Large LCD screens can be found on the train, at the railway station and in railway control rooms. Recently, January 9, 2009, the Indian Western Railways announced that they will install 4,000 large panel LCD screens in 67 trains. The LCD screens will be installed by an OOH media company who will earn revenue from the advertisement on the screens and Western Railways will get a license fee of Rs 7 Crore (approx. US$1.75M) per year for the duration of the contract (which is 5 years). These LCD screens will play a mix of entertainment, information and advertising for 18 hours a day in all trains. LCD screens can also be found in the railway stations. Trivandrum Central, the biggest railway station in the state of Kerala in India, is considered "swanky" by most visitors as a result LCD flat screen televisions contributing to the overall look and feel.

However the LCD display needs for these railway displays are usually similar. Below we outline key needs of LCD screens for railways:

Price: Price is an important criteria however many OOH media companies, to their detriment, usually buy the cheapest LCD screen available for a given format size. Railways require rugged closed LCD displays. Buying cheap LCD displays or LCD TVs which are not closed boxes, may result in premature failure of the screen.

Ruggedness and 24x7 Operation Capability: LCD screens for railways need to be rugged. For this reason, it is important to have LCD informational displays vs. LCD TVs as LCD informational displays are fan-less closed box units that can offer protection from dust and other contaminants. Further LCD informational displays are made for 24x7 operation while LCD TVs are made for limited viewing. Ruggedness and life of the LCD screen is very important to reduce failures of the LCD screens. LCD failures will cause inconvenience to passengers and may disrupt traffic flow at railway stations.

Network Capability: Be sure that the LCD screen has RS-232 and LAN network connectivity. The network connectivity allows for remote monitoring of the various LCD screens. Alarms can be set if an LCD screen is switched off or if it is not working. Power and other controls can be monitored remotely. For example, an energy saving feature can be activated so that when there is no signal, a power save mode is activated to reduce the brightness of the LCD backlight.

Picture Quality: Most large LCDs are high definition. High definition LCDs provide better picture resolution, better contrast ratio, high brightness, high colour reproduction and fast response time resulting in better picture clarity. High definition, high brightness and high contrast ratio are important features for LCDs to have in railway environment for easy picture viewing. Further, the non glare feature of LCDs allows for easy viewing in ambient light or where there is background light being reflected on the screen. Most new LCDs have 176° viewing angle, making it easy for viewing. Check the viewing specifications to make sure meets your quality requirements

Slow-scan (legacy) Signal Capability: If the LCD screens are being installed in the old chassis of the old CRT television or in a mixed network of CRT televisions and LCD displays, the LCD screen needs to be slow-scan legacy signal compatible.

New LCD screen features are continuously emerging. Check with the LCD screen manufacturer to learn about new features. Read other articles and make the right decision for your LCD purchase.

For more information on LCD monitors, check out Sharp's official LCD monitor site! http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com/