BANGALORE, INDIA: 3M Commercial Graphics Division, a division of 3M Ltd, has launched its Digital Signage Centre of Excellence (CoE) at the 3M Innovation Centre in Bangalore.

A one-stop shop for digital signage's, the Centre will display and demonstrate a wide range of innovative solutions for customers.

"With more than 50,000 screens to be installed over the next 18 months, India is a huge  market for digital signage's. Yet the plethora of solutions available makes it a difficult choice for customers," said Prabhu Venkatesh, Business Manager, Commercials Graphics Division, 3M Limited. "The 3M Centre of Excellence will help customers to understand and evaluate the best digital signage solutions for their requirements, be it hardware, software, display devices or connectivity." 3M Digital Signage powers more than 1000 screens in India, of which 600 cater to the retail food and grocery segment.

Debasish Gupta, General Manager, Commercial Graphics Division, 3M said, "We are the largest providers of networked screens in India. The 3M Digital Signage software helps  customers beam and control customized content from a central network operating centre and this was amply demonstrated when we were selected to run 102 screens installed at all the train stations in Bangalore."

The Centre of Excellence, for the first time, provides clients with an opportunity to test the Digital Signage software with a specially developed entry level version media player. Connectivity options like VSAT, WiMAX and terrestrial broadband are some of the features that clients can test before they finalize the platform that best suits their needs.

3M Digital Signage software has worked with leading media companies to offer customized Digital Time Table solutions for the Indian Railways and a GPS / GPRS based Digital Signage solution which is currently being rolled out in buses.