When the Kiev Underground Railway System wanted to update its 44-year-old passenger communication system, it turned to Kramer Electronics for a solution that would provide high-resolution video in every car and withstand the rigors of the Underground environment.
With more than 1.5 million passengers daily, the Underground was aware of the opportunity for advertising and easier information dissemination through digital signage, so the company set out to research product combinations to make it a reality.
The company’s senior technical support officials acknowledged that the Underground needed a video network, primarily for advertisement purposes, but also to provide station information inside the train cars.
As the officials at the Underground searched for products, they established requirements that would ensure a high-quality signal for difficult-to-reproduce items like text and graphics. The requirements included computer XGA resolution at the same level and quality in every car, along with small product dimensions and performance stability for optimum use in the noisy environment of the subway, which is filled with electrical interference. In addition, the Kiev Underground team wanted a quick production response and permanent technical support in the city speaking the native language.
Kramer was selected to provide line amplifiers and high-resolution XGA distribution amplifiers for the project. The result: more than 2000 Kramer machines run on the Underground Railway.
The Underground installed 15in LCD PC monitors in each of the five cars of 110 trains, plus 20 spare cars, for a total of 570 cars with monitor access. The Underground provides source material that includes text on the monitors with station names and transition station information, as well as alarm messages. It also showcases advertisement blocks throughout the day and pictures during remaining times.
The outcome of the project, which was completed by the Moscow Kramer team over a six-month period, not only includes the 2000 amplifiers, but also 33,000m or 25.5mi of cable (300m or 984ft per train); 9900 connectors (90 per train) and a high quality XGA signal that is the same on every one of the 3200 monitors.
For more information, visit www.kramerelectronics.com.
