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September 22, 2014
Vol. 60 No.9
AV FOR SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS, CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS
NEW
E-SCRAP:
CONNECTIONS TRASH OR
MOBILE DEVICES
TREASURE?
ARE REDEFINING
MAXIMIZING
THE RETURN ON
DECOMMISSIONED
EQUIPMENT
THE CONNECTOR
MARKET
THE
PERSUASIVE
LOBBY
WOWING MOVIEGOERS BEFORE
THE SHOW
DIRECTIONS
FOR
INTEGRATORS
NEW
T H E M E D AT T R A C T I O N S
OFFER CROSSOVER
OPPORTUNITIES
INFOCOMM14 NEW PRODUCT WRAP UP CONCLUSION: MORE THAN 60 AUDIO INTRODUCTIONS
BY JIM STOKES
Just 20 minutes from New York City, there’s a 12-screen movie theater that
aims to entertain patrons before they see the shows. It’s all done with digital
signage at Starplex Cinemas in Ridgefield Park NJ. We’ll reveal what’s on
the displays and where they’re located, and explore the AV technology that
makes it happen.
Enhance Customer Experience
Looking at the business end of this show biz experience, the aims of the
visualization are to enhance customer experience, reduce overall costs and
drive incremental revenue (buy treats at the concession stand and buy tickets
for future movies).
First, some background. As part of its expansion strategy, Starplex Cinemas, headquartered in Dallas TX (www.starplexcinemas.com), acquired an
85,000-square-foot location from AMC Loews, which was renovated and updated. Starplex, which operates 33 movie theaters with 338 screens across
the United States, sought to transform its newest location in Ridgefield Park
into a flagship luxur y cinema destination. The $5 million renovation provides
THE PERSUASIVE LOBBY
Wowing moviegoers before the show.
a state-of-the-art film watching experience, including digital projection and
spacious luxur y reclining chairs.
However, Starplex also wanted to introduce new technology within the
lobby to engage moviegoers from the moment they enter the theater to
drive greater ticket and concession sales. That was one challenge. Located
in a corporate building zone near the New Jersey Turnpike, the new theater
presented another challenge due to the lack of nearby retail attractions that
might draw moviegoers, and intense competition among theaters in the surrounding area.
In providing a solution to these challenges, Starplex turned to two suppliers who already had a track record of furnishing technology answers for the
cinema chain. Thus, Starplex aligned itself with leading visualization solution provider Barco and Samsung to create the cinema lobby of the future.
Barco’s design features Samsung digital signage throughout the customer
experience, from the entranceway to the box office and concession stands.
As a result, the futuristic lobby has interactive posters, large videowalls,
dynamic menu boards and other cutting-edge digital touches that make the
theater stand out from the competition.
Going into more detail, Starplex’s IT Director Robert Tuttle said, “Samsung
equipment met some of the specifications we needed as a small company at
the time. As we’ve grown, they’ve been able to help us as far as increasing
our screen counts, allowing us to do more and more. Barco brought a solution to us with a project this big. We needed to make sure we had a backend solution that would allow us to run various types of content and various
players. When you have a projector, you need the back end of it. Barco’s
solution made it so much easier for us to accomplish all the quick changes
to the customers as they walk in.”
40
Sound & Communications
Technology engages
moviegoers from the moment
they enter the theater.
Screens help theatergoers
make their decisions
quickly and easily.
September 2014
41
Cinema Flashback
Before we detail Starplex Cinemas’ advanced signage, let’s take a brief flashback just for fun to your author’s hometown theater in the 1950s in Britton SD.
According to Strand Theater Manager and Projectionist Pam Lunzman, 1950s
admissions were 20 cents for children under 12 and 50 cents for adults. Popcorn
was around a dime. Several lobby posters enticed patrons to attend upcoming
shows. Today, it’s still a single-screen venue, retaining an old time movie house
feel. And the familiar Main Avenue colorful classic cinema marquee beckons
moviegoers. However, extensive interior renovations include new seating, a
new screen and digital projection.
Now back to Starplex.
Our stor y includes perspectives from three inter views. Diversified Media
Group (DMG, Kenilworth NJ, www.divmedia.net), was the integrator. Spokesman Mitchell Mittler, Vice President,
Technical Solutions, was the initial
designer. Peter Kenez was Project
Manager and Russell Jones, Project
Engineer. Previously introduced Robert Tuttle, IT Director for Starplex,
provided additional details. Jim Molony, Director of Business Operations,
Digital Cinema at Barco, Media Entertainment Division rounds out our
project discussion.
Screen Content
“Barco’s Lobby Enhancement is
the show before the show,” declared
Molony. “We want to create an entertaining, exciting environment in
the lobby before you go in to watch
a movie. The emphasis is to show
what’s coming out to get people excited and talking about it. We also
have a dozen movie posters in there.
We can take control over the concessions menu board LCDs, as well. For
30 seconds, they’re matching all the
other screens in the lobby.”
Molony noted that Blue Pony (Fort
Wayne IN, bluepony.com) provided
some Starplex digital signage content. Nathan Grepke is Creative Director at Blue Pony. Multiple short
10- to 15-second ads, dynamic menu
boards and movie-themed poster animations were part of the project.
Using the large Samsung lobby
monitors that initially greet theatergoers for content examples, Starplex’s
Tuttle explained, “They’re running
trailers for upcoming movies, ranging
from a 30-second TV-spot-type trailer
to one sometimes a bit longer. We’re
finding more customers will stop and
watch what’s going on with that loop.
If you get too long a loop, it kind of
Equipment
56
1
51
22
3
12
3
8
1
1
1
2
2
14
1
1
2
2
6
14
6
1
6
2
6
13
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APC C2 power conditioners
Barco HDX-26, 26,000 lumen
video projector
Barco digital media players
C2G cables
Chief LCM3X1U FUSION large
ceiling-mounted 3x1 menu boards
Chief CMA472 plenum rated
above-tile storage accessories
Cisco SF200-48 network switches
Comprehensive cables
Crown CTs600 audio amp
Dell Power Edge R210II server
Draper ONYX HX600V, 100"x184"
viewable area
ICS Technologies WX400 videowall
controllers
JBL Pro CBT 100LA line array
column speakers
Kramer VM-4HC HDMI DAs
Middle Atlantic MRK-4431-DVR
equipment rack w/accessories
Middle Atlantic
RM-KB-LCD17X8KVM 17" LCD
monitor w/KVM switch
Panphonics PSO60x20 directional
speakers
Panphonics AA-160E audio amps
Peerless-AV DS-VL-H0XX digital
menuboard mounts
Peerless-AV KIP646 wall kiosk
enclosures for 46" LCDs
Peerless-AV DS-VW765-POR
videowall mounts
RDL RU-VCA2A volume control
Samsung ED-55C LCD displays
Samsung ED-65C LCD displays
Samsung ED-75C LCD displays
Samsung ME-55C LCD displays
Samsung ED-46C LCD displays
List is edited from information supplied by
Diversified Media Group.
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Sound & Communications
defeats the purpose. We tr y to keep no more than a seven- to 10-minute loop
because some customers will drift back there after they’ve purchased their
tickets, waiting for the movie and watching the trailers. These boards actually
keep customers occupied to a degree while they’re waiting, instead of standing
there wondering why they have to wait so long.”
The trailers can be about shows coming up in two weeks or a recently opened
hit. “For instance, Guardians of the Galaxy recently opened,” said Tuttle. “We’re
not taking that off the loop yet. They may be watching some other movie and
Guardians of the Galaxy suddenly pops up. Then they recall all the buzz about
it.”
Digital Signage Tour
“Diversified Media Group is a managed service provider in the digital signage
arena,” explained Mittler. DMG had previously worked with Barco and Samsung
on other digital signage initiatives. Accordingly, Samsung came to the integrator
to do consulting design and implementation for Samsung’s customer, Starplex,
which included Barco’s Lobby Enchantment for the new theater opening in New
Jersey. “We did the whole project in about four months,” said Mittler. “This
was a relatively short time frame for a complex digital installation. An overall
challenge was to change the experience for someone walking into the theater
lobby. Our goal was to work with the team from Starplex, Samsung and Barco
to transform the lobby experience. In the process, we did site surveys, worked
on different ideas and the budgets.”
Let’s explore the displays from the viewpoint of a moviegoer. You’re entertained from the moment you enter Starplex. Content for more than 50 screens
emanates from Barco digital media players. The 40-foot-tall atrium in the ground
floor lobby has an eye-catching décor of marble floors and walls designed in
vivid earth tones. Large 1x3, 75-inch portrait-mode videowalls are positioned
directly in front of the entry doors on both ends of the lobby. They’re managed
by an ICS Technologies videowall controller.
“There are moments within the signage where the entire lobby is taken over
by promotion of a single motion picture,” said Mittler. (This lobby domination
will be detailed later). “Sound is very important to the install,” he emphasized.
“We didn’t want to do just visual because movies have sound. Because we were
dealing with a large space, we wanted to control the sound. There are two sets
of directional speakers: Panphonics PSO60x20 for the two 1x3 feature entrance
displays and one set of JBL CBT100LA line array column speakers for the feature video projection screen. We created a sound zone, where people could stop
and watch those displays. It would catch them visually and aurally when they
walked in the venue, and when they were milling about in an open-space lobby.”
Ground Floor Screen
There’s a huge screen on the ground floor, as well. We’ll discuss that coming
up. But first, let’s turn left and head for the ticket booth to pick up our movie
passes. The location is equipped with 1x3 horizontal 55-inch LCDs. Thus, the
two displays at each end provide show times, while the center display presents
promotions for gift cards, concession items or tickets to upcoming movies.
Now that we have our ticket, we’ll want to consider a stop at the concession
stands on the lower and upper levels of the complex. There’s a canopy over
each stand, with 46-inch multiple arrays of digital menu boards encircling the
structure. Screens advertise food and drink items. The displays have narrow
bezels, allowing five displays to be placed bezel-to-bezel to create a seamless
menu board directly above the counter.
“Some of the boards are running commercials,” explained Tuttle. “For example, there could be a hot dog guy running across a board. Some of the candy
companies give us content trailers where you might see the M&M guy. An
upcoming movie like Planes may have a little kid’s cap with a small airplane
on top. The minute items are sold out
or no longer available, we pull them
off the board.”
Downstairs Queue
Meanwhile downstairs, there’s a
large area on the ground floor where
people queue up for the shows in the
auditoriums. That display consists of
a Barco 26K lumen projector firing
on a large Draper 16x9 screen. “The
screen not only shows what movies are
playing in the auditorium, but is also
engaged in lobby domination as a feature element,” said Mittler. “It uses two
JBL Pro line array columns driven by
Crown amplifiers to keep a sound zone
in front of that larger area where we
needed a more full-bodied sound. The
JBLs allow us to keep sound in a ver y
specific area, so as not to over whelm
the lobby with blanket sound.”
DMG customized small 19-inch marquee display enclosures above the auditorium doors for messaging what
shows are playing in which theaters.
And as you ascend the escalator to the
second floor theaters, there are two 65inch screens that post show times.
Other equipment includes various
Peerless-AV videowall mounts, digital
menu board mounts and kiosk enclosures for 46-inch LCDs. An RDL volume control allows personnel at the
concessions to control sound on the
large screen. The Middle Atlantic rack
is conveniently located in the projection booth. Cisco is the network switch.
“Content distribution is IP-based,”
said Tuttle. “There’s a Dell central
ser ver that runs the Barco software.
That software has a connection via an
API with our POS system. Our POS
system hands off the schedule to the
player from where it’s distributed.
Being able to centrally distribute ever ything has been a big issue. Even
though we only did 12 houses, we have
54 monitors with various content.” Tuttle capped our inter view noting that
he is in contact with Barco’s Molony
about a possible location in Virginia
that might use some of the Lobby Enhancement technology.
Bottom Line
The innovative use of commercial
display technology has helped make
Starplex’s Ridgefield Park location a
true destination theater, while also
driving new revenue. The dynamic
menu boards at the concession stands
have resulted in one of the highest perperson sales averages in the theater
chain’s histor y.
Eye-catching box office displays allow moviegoers to purchase tickets for
future movies, letting Starplex “lock in”
those customers. Finally, replacing
cardboard movie displays with interactive posters has not only enhanced
the moviegoers’ experience, it has ren
duced costs.
Sound & Communications Contributing
Editor Jim Stokes has been involved in
the AV industry as an AV technician
and writer for almost 40 years.