The 5-million square-foot Utama 1 Shopping Centre, the biggest shopping mall in
Malaysia and the fourth largest in the world, has always been an early adopter of
cutting-edge technology. Ten years ago, it was the first shopping centre in the
country to deploy a mall-wide digital signage network and sell display “airtime’ to
advertisers. Fast forward to today, and the shopping centre is once again looking to
implement the latest AV technology to distribute digital content to over sixty
displays from one central location.
To do so, they called upon JD Molecule to design and install an extensive network of
content distributors, displays, network switches, industrial PCs and servers that
would alleviate them of time-consuming system management and expand their ad
revenue possibilities. To guarantee the seamless and reliable content distribution
required for a successful network, JD Molecule deployed a Gefen Video over IP
solution.
The goal of the project was to deploy a digital signage information network that
would allow the client to sell airtime to tenants and external advertisers, as well as
easily relay updates and events happening within the centre. The centre’s
requirement was that the management team needed to be able to seamlessly send
content from one location without tedious and exhaustive oversight. “They wanted
to sell ad space on the displays to stores within the mall without the headache of
constantly monitoring it,’ Chuen explained. “They wanted a system that was easy-
to-use, simple in infrastructure, and did not require any extensive cabling. The
system that my team put in place checked all of these boxes.’
To create a widespread digital signage network that spanned the entire centre, the
JD Molecule team installed sixty 50′ Panasonic TH-50LFE7 displays, one Gefen Video
Over IP Sender (EXT-HD2IRS-LAN-TX), one Gefen Video Over IP Receiver (EXT-
HD2IRS-LAN-RX), one Avaya Gigabit Network Switch, and one industrial grade PC
accessible only to the centre’s maintenance team. The newly implemented Video
over IP solution enables the distribution of content to new and formerly unreachable
areas of the shopping centre, including New Wing Centre Court, New Wing High
Street, Old Wing, Customer Service, One Card Loyalty Office, and Property Show
Gallery.
In the previous system, the centre’s maintenance team was tethered by the
extensive management requirements of a wide range of devices including various
displays, extenders and splitters. Now, with the Gefen EXT-HD2IRS-LAN-TX and the
EXT-HD2IRS-LAN-RX, the centre can seamlessly transmit HDMI, RS-232, and IR (bi-
directional) content over a Gigabit Local Area Network to over sixty displays from
one location. “The flexible and reliable nature of the new system requires less
manpower to operate, and offers more options in terms of the type of content and
the resolution of the content that can be distributed,’ Chuen emphasized.