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Good Day,

Just wanted to share a find that I think you will like. It is called doPublicity - a very simple and affordable digital menu/signage program that you can implement using only a PC and LCD TV's from Wal-Mart.

We have developed our menus and we are about to install our tv's this week - 42" RCA's from Wal-Mart for $700 CDN each!!

The software was only $99 USD. You can try it for free as well to see if you like it. There are several ready to use templates or you can do your own art (we did). In the next few weeks the publisher is releasing a new version that allows split screen (for streaming video) as well.

We had abandoned the digital menu board idea due to cost and we are now back on track at a total project cost of a fraction of the cost of the alternatives.

GO to www.dopublicity.com

I will post some pics of the installation in case anybody is interested.

Also, we are RTS users and we just found out about a little program they have that allows you to output formatted showtimes to an LCD monitor too. We have also done this and we are in day two of the install and it works fantastic. Ask Gareth or Rob @ RTS about the program "RSD".

Jeff

please keep us in the loop on this very very exciting!

Yes, please keep us in the loop. This sounds like exactly what I have been looking for. I would love to see any pictures you can post of the concessions and of the RTS display!

Here is a close up of the box office sign. This is just after install and is simply the raw output from RTS through the RDS program interface. Our artist is working on a header and banner - but it is pretty useful as is.

This is an RCA 42" 1080p LCD TV from Wal-Mart that cost $698 CDN$ (Wal-Mart item no. 585152) It is mounted with a Monster Cables brand LCD TV mount that cost $103 CDN$. We bought an off-lease computer to run the monitor so we do not overstress our POS station - cost $99 and an extra long VGA cable cost $15. Total cost of box office sign = $915 CDN$ + tax. Cost of art extra - but that is optional - you would not necessarily need it.



I will post a few more pics in next few messages.

(Don't worry, we will patch up the drywall screw holes later!)

Picture #2

Picture #4 (These are not great pics, they are taken with my iPhone)

that looks great perfect .the best..great going

Great look! Great price! Great job!

Speaking of digital signage and TVs, has anyone ever done business with www.swoopo.com? I saw the advertisement yesterday while on this discussion topic and clicked it out of curiousity. They are showing 40-48" HDTVs being auctioned for less than $100. I scrolled through the "Ended Auctions" and was amazed at the prices I saw. Too good to be true?!? Is this legit? I realize these are probably the lucky few, but if you are not in a hurry to make a purchase and can wait for the deal this would be an excellent source for digital signs...

I just checked them out and watched a HDTV worth in the $1500 range bid up to $145. Neat in that the auction went up in $.02 increments. There is always an additional time to bid unlike ebay which of course has a hard ending time. In order to bid you must purchase bids which sell regluarly for $.60. there are ways to buy bids cheaper.

So, that $145 tv with $.02 bids had over 7000 bids if it started at $0.00. Do the math and they are making a bunch of money.

Am I getting this right?

I think you are right about that $145 TV divided by $.02 per bid = 7250 bids. They charge $.60 per bid giving them $4350 in bids + $145 selling price = $4495 total for that $1500 TV. They made some serious money and the winner got a good deal as long as they did not have to pay for 2000 bids to get it.

Also, as a consolation to the losers, they can purchase the TV at the posted retail price less what they spent on bidding for it. So not only do they make profit on the TV that was auctioned, they also have potential to sell more of the same TV for retail.

It could pay to bid on items that have an acceptable retail price. That way, you have a chance on getting it for almost nothing if you win. If you lose, you can still purchase it for the retail total. That is, if you have the time and like to sit through an auction.

PLEASE post candy pics

Jeff,

Any new pictures?

Anyone else using this software?

Anyone using something else as software to power digital signage?

Check out Moviead.com's Digital Title Art
www.shopmoviead.com/category_s/54.htm