Whenever you press the ‘publish’ button on a Display Daily, you know that the entire story hasn’t been covered (it never is!). So, I’m taking advantage of the fact that there is always another Display Daily coming along to catch up with two topics: first I’ll look at the Netrange solution for server-based TV smarts and then another solution for ‘Touchless Touch’.
Without repeating what I covered in the Display Daily at the end of December (NetRange Has Something New for SmartTV News – or Does It?), as a quick summary, Netrange said it had a solution (Visnos) to move the ‘smarts’ for a smartTV from a processor chip in the set itself to a server-based system. That reminded me of a system developed by Active Video Networks that I have been reporting on for ten years or so. What I couldn’t clarify in the period between Christmas and the New Year was the difference in the Netrange approach. It was important because although the AVN system was adopted by service providers (Ziggo et al), it was not adopted by set makers, which are the target market for Netrange.
I had the chance to catch up with Tim Schroder, CEO at NetRange, to better understand his firm’s approach. As I reported, the AVN approach changed the cost from a capex (development and chips) to an opex item for set makers. There was a cost for the bandwidth to connect to the servers and to run the servers, and that was unattractive to set makers, who have to get their revenues at the point of sale and don’t have an on-going revenue stream to support the costs, whereas operators already have the bandwidth and mechanisms to get regular revenue.
From the technical point of view, the Netrange approach works on both of these areas. Unlike the AVN approach, the Netrange technology uses a more conventional thin client architecture for the user interface to the server, rather than the video-based approach. That dramatically reduces the bandwidth needed to deliver the interface. Of course, once the user switches to watching video, the connection between the set and the video is direct (which AVN also does).
The second area that NetRange has worked on is at the server end. Running 24/7 dedicated servers to meet peak capacity is expensive but demand for the interface varies a lot over week and over the year. To make the most of this, the firm has developed a special technique to allow very fast scaling in the cloud so that the minimum power is always used. Without this special scaling, the server end of the solution would run on any cloud, but could not easily scale.
The other change that NetRange has made is to develop a business model that delivers the service for an agreed period (of years) for the set maker, so that the cost can be covered by a payment by the set maker at the point of sale of the set, rather than being an on-going one. That turns the solution from an opex to capex item.
Schroder told us that the economics work particularly well for very low cost sets that still need some smarts. The markets for this kind of set are in developing markets such as India and Africa rather in regions where consumers can afford to spend a lot more on a set.
Touchless Touch Redux
Earlier this week, I wrote about ‘Touchless Touch’ (The State of the Art in Touchless Options for Kiosks & Vending). After the article was published, I was contacted by HyLine of Germany which has a different approach to the idea. The concept is to use infrared optical touch (anyone remember the HP150, launched in 1983??) that is mounted several centimetres away from the surface of the display so that no physical touch is needed. No software is needed as the system works as a USB HID device, which can be important where the software is subject to certification, such as in ATMs or medical devices. The system can be designed into new systems or used as a retrofit solution. The technology seems to be based on the Neonode technology that we have reported on since 2015 and that has been aimed at automotive and notebook applications.
Click for higher resolution.
As another approach, HyLine has a system (Hy-gienic – geddit?) for automatically disinfecting touch screens after use with UV-C light. The company says that there is no need for a pause for decontamination. Again, to avoid interfering with operating software, it has its own infrared detection system to trigger the process.
I’m less convinced by the distance infrared as the big disadvantage of touchless touch, unless there is some kind of ultrasound haptics) is that the user gets no real indication that an input has been made or a process completed except from the display. (BR)
