Taxi Cab advertising, in-taxi advertising and taxi digital signage has recently grown into a highly sought-after advertising platform by digital media and digital signage companies alike. Virtually no other advertising method in the world is as effective as in-taxi advertising if using the correct technology for the job. These days it is difficult for most start-up or well-established digital signage or digital media advertising companies to find the right taxi advertising hardware and software solution, a platform that can not only offer video advertisements, taxi cab touchscreen interactivity and directories, but also effective geo-locations based advertising and engaging, relevant content on-screen as well as being securely mounted and built for 24/7 operation in the hostile taxi cab environments.
Taxi Advertising, Digital Media Advertising and Digital Signage software companies often will be faced with the difficult challenge of finding reliable, secure and well-supported taxi advertising systems for deploying into taxi cabs or taxi shuttle fleets. In their research, they will commonly come across Taxi headrest advertising screens, which are usually manufactured in China. The taxi headrest player market in China has had a recent manufacturing boom starting in 2008.
It is common to find 7” Taxi Headrest players or 10.4” Headrest PCs for taxi cabs in the search for the ideal taxi advertising system. However, most digital signage and advertising companies are not aware of the typical pitfalls and common issues of these advertising technology platforms.
Many of the taxi LCD headrest screens that are in the market are typically low-end, very simple systems that do not offer a full range of features that advertisers are looking for. 7” taxi advertising LCD screens typically offer very little viewable “real estate” for advertisers. These headrests are typically at least 2.5 feet (nearly 80 centimeters) from the passengers’ eyes, as the passenger rests comfortably on the backseat of the taxi cab. It requires the passenger to move up much closer to the 7” taxi LCD screen, as well as try to concentrate on the text on the screen, which is usually at a low 800×480 resolution. This is a dangerous and uncomfortable position for most passengers. Any sudden stops by the taxi cab could result in injury to the passenger from their face being so close to the LCD.
Commonly found 7” taxi headrests and taxi headrest players from China simply do not offer enough space to comfortably fit multi-zone advertisements, RSS tickers, or restaurant directories on the small LCD. Due to the explosion of this market, it is common to find low-quality Chinese made taxi headrest players or taxi headrest PCs that use sub-standard parts. Due to their very low costs, manufacturers are forced to use low-quality data storage such as SD cards or Compact Flash. Neither storage technologies are fast enough for running all of the demanding applications needed in an in-taxi advertising system (video advertisements, GPS, taxi payment processing, facial audience measurement, etc.) They are also not designed for in-taxi 24/7 all-day use, such as the true Solid State storage inside of the Revosys In-Taxi Advertising tablet and taxi payment system.
Typical taxi headrest screens offer almost no protection from scratches or impacts to the LCD. Most taxi headrest players, especially from China use very thin (less than 1.5mm) resistive touch screens. Not only is this resistive touchscreen technology prone to mechanical failure, it also significantly reduced the LCD brightness, making taxi advertising content on-screen more difficult to read, and nearly impossible in high ambient light. Some 10.4” taxi headrest PCs now offer thicker touchscreens, but this is often at the cost of lower touch sensitivity. These thicker touchscreens commonly use SAW touchscreens which take more touch force than resistive touchscreens. This is an inconvenience to the passengers, which may get frustrated from having to press down several times on an advertisement to download a coupon or find out more information due to the touchscreen not sensing their touch selection. This can truly be a detrimental mistake for digital signage companies and advertisers, as passengers simply stop using the taxi headrest screens because of the frustration caused by these SAW touchscreens which require more pressure from their fingers.
Most headrest taxi advertising screens in the market are highly vulnerable to theft and vandalism. Despite the common misconception by Taxi Advertising and Digital Signage Media companies that assume the headrest is harder to steal from a taxi cab, the reality is that most taxi headrest LCD screens do not offer means of securing the headrest to the seat. A thief can easily pull the taxi headrest out of the seat, cut any wires or disconnect them, and take the headrest with them. There is virtually no way to stop this threat. To combat this very real threat, Revosys has developed a unique, but simple method for securing their taxi advertising system.
The Revosys V5 In-Taxi Advertising, Cab Security and Taxi Payment system offers an industry-standard locking mechanism using Aircraft Grade cable. The lock is attached to the back of the tablet, without the lock protruding from the back cover and the cable end of this aircraft cable is attached to the bottom of the taxi seat, where the seat bolts into the bottom of the taxi cab. The thief would have to remove the entire taxi seat, to be able to remove the V5 tablet. The thick aircraft cable deters a thief from even attempting to remove the Revosys V5 system, because it would require heavy-industrial cutting tools which would make the thief more visible and very likely to be caught in his criminal act.
Taxi advertising headrests for taxi cabs or taxi shuttle vans with safety partitions such as NYC New York cabs, Boston, Chicago and other taxi cab markets cannot use taxi advertising headrests. Taxi advertising headrests are only meant to replace the factory stock headrests in the taxi. They cannot be mounted inside the partition, nor can the taxi LCD screen be mounted inside a taxi van from the ceiling. The Revosys V5 in-taxi tablet offers many versatile mounting methods, including off-ceiling mounting, in-partition mounts, off-headrest mounts and even mounting the tablet in between both front seats for optimal viewing for passengers.
One of the most common problems plaguing taxi headrest PCs and taxi screen players is their safety hazard to passengers and occupants in the taxi cab. There are currently no aftermarket taxi headrests screens in the world which have been approved for replacing factory-stock headrests. These taxi headrests (especially those from China) have not undergone any safety crash-testing ensuring that the passengers or front seat occupants are safe in the event of an accident or crash. This is not a liability to be taken lightly, and must be carefully considered. Currently, the European Union (EU) requires TUV testing of headrests, if they are placed inside of taxis. These tests are cost-prohibitive for most manufacturers, which try to stay under the radar and avoid such tests, while putting thousands of passengers at risk. None of the taxi headrest PCs are designed to the auto-industry standards, nor are they safety approved. It is common to find taxi cab advertising headrests from China using very primitive and unsafe internal headrest pole mechanisms. Such poorly-thought out designs are what enable these taxi headrests to be sold at very cheap prices, while making the advertising or digital signage company liable for any injuries or damages caused by these un-approved headrests.
Taxi headrest PCs and taxi advertising headrest screens are often found in the market for very low prices. It is common to see low-end parts, unreliable power supplies, low-brightness LCD screens as well as underpowered processors being using inside of these systems. Using storage mediums such as SD cards and Compact Flash cards allow the manufacturers to produce the taxi headrest players for cheap, as these parts are not intended for 24/7 in-taxi long-life use. Taxi headrest PC and LCD screen manufacturers commonly sacrifice on the LCD screen quality, very often using 250nits brightness and low contrast (500:1 ratio) LCD panels. Such LCD panels are low-cost, as well as offer a sub-par viewing experience for taxi cab passengers. Advertisers are not advertising effectively is they are displaying their static or video ads on screens which blend the ads and background together (low contrast), as well as low brightness screens where the LCD image is “washed-out” and virtually non-readable due to sunlight. The V5 In-Taxi advertising tablet counteracts all of these issues by displaying vivid, crisp advertisements to passengers using a high contrast and high-brightness (sunlight readable) LCD display panel.
The reliability of the power supply design and components are crucial in the selection of an in-taxi advertising system. Typically, taxi headrest PCs and taxi advertising headrest screens use low-cost components, as well as a design that is not intended to function in a taxi environment. These low-cost power supplies inside of the taxi headrests can lead to many issues for the digital signage or advertising company that has deployed these headrest screens in a large fleet. Firstly, the taxi’s electrical environment is a harsh place for electronics. Proper protection filters and regulation must be used to deliver smooth operation inside of the taxi cab 24/7. During engine cranking, the driver starts the vehicle, the power levels in the car drop to very low levels, and suddenly spike to very high levels. This takes an enormous toll on electronics that are not designed to take this punishment. The Revosys V5 In-Taxi advertising tablet offers an industry leading 5 Volt to 38 Volt power input range, even suitable for buses using 24 volt systems. This robust power supply is specifically designed to provide smooth, noise-free power to the taxi advertising system, which ensures long-life operation in taxi cabs as well as a clean, crisp image on the LCD display, free of any electrical noise or “crosstalk”.
Digital signage and taxi digital advertising companies seek an interactive taxi advertising platform that provides a smooth and seamless display of all content on the screen. Most taxi headrest PC and headrest LCD screens are powered by a low-end CPU such as an ARM or Intel 1.6GHz CPU first generation ATOM CPU. Neither of these solutions can offer smooth transitions within directories and on-screen menus, especially while playing Rich Media advertisements and high definition video ads. These CPUs are typically maxed-out as far as their performance capability well before any additional services are activated such as facial audience measurements, payment processing or taxi rooftop digital display or geo-location based advertising. The Revosys V5 In-Taxi Advertising and Taxi Card Payment Processing system provides an industry-leading Dual Core 1.86GHz Intel CPU with high-end, next generation graphics engine. Advertising inside the taxi cab, as well as taxi rooftop advertising and even mobile data terminal/taxi dispatch is all controlled from a single V5 in-taxi tablet.
If deciding between typical taxi headrest PCs and a state-of-the-art Revosys V5 Interactive Taxi Advertising, Cab Security, and Taxi Payment system, the decision is clear. The V5 tablet offers secure, yet versatile mounting, a design that does not interfere with stock-factory crash-tested headrests, a robust power supply designed for harsh electrical environments, true Solid State Storage for long-life data retention and aversion to shock/bumps in the road, as well as a powerful industry-leading Dual Core processor which provides Digital Signage and Taxi Advertising Digital Media companies with the ability to drive applications such as facial audience measurement statistics that can provide the most beneficial advertising capabilities in the taxi advertising world.