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A system-monitoring card that is designed to improve the reliability of networked display terminals, writes Richard Wilson, Editor of Electronics Weekly.
Display company GPEG has developed an in-service monitoring system which is embedded in the video processing card inside networked display monitor systems such as dig-ital signs and point-of-sale kiosks.The system communicates with a host PC via a monitor driver that sits alongside the PC video card drivers.
“This means no additional wires, communications ports or power sup-plies are needed for the implementa-tion, just an additional driver,” said Nick How, CEO of GPEG.
The system, called m2Talk, consists of a daughter-board that is con-nected to the main A/D card in the monitor chassis which uses existing fixing holes and connectors. According to How, the system allows users to remotely check the monitor for fault conditions. As well as making status checks, on demand, the system automatically posts status information. “These can be set up through polling any of the intelligent on-board sensors to report faults, user damage and other critical information vital to the proper opera-tion of the monitor.
This data can be used to record and report physical abuse and thus reduce equipment damage,” said How. Adding this level of control to the monitor also allows for the adjustment of backlight consumption auto-matically or remotely. “This increases product lifetime and overcomes the reduced half-life of many modern LED backlit panels,” said How.There are also on-board tempera-ture and ambient light sensors and the implementation of a proximity sensor can be used for automated in-teraction with a nearby target.
The m2Talk daughter board is fitted into the monitor chassis. It will mate with other of the supplier’s video cards and will support monitor sizes from 10.4in to 104in. It is powered directly from these video cards or from the 5V VGA line (if available). It is, however, separate from the A/D board. The system is provided with a dynamic link library (DDL) which is placed on the host PC, al-lowing polling and communication with the m2Talk daughter board via the existing VGA or DVI header.
Once installed, the monitor func-tions available on m2Talk can be accessed and used either locally or via an existing network connection to and from the host PC.“Once the DDL is installed the net-work owner can develop a set of actions based on the information pro-vided by the m2Talk-enabled monitor using the supplied software API. In this way the intelligence can be overlaid on the monitor estate, en-hancing utility and improving services,” said How. GPEG: www.gpegint.com
Posted on 17/11/2011 in Custom Monitor.
