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Forrest Media uses NW Security Group to monitor CityScreens.
Forrest Media is one of the UK’s leading premium Out of Home (OOH) inventory owners. It controls approximately 60% of premium OOH advertising market in Scotland. It also owns and manages six of its own large format LED CityScreens™. Forrest Media was looking to monitor each screen from its operations base whilst increasing the transparency it offered to its digital OOH advertisers and so discussed with IP video specialist NW Security Group the potential for using network cameras to provide a live view of its CityScreens.
Requirements
NW Systems recommended very robust high resolution Axis network cameras which would be capable of delivering up to 30 frames per second, and streaming this video live via the internet for viewing through any web browser or mobile device. It was going to be important to be able to broadcast the live video in real-time so that advertisers can ensure their ads are being displayed in line with media buying agreements.
The size and road-side location of the CityScreens also meant that NW Security Group in-stalled cameras would need to be located up to 25 metres away from the screen, with the option of using a high quality wide angle lens if the site demanded camera siting much closer to the display. Electronic image stabilisation was also necessary to capture the whole screen in razor-sharp detail regardless of the weather conditions. To guarantee near 100% uptime of the live video stream NW Security Group would need to provide a dedicated web hosting service.
Solution
NW Security Group selected Axis P1357-E fixed network cameras because they deliver five megapixel capability ensuring excellent clarity. This camera is fitted with wide angle lens to capture the full width of the screen regardless of how close to the display they are fitted.
Each display is connected to the Internet via a broadband connection. The new cameras made use of this same connection to transmit the live video stream. NW Security Group’s managed cloud hosting service was deployed to ensure highly reliable, HD-quality real-time delivery of the video streams from all sites. In this way, NW Security Group was able to deliver a cost-effective solution as the only new component being installed at each site was the camera itself.
With CityScreen sites being located on busy roads, the installation procedure was planned out carefully by NW Security Group ahead of deployment to help minimise traffic disruption.
Results
NW Security Group has now deployed its IP video solution for DOOH to all Forrest Media CityScreens. Forrest Media has already received very positive feedback from its CityScreen advertisers and media buyers. Two clear benefits of the live view came through.
The use of the latest five megapixel network cameras ensures delivery of a detailed view of even the largest screens. The return on investment for DOOH providers is significant as the camera unit is the only new hardware item required on site. The cameras use the same broadband connection that serves the screen itself. Yet once installed, these cameras deliver valuable real-time information to advertisers and OOH providers for many years with virtually no maintenance as the Axis cameras are built to last.
