NEC Display Solutions Europe has announced a collaboration with Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Core and Screenly, a leading digital signage software solution for Raspberry Pi. This is one of several partnerships NEC has made with digital signage software companies leveraging Raspberry Pi as part of its digital signage solution. The joint collaboration facilitates an innovative digital signage solution which uses NEC’s P and V Series 40–55 inch large format displays and modular Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 (CM3) to deliver high impact visual content in an integrated package for professional AV applications.
When it comes to deploying signage in professional environments, not only is playback performance paramount, but also the overall user experience and the overall platform security, reliability and manageability are vital. This collaboration is a strategic move by NEC to highlight these capabilities within its versatile range of display solutions, and is in line with NEC’s Open Modular intelligent computing strategy.
Screenly’s powerful digital signage platform makes it easy to manage both small and large deployments, with targeted sectors such as retail, food and beverage, education, transport and corporate offices, who will be able to communicate eye-catching content with their customers on this platform. The player enables smooth playback of full HD videos, images and web pages, complete with health checks and remote status monitoring. Moreover, the combination of Screenly’s simple, yet powerful, CMS and the flexible API, means Screenly can be used as a stand-alone solution or integrated with IoT solutions as well as into larger, more complex systems. Sensor triggers can be incorporated to make the signage more context-aware and relevant to the viewer, enhancing the overall experience.
Jatin Bhatt, Strategic Alliance Manager at NEC Display Solutions Europe said: “Companies are looking for highly reliable technologies to continue improving their adoption and use of digital signage. The cooperation with Canonical and Screenly enables seamless integration of digital signage functionality and content management features into a single smart device, leveraging the power of the Raspberry Pi CM3 right inside our P and V Series displays. Together, this creates a simple but very secure, self-contained and effective solution for digital signage applications, supporting the NEC Open Modular computing strategy.”
Ubuntu Core is a minimal version of Ubuntu targeted at IoT and embedded devices offering over-the-air updates, security built-in from the ground up and the opportunity for additional functionality and monetisation through snaps, the universal Linux packaging application format. Automatic updates simplify the update process for businesses that have digital signage installed in numerous and remote locations, while the secure platform ensures resistance to screen takeover and other potential attacks. Ubuntu Core is fully supported on the Raspberry Pi CM3 to deliver a cost effective, secure and extensible platform.
Mike Bell, EVP of IoT and Devices at Canonical commented: “Digital signage platforms are now an increasing must-have feature for businesses all around the world. By partnering with the brightest minds in the industry, we can continue to develop enterprise and embedded IoT uses for Ubuntu Core. NEC’s large format displays with their support for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 running Ubuntu Core, offers a compelling and fully-integrated solution.”
Viktor Petersson, CEO of Screenly added: “NEC’s open modular platform approach and IoT focus with Raspberry Pi CM3 allows us to push our software right into the heart of the digital signage hardware platform, providing a vibrant yet secure digital visual proposition that takes full advantage of the opportunities the IoT offers to advertisers and other organisations to personalise content and be more interactive. We look forward to working with NEC and Canonical to deliver the future of CMS digital signage.”