are connected through a central unit.  There are certainly pros and there are certainly cons to using this type of system over the single monitor seamless video wall.   Probably my favorite pro about using a multiple monitor system is that you can scale this system much easier than using a true seamless.  The multiple monitor system is setup up really one of 2 ways.  The options are either a central computer, which controls the monitors individually by using certain software and a special video card that allows multiple outputs, or by using a stand-alone controller.  If you are looking for the least expensive route, then using a stand-alone controller is probably your best option.  A controller such the iVu9 pro will allow for up to 9 outputs and multiple different monitor arrangements, giving you the flexibility to setup the monitors however you choose.

The biggest drawback to using a multiple monitor setup is that it’s not a truly seamless, and the closer to seamless you go, the more expensive the monitors may end up costing you.  It really all comes down to bezel size.  On most monitors the bezel is around ½ to ¾ of an inch.  However, there are special monitors that you can purchase that have a bezel that is much smaller and significantly less noticeable.  You can use these and create a super stunning display for 1/10 of the cost that you would pay for the seamless NEC 82-inch monitor.   Depending on your application and whether or not you need a truly seamless monitor, this may be a better option for you.  It really just depends on your overall needs.

Regardless of what you decide, setting up your seamless video wall or your near seamless video wall will be a boon for your business.  You’ll appreciate the additional business that having a video wall setup will bring your company.  There are a few choices to make when you’re setting up your video wall, but you ultimately know what’s best for your business and a custom solution that’s right for you can only be determined after you examine all the facts.  Seamless or semi-seamless, a video wall is going to help improve your business, it’s a guarantee.

Overcoming the Multi-Task Blues with Multiple Screens

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Ok, I’ll be the first to admit that I get easily distracted when I’m trying to work.  I means let’s face it, at any given time that you’re trying to focus, you’re being hounded by multiple alerts, be it email, Skype, Facebook updates, twitter updates, linked in profiles, Reddit stories or pictures, calendar alerts, and if you’re like me you probably have a favorite forum or two in the mix as well.  To say that it’s sometimes frustrating is a pretty huge understatement.  I mean let’s face it, even when you try to turn down the noise, it’s still there, buzzing in your ear like a busted fridge.  And even if you’ve become a master at toggling among a dozen tabs, moving your mouse like Superman himself and an expert at speed-reading, you’re still losing time if you’re only using one monitor to manage all of your applications.

Now that I’ve ranted about the problem, you’d probably like to know the solution (ok, well if you read the title, I’m guessing you know where I’m going with this, but let’s do it anyways.)  One of the fastest growing trends in the workplace is the additional of
multiple monitors- 2, 3 or even more.    Companies and home offices have exploded with screens the way population explodes during springtime at the zoo.  All of these offices are starting to look like creepy control room in The Matrix (you remember don’t you?)  Or perhaps they look like a NASA control center- irrelevant really, but what is relevant is just how much time and energy multiple monitors can save you.

It’s almost amusing to those of us that have made the switch to multiple screens.  It’s like asking someone with a cable modem to use dial-up again.  You just don’t go backwards.  The average for most multi-monitor users is 3 monitors with 3 tables open on each- if one goes down it’s like be smacked in the knee with a police baton during a marathon- you go down and you go down hard.    According to a recent New York Times article a lady by the name of Jackie Cohen, age 42, works at home and uses 3 17-inch monitors at any given time.  She writes a blog, and uses her center monitor for writing.   The other 2-display real time feeds like Facebook, Twitter and an RSS feed where she keeps up with her favorite blogs.  She made a joke about one of her monitors breaking recently saying that it made her computer run faster, but her brain couldn’t handle it.

So here’s an impressive number for you: in 2011 tech firms sold 179 million monitors, in combination with only 130 million computers.  What does this tell us?  Well obviously
it’s a hint at just how many people are trying the multiple monitor thing.  On top of that people are discovering that the rumors are true, size does matter.  The average size of monitor went up from 18-inches five years ago, to 21-inches just last year.

One of the best-known and largest suppliers of monitors, NEC, said nearly 40 percent of all corporate customers are using more than one monitor.   Of course there are probably a number of good reasons for the sales spike.  I mean let’s face it, the cost of monitors have gone down drastically.  It was only 5 years ago that a 24 each display would cost you over $700 dollars.  If a retail store tried to charge that now, you’d probably laugh at the clerk and walk out.  The average price is around $300, in case you were wonder, but discount suppliers online have deals that are even better than that.

In addition to the lower prices on monitors, you can bet that they are thinner and lighter too.  I can’t imagine trying to use 3 CRT monitors on my desktop (that’d just be silly in all honesty- even though it was actually done not that long ago), but having 3 high definition LED displays just makes me happy.  And you can bet that with all the communication tools, like the ones we mentioned above, the extra screen real estate could be a huge advantage.

You know what they say about a guy with 5 monitors, right?  He’s probably trying to impress young recruits to come work for his tech company.  OK, OK, I’m just being funny, but in all seriousness, there are companies that now use multiple monitors as a selling
point for a tech position.  There are jobs, like software engineer and other technical jobs where having more than one screen is pretty much essential.  Engineers aren’t dumb and they know that having the appropriate tools to do a job right could mean success or failure.  So companies offer big screens and many screens to serious candidates.

If you’ve been trying to determine the main motivation behind using multiple screens, the idea tends to be that multiple screens increase productivity, but it’s difficult to prove this, even to some of the die-hard-multi-screeners.  I guess it really comes down to the type of job that you’re doing and the actual need to have live data streamed in front.  After all, there are the detractors that say having more than one monitor just means you’re more likely to mess around on other screens and avoid doing actual work.  But according to a study done at the University of Utah, this simply was not the case.  They found that productivity was higher among those with 2 or more monitors than those who just used a single monitor.  The study cost about $50,000 to conduct and was paid for by the guys over at NEC.  Of course, once the news got out that two monitors really are better than one, HP/Compaq picked up the story and it became a sort of mantra for a while.  Worth noting the lead professor on the study said that the financing of the study in no way influenced the results.

One argument that I made for using multiple monitors that seems to have been backed up by the University of Utah Study is that having multiple monitor can actually cut down on the amount of toggling that takes place.  In return this can save you hours every week- 10 seconds for every five minutes of work.  If you don’t have to toggle back and forth, your company could save literally thousands of dollars a year in lost time.  David E. Meyer, a professor at the University of Michigan agrees that toggling is the equivalent of lost time, even if multi-tasking sometimes makes work more difficult as well.  His
suggestion is to try and stay on task, focus on one thing at a time, even if you are using multiple monitors.

If you talk to people in the financial industry, they’d probably laugh at the thought of using only 2 or 3 monitors.  Many day traders find themselves using 6, 8, 12- the sky is the limit really.  But of course the wall of monitors they use end up displaying charts, graphs, headlines, even live news feeds.  When you’re trading stocks there are so many indicators that you must be aware of to make wise trading decisions.  One downside to the wall of monitors though is that if you work with other people, it can make inter-office communication (at least on a face to face level) a bit more challenging.

Programmers are another field of employees that seem to think multiple monitors are advantages.  The owner of a popular software firm says that he uses 2 monitors and will buy his employees an extra monitor as well, if they want it.  As seems to be the case with a lot of multi-monitor supporters, the main advantage is the ability to have communications open and code at the same time.

Indeed, as this trend continues to grow, it’s likely that more offices will transform into what some might say looks like mission control.  The advantages are many and it’s impossible that other companies and businesses will not continue to catch on to what appears to be an incredible tend.  If you haven’t bought multiple monitors for your office, just remember that it’s rather insignificant cost wise, but will likely save you 10 seconds for every 5 minutes of work, this will add up very quickly.  Those that make the change to multiple monitors never go back, I’d bet that once you have multiple monitors, you won’t go back either.

How Multiple Monitor Control Rooms Run Our Government

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You may not realize it, in fact you probably don’t, but right now you are being kept safe by a technology system that our government has not only embraced, but has put to use in
so many facets.  Where ever you might find a government run control room you can expect that there will be multiple monitor technology employed.  And fortunately, the technology is improving at such a rate that we have seen massive increases in the ability to set these systems up and also an improved functionality of these systems that make them operate more smoothly.

For example, government broadcast agencies use a multiple monitor control room to monitor incoming and outgoing feeds.  This type of control room wouldn’t be able to operate if it were not for multiple monitor systems that allowed controllers to view multiple screens at once.

This technology has been incorporated in many different types of government systems.  Another major system where this technology has been incorporated is our defense systems.  Government Navy, Army, Air force and Marines, all use multiple monitor systems for a variety of purposes.  Be in tracking, spying, monitoring, recording, weapons systems and more.  These multiple monitor control rooms save American lives by allowing the military to operate remotely.  This has been a key to our success abroad in recent years.

Weather monitoring and recording stations also rely heavily on multiple monitor computer systems.  When there are big earthquakes, storms or other catastrophic events, U.S. government has weather and natural disaster stations that actually record the details of these evens to help others prepare.  They use multiple monitors so that they can
monitor large amounts of data.  It is because of these multiple monitor systems that we are able to keep people safe and give early warnings that often times save lives.

Another area where multiple monitor systems play a key role in government is in mass transit control stations.  The ability to monitor which way trains are coming and going is absolutely essential to the health and safety of everyone on board these trains.  Multiple monitor systems help make that possible by making sure the operators and controllers can see every aspect of what’s going on during their shift.  Most people that ride mass transportation probably take for granted all the technical details of what goes on behind the scenes, but the fact of the matter is that without multiple monitor systems it wouldn’t be possible to run major transportation systems.

And last but certainly not least; were you aware that the people that manage your utilities need to use multi-monitor computers to make sure everything runs smoothly?  Whether it is your electricity, water, sewer or cable (OK electricity and cable aren’t government run, but for simplicity sake we’ll lump them all in the same group) using multiple screens is what makes it possible to manage millions of people’s utilities at once.  They rely on giant control rooms to help keep things moving along.

Regardless of which government agency you are talking about, governments use multiple monitor computer systems to help manage things more efficiently.  You probably never knew that you owe all of the things that you take for granted on big and powerful multiple monitor computer systems that make life better.  It is because of this technology that millions of people are kept safe, millions of people get to work, millions of people have electricity and millions of people have water.  It’s is because of these systems that we can live our lives with all the comforts that we’ve become so dependent on every day.

How Government Agencies are Using Video Walls

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The GSA (also known as the General Services Administration) are taking a leap into the future to help streamline their visitors that make their way in to the their San Francisco
Federal Building and this most likely won’t be the last place where we see this technology used.  They have installed a jumbo 9-foot by 19-foot high definition video wall that does a number of cool things for visitors that make their way into the building.  It provides streaming live content for visitors, such as live news updates and current events.  It also offers web content, such as information about the building, the agency and things that the agency might be working on in the building.  They also have information on the building itself, such as where you can go to get specific services. This includes plans, occupants, business, social activities, energy use, weather, transportation
and much more.  An example is that the screen will highlight the buildings energy and water conservation.  It will also give information on local mass transit and provide weather updates for the masses.

This isn’t the first video wall that has been located in the GSA building in San Francisco.  They actually had another screen for several years, but it was far less efficient.  That was one reason for the upgrade, to save the agency and in turn taxpayers money.  They will save around 14,000 kilowatt-hours over the course of the year, as compared to the previous years.  That’s essentially what it would take to power a normal house for around 15 months.  The wall was specially designed for this building and consists of 16 LCD screens that are remarkably thin.  On a side note, the software and hardware that power the monster video wall are capable of running just about any type of image or video file format, a huge perk when designing content for the monitor.

Another neat aspect of the video wall at the General Services Administration is that it is all controlled through one special computer that offers options for designing the layout, rotating the computer and more.  It is a touch sensitive computer that can give tenants and visitors alike a lot of information on the building, and makes using the computer extremely easy and common sense.

If you’re visiting the building for the first time, it’s highly likely that you’ll be impressed by the video wall displays that are fluid and have a collage of rotating images to catch visitors eyes, such a huge and impressive video of the Golden Gate Bridge.  And just in case you were wonder, yes, they do have audio as well.  There are speakers mounted above the screen in the ceiling.  Just in case the room has to be used an emergency shelter, the screen is can be powered by a back up generator that would power during power outages.

Overall the screen at the San Francisco General Services Administration building is quite impressive and will likely the way for similar buildings and screens.  It’s this type of innovation within government buildings that inspire and impress the rest of the free world.  It’s type of innovation and spirit within government that drives the world and helps make these technologies take off.  One can only hope that using this type of technology can truly help us improve how our government and businesses offices are run, but if they are leading the way, then it’s probably a smart idea and I say we should go for it and continue to use this type of multiple monitor technology within government.

How Local Governments Have Improved Efficiency with Multiple Monitors

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It should come as no surprise that government agencies are always on the lookout for ways to stretch and expand their budgets.  If you’re lucky, then your local government has
caught on to the trend of multiple monitor computer systems.  Heck, even the federal government has caught on to the trend and if it continues, then it could save governments both local and national a small fortune.  In this article we’re going to talk about the advantages of governments using multiple monitor computer systems and how they can save a bundle for taxpayers.

Government agents are pretty much always limited in what they can do.  Unlike the private sector, they are assigned tax dollars as part of a yearly, bi-yearly, or quarterly budget (typically).  So once they use up those funds, they’re pretty much out of luck.  That’s why using multiple monitors in a government office is so helpful.  Being able to increase efficiency and do more without spending more is extra important in the government sector.  And the good news is that this is happening in many different government sectors.

In fact, the U.S. government Civil service department has started using multiple monitors in their offices.  They’re doing so in an effort to improve the way that their business operates.  The idea is to help drive diplomatic principles and improve the world more efficiently.  If the U.S. Civil Service department can improve the service within their own department, then they have a much higher probability of improving services elsewhere as well.  And that’s the end goal, to make the world a better place, according to the guys in the civil service department.

Another sector within the government that has started using multiple monitors is in our nations schools.  But it probably isn’t the way that you pictured.  Here’s a fact for you:  schools aren’t as safe as they were when we went, so the need for high tech security is a must.  That’s why you’re seeing school security systems use multiple monitor video walls to help keep our kids safe.  It’s sad that schools have had to resort to such measures, but it’s reassuring to know that the technology is available to help keep people safe.  It’s comforting to know that the multiple monitors are responsible for the safety of our children.

In additional schools, another area where multiple monitors computer systems are fairly prevalent in our government is in our defense department.  Both abroad and at home, the military uses video walls as part of an advanced system to help keep this country safe.  The technology that they use is similar to what you would find in the school systems video walls; however, they often use multiple monitor systems for tracking, spying and
weapons.  Drones that are flown remotely are powered by powerful multiple monitor computers.  NASA is another office that incorporates multiple monitor technology (and have for quite some time.)  It is extremely important that video be able to be dragged and dropped and that the scientists and technicians at NASA be able to use unlimited screen real estate.  This greatly improves the functionality of the system and means better utilization of the over all facility.

A far less exciting, but just as important none-the-less, area where multiple monitor technology is being employed in government is in office space, such as government account agency.  Here’s the thing that they’ve figured out in the government sector- multiple monitors improve the functionality of an office because they allow workers to do more.  They improve government by increasing the amount of work that they can do during any given day.  As mention earlier, this can be key for a government office being able to stay within budget and operate at full capacity for the entire year.  It’s often difficult for those of us in the private sector to imagine just how important it is to stay within budget, because if you’re in the private sector you operate within a moving budget, whereas it is much more static in government agencies.  Governments have to be much more careful about how they operate.

So what’s the takeaway from all of this?  Well, as the trend continues to grow within government agencies, we in the private sector should take note and use this information to positively influence our businesses.  Because here’s the thing, if the government can use this efficiency and learn how to run a more efficient machine, then your business could almost certainly benefit from the additional productivity.  It’s time to start taking your business’s productivity seriously, and if you focus on what we already know works because of government case studies and design, then you are almost certainly going to experience the same benefits.

How to Make a Video Wall

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As someone that focuses most of their energy on computers and tech related products, one of the most common questions that I hear these days is, “How do I make a video
wall?” Fortunately for those that are trying to put together options for a video wall, in this article I’m going to discuss how to make a video wall.  We’ll discuss all the various components that you need to get your video wall up and running.  Hopefully by the end of this article you’ll be able to piece together everything you need to get your video wall up and running and in turn this will help your business, whatever it may be, thrive!

Let’s start with a very important part of any video wall, the monitors.  I can’t honestly think of a good reason to use anything other than LED high resolution monitors these days.  But beyond resolution is there something that you should be looking for when you pick out your monitors?  Of course there is, one of the things that makes a video wall so attractive is using monitors which have a smaller than traditional bezel.  The idea behind finding monitors with a small bezel is that you’ll be able to use many small (and inexpensive as well) screens to create a giant screen. In case you’re unsure, the bezel is simply the inactive part of the screen, it kind of looks like a frame to me. There are a
number of companies that focusing on micro bezel.  Among those are Samsung, NEC and Dell.  I can’t say for sure that one is particularly better than the other.  I will say that NEC has been around and innovating in the monitor world probably the longest, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best.  Probably the best way to pick your monitors is to find out what’s on sale, and then compile a pros and cons list to determine what you best option is going to be.

Next you need to consider what type of video card is going to be best.  Well let me back up, there are multiple options for connecting your screens and making them active.  What you choose should be dependent on how many monitors you need to use or how big you want to make your video wall.  The two main methods for hooking up your video wall are going to be using a multiple monitor computer and using a stand-alone video wall controller.  There are pros and cons to each of course, which we’ll touch on, just a little bit.

One of the big advantages of using a stand-alone video wall controller is going to be cost.  When you’re building your video wall it’s important to make cuts where you can, and by using a device such as the iVu9 Xtreme4vs.  The beauty of a device like this is this is that it’s relatively easy to setup, as the ports are conveniently placed.  It can handle up to 9 different screens in up to 3 different arrangements and can be easily programmed, to make moving your video wall (if necessary) a complete breeze.   Of course, a big advantage is also the ability to use high-resolution graphics across all the screens.  And finally, I find it pretty cool that you can remote into your stand-alone video wall controller so that you can program the screens as needed.  This is definitely a cool feature.  For example, consider this:  you’ve sent an employee to work a trade show that you were unable to attend, but you can make adjustments to your presentation on the fly, thanks to the remote-in feature.

The other option, and one that many opt to do for some reason or another, is to have a custom PC built that’s designed to specifically for multiple monitors.  I know this seems like it might be a good option, and honestly for some of you it might be, but it does tend to be a bit more expensive.  Here’s why:  when you build your own system, you’re stuck with the cost of an expensive video card that can handle multiple monitors and the cost of a computer system that will cost you a pretty penny as well.  You can’t go cheap when you get your computer system either, and that’s a big chunk of the expense.  You need a system with a fast processor, preferably an i7 and 4-8 GBs of RAM.  There’s nothing wrong with going this route though, and in the end it may give you a bit more control, which is what some people are looking for, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.  You just have to balance you decision and figure out what is going to work best for your business.

One big question people ask quite frequently is what type of stand do you use for video walls.  The answer really depends on the size and scope of your video wall.  In other words, there are customized stands that can be purchased that make setup (physically) your video wall pretty easy.  Among these stands, it’s worth noting, that there are both stand alone versions and wall mounted versions, either of which is considerably easy to assemble and display.  Of course there are custom stands for large display setups.  The stand usually cost a few hundred dollars.  You don’t need to be an expert to setup a video wall stand; it’s fairly common sense.

Hopefully this article helped you figure out how to make a video wall.  It is not hard to do these days, all you need are the tools and you can have your video wall up and running in no time at all.  The benefits of having a video wall in your business’s arsenal are exponential.  You’ll find that you’re better able to attract new clients and new customers and you’ll love how easy it is to setup and design new content for you presentation.  Using a video wall will be one of the smartest moves that you’ve ever made for your business.

What Video Wall Solutions Will Help My Business?

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As a small, medium or even large business owner, the goal is always the same; increase your company’s profits through innovation and creativity.  It really doesn’t matter if you
own a small Mom and Pop shop, or if you manage the marketing for a large company and need new ways to market, using the right video wall solution is one key that your company should be using.  In the old days, it was an expensive and overwhelming task to put a video wall together, but as technology has progressed, it’s not only cheaper, but modern video wall solutions are better too.  The days of slow, heavy and poor quality are long gone.  In fact, the best video wall solutions offer a design that is easy to setup and use and break down and transport, if necessary.  Hopefully you’ll find that this article provides some insight as to what you need to look for when you go to make your video wall purchase, and it will help you pick the right components so that your video wall functions best for your business.

In the old days of JumboTrons and CRTs, putting together a video wall solution was pretty tough.  Those days are long gone though, because these days, LED monitors with ultra thin bezel (we’ll discuss this in a moment) are attached to a stand alone video controller, which that will allow you to control up to 9 monitors with only one device.  This means a couple of things for your video wall solution: you’ll spend less (significantly) and you’ll have significantly higher quality.  The other advantage is that LEDs are much less bulky and weigh less, so they’ll be easy to setup and maneuver as needed, if you need to do so.

Let’s talk about LEDs first off.  The cool thing about LED monitors is that they have an ultra sharp and stunning picture quality.  This means that if you choose the right device(s) to accompany your monitors, you can setup a monster video wall that has awesome quality.  Another cool thing about LED monitors is that as the technology improves, the bezel gets smaller and less noticeable.  The bezel is, of course, the inactive part of the screen that looks like a frame (it’s usually black.)  The reason a small bezel is important is because if you want to design a custom video wall solution that allows you to use all the screens in sync as one giant monitor, then having a small bezel will make the screens look more like one screen.  This has turned out to be a huge break through in the multiple monitor arena.  Before the days of tiny bezels, the best option for high definition video walls was a giant screen by a company like NEC.  This was cool except that it could cost upwards of $50,000 or MORE.  That’s why you saw far less companies using multiple monitor walls back in those days.

Picking the device to organize and control your video wall can be a challenge.  There are several ways to approach it.  I’m going to touch on the most popular solution, and then you can research and figure out what might work best for you.  Using a multiple monitor computer or a computer than is capable of handling more than one monitor is a solution that companies have been using for years.  The setup includes either a video card that is capable of handling 6-9 (or more even) monitors or using multiple monitors all in one machine.  Of course the pro to this is that you have a little bit better control of your windows and what’s displayed on them.  Some of us like to be able to be very specific on how we control things.  The down side is that this setup is typically going to be more expensive.  Video cards like the Matrox M9188 for example are expensive, and they must be coupled with a powerful machine that may end up costing a lot.

Another, better (in my humble opinion) option is a stand-alone video wall controller.  There are a few available, the best of which is the iVu9 from Super-PC.  The advantages of using a stand-alone are many, but the least is most certainly not the fact that you will save a considerable amount of money.  And with the modern stand-alone controllers you’ll find that you’ll be able to do the majority of the same things that you wanted to do with the other setup.

The perfect video wall solution for your setup could be as simple as a controller and 9 monitors, but regardless of how you decide to set up your video wall, your business will thrive because of it.

Building LED Video Walls

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As you’ve probably noticed in recent years, the popularity of video walls for practical
applications in business have been skyrocketing.  It wasn’t so long ago that we were all still mesmerized by the bright lights and video walls in Times Square and Las Vegas, but now these same video walls have can be seen in thousands of places and for dozens of different purposes.  On top of that, building LED video walls isn’t expensive any more either.  In fact, for a few thousand dollars you can put together a stunning video display that would have the Sony guys that designed the original JumboTron blushing.  In this article we’re going to discuss the best way to design a LED video wall and what other components that you may need to make your video wall work affectively.

 

These days the businesses of the world need a cheap design for powerful visual displays that can be transported and setup easily.  Fortunately LED video walls are an easy
solution for most business, and because the technology is becoming more affordable, it’s becoming significantly more prevalent. Below are a few of the key components that you need to setup a LED video wall.

Probably the most popular to way to setup an LED video wall these days is to use a stand-alone video wall controller.  There are a few good ones available, but when speaking of value for money, one of the best is the iVu9 Stand-alone video wall controller.  There are a few reasons that this video wall controller works better for a led video wall.  Let’s talk resolution.  The iVu9 video wall controller can handle 1920×1200 output, meaning that despite the size of your screen you’re going to get a powerful and stunning image that will have a lasting effect on potential clients or whoever else that you might be trying to impress.  It also supports various modes, making it easy to design the perfect custom video wall for whatever you needs may be.  It supports 3×3, 3×2, and 2×3 modes.  That’s really the brilliance of this controller.

Cost-wise, you should expect to spend around $2700 for the controller.  Depending on what type of the size and style of LED display that you decide to use you may spend a few hundred, all the way up to a few thousand on the actual monitors for your video wall.  This means that for just over $5000 (over estimating) you can have a nice video wall with a stunning display that will be an awesome addition to your business.  Considering that this same display would have at one time cost over $50,000 just a few short years ago, that’s quite a deal.  Another cool thing to consider is that LED bezel (or the inactive screen portion, typically the part that looks like a black frame.) technology is amazing at this point. If you’re looking for an ultra sharp image, the bezel capabilities of LED is tiny at this point.

These days you can save big bucks and have stunning LED video wall display.  There’s no reason to put off designing your system, the right time to buy is now.  Technology is in a good spot and you’ll be able to get a great LED video wall system without spending a ton of money.  That’s why there has never been a better time to buy and if you’re considering buying a video wall system for your business you’ll appreciate that you jump in on the technology now.  If you had any doubts, remember that those that snooze really do lose.

How Do I Build a Video Wall Cheap?

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Business owners have been pondering for a while- how do I build a video wall cheap?  A
simple question, but as technology advances, even small and medium sized business owners want to know how they can get in on the video wall action.  The good news is that because the technology has gotten better, it’s cheaper than ever to build a video wall for your business.  In this article we’ll discuss some of the best ways to build a video wall, including some of the newest and most powerful components that you can pick up. Well also discuss what is that makes a video wall function best.  It really comes down to picking up the right components and knowing how to apply them to your system.  Once you know what to buy, then building a video wall cheap is actually pretty easy.

Because more businesses are attending trade shows to show off their business, videos walls have become a popular commodity for many businesses.  It’s not uncommon at all for even small and medium-sized business to attend several trade shows a year because they are finding that they are a great resource for pulling in new clients and developing new business strategies.  In fact, if you’re not attending multiple trade shows with your business, then you’re probably leaving business on the table.  One of the ways these businesses attract new clients at trade shows is the through the use of video walls.  Video walls create a living campaign that can be customized to whatever the particular trade
 show is geared towards. The colorful and customized displays are a key part of grabbing the attention of perspective clients and getting them to pay attention to whatever it may be that your company happens to be offering.  When it comes to trade shows, it’s all about getting the most attention.  That’s what they’re there for as a matter of fact.  In the long run, having a powerful video wall display can be a huge benefit to any business, but the initial setup can be a bit pricey.

Thankfully, technology is improving, so it’s becoming easier for that mid-sized business to get in on the action.  What’s new, you ask?  Well there have been some incredible developments in stand-alone video wall controllers that like the iVuPro9 which allow you to setup as many as 9 monitors easily.  And the cool thing about these adapters is that they can maintain high-resolution images across the 9 monitors, so you’re left with a display that leaves a lasting impression.  Furthermore, the cost of a video wall controller like iVuPro9 is significantly less expensive than traditional video signage options.  That’s why it’s become such a popular move for business of all sizes.  The value is obvious when it comes to using these stand-alone options.

Other business have found that in house video signage displays are a great way to recommend their latest products and services, similar to the way that traditional signs may have done.  However, the beauty of using digital signage is that the message can easily be changed and improved to fit whatever may be happening at any given time.  Digital signs still grab more attention than traditional signs too.  People just seem to be impressed by the bright lights and shining colors, which is why given the fact that digital signs and video walls are so cheap these days, it’s a smart move for nearly any business.  Your business will benefit from being able to better reach your customers, and you’ll appreciate the ease at which you can reach your customers or clients.

Why Game with Multiple Monitors?

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Hardcore gamers figured out something long ago that the average gamer just now seems to be catching on to:  more screens means more fun.  Regardless of the style of game you like play, be it FPS (first person shooter), RPG (role playing game), or RTS (real time strategy), using multiple monitors will make these games more fun and I guarantee you’ll be enjoying them.  Why, you ask?  It’s actually simple, playing games on multiple screens does a few things and in this article we’re going to discuss what those are.  We’re also going to discuss how you can turn your gaming PC into a multiple monitor machine and we’re going to discuss some of the computer specs that you need to do this.

So what kinds of games play well on multiple monitors?  Well as I mentioned above, just about any genre is going to be better on multiple screens.  For example, games like Call of Duty (a FPS or First Person Shooter) are better because you get a better overall view of the screen around you.  While you don’t see more than other players, you do have a more realistic view.  You can better use your natural peripheral vision to see who’s running up beside you.  RPGs are better on multiple monitors too.  Especially when you are looking at large screens, such as an open map like you might expect to find in Final Fantasy.  You’ll be able to maneuver better as well.  And for all of you RTS (or real time strategy) geeks that love games like World of Warcraft, having more screen real estate is going to benefit you pretty greatly too.  In fact, most of the already hardcore gamers already have multiple screens setup.

Having additional screen space is becoming especially popular for racing games and flight simulators.   In fact, a lot of flight schools actually use games such as Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X to help train their young or new pilots.  They are able to do this by creating an amazing display that is very similar to a real cockpit.  Each screen can represent a section of the cockpit, so when the pilot gets into his Cessna or similar plane for the first time, he already knows his way around.  This cuts the learning curve pretty dramatically.

Another popular use for multiple monitors in gaming is racing video games.  In fact, when the Charlotte motor speedway wanted to kick off the use of their giant multi-monitor screen, then introduced it with the most amazing version of video racing ever created.  But that’s not the only time this has been done in racing.  In fact, iRacing.com, the popular video game site that holds real championship online racing recommends setting up 3 or more monitors for the best affect.  And it’s not just gamers that are doing this.  The site gained notoriety when professional racecar drivers, like Dale Earnhardt started using multiple monitor systems to practice when they were injured or otherwise couldn’t make it to a real track.

So what do you need to setup a multiple monitor gaming system.  Well it should be noted that gaming computers in general have a bit more punch then a standard computer.  Gamers tend to want high quality components as well as the latest and the newest.  So, if you already have a gaming computer, then my guess if you have 8 GB of RAM or more, an i5 processor, and a great video card.  If you have these components and your video card already accepts 2 or more monitors (and many do these days) then it may be as simple as plugging in the extra monitor and heading into control panel.  However, most of us will need at least one or more pieces of hardware to get things running smoothly.  We’ll go over that next.

If you don’t have a video card that will allow you to hook up 2 monitors, that’s OK!  I’m going to let you in on a little secret to help you hook up multiple monitors to your gaming computer.  There are adapters available that make hooking up an extra monitor extremely easy.  One of the most popular adapters out there is called the DualHead2Go and it’s sister (and 3 monitor capable) TripleHead2Go.  These are plug-n-play devices that allow you to hook up additional monitors without having to open up your computer.  That’s the big advantage of course, as most people don’t like opening the case, especially if you have an expensive computer.  If you’d prefer to get a new video card though, this is another possibility.  There are plenty of video cards that are designed specifically for multiple monitor computers.  They can range anywhere from $100 all the way up to thousands of dollars depending on just how powerful they are.

Well hopefully this helps answer some of your questions about multiple monitor gaming computers with multiple monitors.  It’s guaranteed that once you make the move to a gaming computer with multiple monitors, you will not be returning to a single monitor computer.  The advantages are immense and you’ll only wonder why it took you so long to hook up your gaming computer with multiple monitors.

Does Arcade Style Racing Improve on Multiple Screens?

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If you’d like to experience your favorite racing game in the best possible capacity, then
Test Drive Unlimited on multiple screens may be your best option.  You’ve probably heard about the advantages of playing driving games on multiple screens, but we’ll touch on those a bit.  We’ll also talk about what makes Test Drive Unlimited such a fun game to play on multiple screens.

Believe it or not, Test Drive Unlimited has over 125 licensed sport cars like Bugatti Veyron and Ferrari featured in their game.  This means you’ll get some of the coolest vehicles on the road today.  You also get the option to drive off-road terrain such as Hawaii’s beautiful wilderness and the Colorado Rockies.  This also includes some really cool rainforest terrains that you probably won’t see on any other driving game.

If you play on PC or Xbox 360 there are also steering wheel controls available that make driving more realistic.  This includes the popular force feedback wheel controllers, like MS’s Wireless Racing Wheel, a popular choice among gamers.

One downside that gamers have pointed out is that despite having some great off road terrains, there are many well-known landmarks and such that are missing off of the island.  This includes many of the well-known Pearl Harbor landmarks.  And even the boats th are docked in the well-known harbor are inaccurate or even fake altogether.  It’s a fact; if there is one that gamers hate it’s to have false or inaccurate details.  Attention to detail is everything!

One of the coolest features of Test Drive Unlimited is the multiplayer component, which is known in gamer circles as M.O.O.R. or massively open online racing.  This is an
awesome addition to any race game, but those that love Test Drive Unlimited will love this part of the game even more.  It’s a great, exciting addition to the game.  Moreover, they allow players to create and join clubs, which in turn help players, organize race events.

Like most Xbox 360 games, additional content can be bought and downloaded if you choose to do so.  This includes new cars and courses.  Currently there are 8 car packs that you can buy, and there are 8 free cars that you can use.  If you are looking for a more intense and realistic experience, then you can also download “hardcore mode” which works great with steering wheels that play with the game.

If you want to play Test Drive Unlimited on your PC there are certainly some pros and cons to this.  It is recommended that as a Windows user, you’ll have fewer issues with the 32-bit version of the game then you will with the 64-bit version.  Even if you have 4 GB of RAM, as suggested by the game manufacturer, Atari, there tend to be some conflict issues when running the 64-bit version of the game.

So you want to get the most out of your gaming experience?  Well trying playing Test Drive Unlimited on 3 or more monitors.  It creates an ultra surround view that is a lot of fun- giving you, the driver, the perspective of an actual racecar driver.  Setting this up on any Windows machine that runs any version of Windows XP or later is rather easy.  Fortunately, the folks over at Microsoft are catching on to the trend of using multiple monitors, and they are making it considerably easier to setup a multiple monitor computer system.  In fact, if you’re running Windows 7, it really just takes a couple of mouse clicks to get things going smoothly.

Overall, if you are looking for a fun driving or racing game that is easy to expand and fun to play, you should give Test Drive Unlimited a shot.  Buying expansion packs will keep the fun going and using a multiple monitor setup will make it almost as good as being on the track in real life.