Repair Digital Signage, what is an EMC

What is an EMC?  It is an Electronic Message Center. These have several names to be confusing, these are Digital Signage, they are LED Screens, they are gas displays, menus, church bulletin boards, school score boards and a hundred other names. They tend to be found in government areas, churches and large businesses because permitting these has been difficult.  While this is easing over time, it is still difficult to get permits.

xEMC Xchange San Ysidro face E
xEMC Arco gas display wiring
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These Have a Life Unlike Normal Signs

These have a life unlike normal signs. The life of an EMC is limited by two things

1) technical obsolescence. These are changing rapidly, A 10-year-old EMC is likely obsolete. This means parts are not going to be available easily. Many are proprietary, and available from one source. This increases costs, it limits availability and with the complexity, knowing what board or part to replace takes a knowledge specific to the manufacturer.

2) there is a lack of experienced people to work on these. This is where Signs for San Diego can help. Over time, as these signs become more common and the installed base ages, more and more people learn about them

 

Matrix of Display Boards

The display panels. In most cases there is a matrix of display boards. They communicate through the board to delivery information to the next board. When one display board fails the communication may fail for all the down stream display panels. So, if you have multiple display panels out, it is often a single panel failure. Swap out the broken panel and the others may come back. Panels also fad over the years, the replacement display panel is often brighter (not matching)

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xEMC Arco gas display

Software and Firmware

Software and firmware.  When there are problems, this can be a hardware problem or a software problem. In many cases a firmware upgrade and a software upgrade fix problem. If a display panel is replaced, the new panel comes with the latest firmware, but the older panels don’t have the new firmware. In many cases, new firmware needs to be reinstalled on all panels to many a reliable repair.

Bigger Repairs. Going back to the obsolescence issue. There are times, when an EMC is about 10 years old that the fix, and the maintenance cycle becomes a big problem. When the repairs start to approach the cost of a new replacement sign, replacement may be a lot better. It is costly but stops the maintenance calls for years (Substantial cost savings) and the functionality increases. The trend is cheaper, better EMCs over the years.

The good news is that Signs for San Diego can help you repair, replace or get your first EMC. Signs for San Diego can help. We can fix it for you!! Need electrical sign repair or even a non-electrical sign repair? We do that. To schedule maintenance or sign repair please call us at 760-730-5118