FOCUS - OUTDOOR ADVERTISING: Changi goes hi-tech with screens

<p>Capital City Posters (CCP) has partnered up with Hitachi Asia to </p><p>install a first-of-its-kind, high-tech imaging screen at Singapore's </p><p>Changi Airport. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Hitachi Selectop On-Glass Projection System, launched on November 1, </p><p>is potentially a new, sophisticated medium for advertisers at the </p><p>airport. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The screen uses a film technology developed by Hitachi, which allows </p><p>images to be projected onto normal glass surfaces coated with the </p><p>film. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CCP managing director Peter Kemeny likened the effect to a set of </p><p>hanging images that "come out of nowhere". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In Japan, the less-than-a-year-old technology has been used in retail </p><p>shops and convenience stores, but Changi is the first airport in the </p><p>world that features the screen. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Compared to traditional light-boxes where images are static, the </p><p>Selectop can project more sophisticated images. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It can do anything that a computer can do since it's a computer </p><p>technology," said Mr Lim See Kor, business development manager of </p><p>Hitachi Asia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He said that the screen's translucent effect is a plus point, as it </p><p>allows retailers to see what is going on outside their shop windows and </p><p>security officers in airports to observe movements outside the </p><p>immigration area. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Kemeny said there had always been a demand for advertising space at </p><p>departure points at Changi but it was not easy to convince the airport </p><p>that they should occupy those space with advertisements. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Eventually, they said we could do it, as long as we didn't touch the </p><p>walls," he said. "When we came across Hitachi's revolutionary film, we </p><p>saw a way of doing it." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CCP is test-running the screens in four locations at Changi's departure </p><p>halls for a period of three months before marketing the medium to </p><p>commercial advertisers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>During this time, Mr Kemeny said they are "testing for complete product </p><p>reliablity", and want to be able to offer an "almost 100 per cent </p><p>guarantee to advertisers". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Eventually advertisers will be able to buy 10-second spots in two-minute </p><p>cycles, running 20 hours a day at 20-30 locations within the airport, </p><p>for S$20,000 a month. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The screens measure at only 120cm by 90cm but Mr Kemeny said they could </p><p>"easily put four to six of those in a row to make a 20-foot long </p><p>screen". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While he saw the potential in the new medium spreading to other areas in </p><p>Singapore, such as the glass walls along the MRT tracks, he believed </p><p>that only the airport can justify the high costs of running the </p><p>screens. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The costs include regularly replacing the lightbulbs and other </p><p>components to maintain the quality of the images. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Currently, he said, the screens' resolution is "fairly low", and rely on </p><p>computers to run. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Kemeny said they plan to eventually control the images remotely from </p><p>their office, but for now have set up a maintanence unit at the </p><p>airport. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CCP has spent almost S$300,000 to install the screens at Changi. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>