Direct TV technology is driven by the marketing principle that any information presented to a potential customer must be 100% relevant at all times.
1. Storage Capabilities
a. What is the capacity of an in-store system?
b. How many hours of content can a system store?
2. System Flexibility
What variables can be controlled by the system dynamically or by user interaction:
a. Volume depending on time/ambient noise?
b. What sort of music video plays depending on time?
c. User interaction to display specifications on a particular product via onscreen menus?
3. Advertisement Flexibility
a. Can pricing changes occur from point of sale systems?
b. Are these changes reflected immediately on the system?
c. Can promotions be scheduled in advance to play between certain weeks/days/hours?
4. Instore Control
a. How much control does a retailer/advertiser have over content?
b. Can an advertisement be removed immediately in a store?
c. Can it be removed immediately remotely from a head office across all retail locations?
5. Updates
a. How can an update to a system be done?
b. Can it be performed across the internet?
c. Can it be done locally?
d. Can it be done by CD/DVD/USB Storage Device?
6. Quality
a. Can high definition video be played back?
b. What quality high definition video content can be played back? 720p/1080p?
c. What video playback codecs can the system support? Xvid/H.264/mpeg2?
7. Reliability
a. Does the system reset automatically after power interruptions?
8. Warranty
a. What warranty is offered with the product?
1. Storage Capabilities
a. What is the capacity of an in-store system?
b. How many hours of content can a system store?
A typical Direct TV system contains a 250 gig hard disk which equates to roughly 360 hours of high quality video, however, thanks to Direct TVs ‘dynamic ticketing system’ the system can actually store closer to 2000 hours of high quality content.
2. System Flexibility
What variables can be controlled by the system dynamically or by user interaction:
a. Volume depending on time/ambient noise?
b. What sort of music video plays depending on time?
c. User interaction to display specifications on a particular product via onscreen menus?
All of these variables can be controlled by the Direct TV system dynamically or by user interaction. Volume can be adjusted by a user or automatically during busier periods due to ambient noise sensors, particular media can be played at specific times/time periods and users can interact directly with the system using a range of input devices and select specific media to play or get more information on a particular product. As an example, with Direct TV, a video customer could scan a barcode on the DVD Case and immediately see trailers, offers and any other relevant information available for that title on the system.
3. Advertisement Flexibility
a. Can pricing changes occur from point of sale systems?
b. Are these changes reflected immediately on the system?
c. Can promotions be scheduled in advance to play between certain weeks/days/hours?
All data in they system can be made live and can be integrated into a point of sale system. Changes to this data is therefore live and can be done by simply changing the price in your point of sale or though a range of input devices on the Direct TV system (keypad, keyboard, barcode system, etc.). Media can also be scheduled to play between certain hours, on certain days or even only allowed to play between certain dates.
d. How long does it take to create a new promotional advertisement and how easily can it be modified once it is created?
e. How much does it cost to create a fully produced video advertisement?
Thanks to Direct TVs ‘dynamic ticketing system’, advertisements can be made rapidly and deployed instantly at a fraction of the cost to create a fully produced video file.
4. Instore Control
a. How much control does a retailer/advertiser have over content?
b. Can an advertisement be removed immediately in a store?
c. Can it be removed immediately remotely from a head office across all retail locations?
The Direct TV system allows a retailer or advertiser to completely control what advertisements are being played and when either locally at the system or remotely across the internet.
5. Updates
a. How can an update to a system be done?
b. Can it be performed across the internet?
c. Can it be done locally?
d. Can it be done by CD/DVD/USB Storage Device?
Direct TV offers many forms for updates to the system. (Over the internet, through a office intranet, over 3G phone networks, via CD/DVD or even a USB storage medium)
6. Quality
a. Can high definition video be played back?
b. What quality high definition video content can be played back? 720p/1080p?
c. What video playback codecs can the system support? Xvid/H.264/mpeg2?
Direct TV offers the capability to playback 720p/1080p high definition video encoded in many modern codecs (including but not limited to mpeg4, H.264, mpeg2). All Direct TV content that is created for the ‘dynamic ticketing system’ is high definition.
7. Reliability
a. Does the system reset automatically after power interruptions?
The Directtv system is programmed to automatically launch whenever power is available to the system without any user input.
8. Warranty
a. What warranty is offered with the product?
Directtv has a full 2 year warranty. Should it be necessary a new Directtv system will be delivered to the store via a courier in most cases within 24 hours. Directtv systems have been in operation in retail outlets for over 2 years.
Directtv acts as a warranty agent for any screens purchased from directtv as part of a Directtv contract.
