Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Will the software run on Microsoft Vista?
Yes, for the PC that connects to the noticeboard screen, ensure your graphics card has certified Vista drivers.
Q: Can I just buy the software without an NDD unit?
Yes, the software is available as a separate item and will run on any reasonably modern PC. Software solutions that include an editor, controller and player (NDD1 software) start at £355 + VAT.
Our NDD1 units offer an off the shelf, very low power consumption, very small footprint and quick to install solution with all the software preinstalled.
Q: Can I drive more than one screen from a single NDD unit
Yes. You will need a standard monitor splitter. This can split the signal into 2, 4 or 8 signals and can normally be daisy chained together to create more outputs. These splitters will often drive a monitor up to 50mtrs away. If you require greater distance you will need a VGA transmitter/receiver pair that will allow a 100metre connection (see below).
Q: Can more than one controller be used to set up display carousels
Yes. The system supports up to six Page Server controllers all controlling the same electronic noticeboard displays. Each controller is able to see the display lists created by any of the other controllers.
Q: Can more than one editor be used at the same time.
Yes. Editors can load and save pages to a central server. This way different departments can see and share the existing pages and images etc created by each other.
Q: I want to put the NDD unit in my computer room. How long can the cable be between this unit and the screen
A: This depends to a certain extent on the resolution that the system is operating at and the size of the on screen fonts. The higher the resolution the greater the required bandwidth. As resolution goes up then the cable length must become shorter or needs to be better quality. If you are able to solder, you can make <20 foot VGA extension leads from CAT5 cable.
Standard off the shelf cables are available in lengths up to 45mtrs. If you want longer cable runs then you will need VGA extender sets that will give you 100mtrs or more. An extender set is shown in the photograph and comprises a transmitter and receiver. The two units are connected together with standard CAT5 cable. Note that this cannot be your existing LAN cable as the signals are different and you would probably damage your hubs/routers if you connected the extenders into it.
Q: Can the NDD unit be near the display screens
Yes. You will need to provide a network connection for the NDD unit. NDD units can be configured to all display the same information or different information.
Q: Whats best. Plasma or LCD panels
A: Plasma displays are big, bright and these days quite reasonably priced. Check the resolution of the cheaper ones as it's normally very low. The downside of plasma is that they very easily suffer screen burn which can effect them in a very short space of time. They also require specialist handling as they have to be kept the correct way up otherwise there is a danger of the glass breaking under its own weight. LCD panels are getting bigger and the viewing angles are far better than they were some years back. They can be left displaying the same image with no worry of screen burn. We can supply LCD panels if required.
Q: Can the system correctly drive wide screen panels
NDD units can be fitted with a special graphics card that correctly drives plasma or LCD panels in the 16:9 aspect ratio, automatically moves the picture around to reduce screen burn (for plasma displays) and can rotate the image by 90 degrees so wide screen panels can be used in portrait mode.
In general the 16:9 aspect ration of widescreen does not look as bad as you might expect. The modern panels also have electronics built into them that scales the PC output to the native resolution of the display.
Q: Can I use display screens in portrait mode
Yes. We can install Pivit software that will rotate the display to portrait mode. Our WYSIWYG editor can produce pages for portrait displays.
Q: Can I use a domestic television set as a display
A: Yes, the NDD unit has two outputs* for driving a TV. The SVIDEO output is the ideal one to use as it is almost as good as an RGB output. It has a disadvantage in that the connecting cable needs to be kept fairly short before problems start. The composite output on the NDD unit is very good, and has the added advantage that it could be connected to a modulator and pumped around a building. Television sets would then be connected to this signal through the aerial input. The TV set would need to be 'tuned' into the signal. Only single NDD units have a TV out port. Multi-Output units would need an additional converter.
*The recent motherboard design has done away with the TV output connectors. We can however use an alternative board that provides this functionality.
Q: Can I use my LAN (computer network) that I already have
Yes, the system is designed to run over your computer network. Simply pulg the NDD units into a network point and you can control them from another PC on that network. The NDD network settings will however need to be altered to fit your network IP numbers and domains/workgroups. This can be easily carried out by your IT staff.
Q: Can I get the NDD to include pages held on our Intranet webserver?
Yes. The WYSIWYG editor has a special page creation option that creates a special page to pull in a page on your webserver or the Internet.
Q: Can I use Power Point to create display pages
Yes. You should save the individual slides as a GIF image or html pages. We have further information of using PP. Please ask us.
Q: Do you supply TVs and Brackets etc
yes
Please also see the What do I Need section to help you select the items that you require
