65-inch "digital posters" catch eyes in Tokyo train station

Utilizing big honkin' displays for advertising purposes is nothing new, but East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and East Japan Marketing & Communications have decided to try "digital posters" out for reference. In short, ten 65-inch Sharp PN655R LCDs have been installed within "the internal concourse on the first floor of Tokyo Station's Yaesu South Entrance," and folks who stroll by can get a glimpse of whatever (the image changes each minute) in stunning 1080p. The goal here, as you might imagine, is to "evaluate the advertising effects of still image ad posters using large LCD panels displayed in a relatively busy gateway." If you're anxious to lay your eyes on the installation, you'd better hurry, as there's no guarantee that they'll remain after September. At least the video posted after the jump is forever.

[konshuss @ Jul 15th 2008 9:16AM]

:)

[Mam00th @ Jul 15th 2008 9:22AM]

:3

[fh @ Jul 15th 2008 10:59AM]

ｷﾀ━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━ !!!!

[fil @ Jul 19th 2008 11:32AM]

do we all watch Densha Otoko (電車男)?

[chris @ Jul 15th 2008 9:16AM]

We have those in our mall here in maryland. *with a smaller incasing*

[BeniRose @ Jul 15th 2008 9:51AM]

I was going to say, don't they have those in every mall in America? But I guess it's only the ones in Maryland, since that's where I was thinking of as well.

[Peter @ Jul 15th 2008 11:10AM]

I've seen them at Freehold and GSP malls in NJ, along with King of Prussia mall in PA.

[Pete @ Jul 15th 2008 5:17PM]

I've seen them in just about every Mall in the United States that I have stepped into in the past year (all over the country). This is nothing new... why the heck is it making Engadget news?

[MichaelZ @ Jul 15th 2008 9:21AM]

In Rotterdam (the Netherlands) we have these kind of ads at the central railway station for quite some time now.

[Ali @ Jul 15th 2008 10:31AM]

Got them all over Melbourne, Australia too. Shopping centres and train stations.

[howard.scott @ Jul 15th 2008 9:27AM]

this is how they started to sell them in to potential advertisers in london on the tube. i think they had difficulty initially understanding the benefit of moving images over static ones - but it seems to be solved on the whole now as most of the screens I come across are animated to some degree or even full motion video.

[tyler @ Jul 15th 2008 9:38AM]

I can't wait to see the BSoD on one of these things..

[chyan @ Jul 15th 2008 9:46AM]

My oh my.. ^~^

[Steven @ Jul 15th 2008 9:49AM]

We have those at my mall in Connecticut as well (have had them for a few months now). I believe they are just as big, too. Nothing really new here.

[Godskitchen @ Jul 15th 2008 9:52AM]

The are all over the London Underground too....................No news here, move along

[Brad Jordan @ Jul 15th 2008 10:08AM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRcIFimmtWs&feature=related

CBSoutdoorUK are doing some much better stuff in the Tube in the UK.

[Aron T @ Jul 15th 2008 10:12AM]

We have these in a mall here in Texas (The Woodlands mall, specifically). One of the weird things they do is have a movie poster that is just a standard poster but every so often the characters will move around or talk - freaky.

That same mall also has a 360-degree display that is about 3ft high. That made my brain explode.

[Alan Partridge @ Jul 15th 2008 10:17AM]

Their stations are so clean and shiny.

[JamesR @ Jul 15th 2008 10:19AM]

Think photo in the linked article caught a guy in a full on nose pick. Gah! I can't get the image out of my head.

[Chesbro @ Jul 15th 2008 10:34AM]

It was itchy, he was just scratching! Honest!!!

[Vagrant @ Jul 15th 2008 11:07AM]

Welcome to Japan, where picking your nose is part of the solution.

Hmm...I'm not sure about the ROI on this. Sure Tokyo station is really busy, but then again, it's really busy. Not many people have time to loaf around and read that fine print on the display. (I avoid that place like the plague)

Your best bet is a static poster and three, or four in a row, so you can read it as you pass each one, or as people get in your way between them. This method is employed now in a few places, buy a few advertisers. (Softbank and their "Change" poster for one.)

Ahh well, you don't know unless you try.

[Brian Richards @ Jul 15th 2008 10:49AM]

How is this news?

They've had this at the Topanga Plaze in Canago Park, CA for years now. Not sure if they are 65" but they are great big LCD HDTV's turned sideways with advertisements cycling on them.

[Montey @ Jul 15th 2008 10:55AM]

Only in Japan

[Chesbro @ Jul 15th 2008 11:02AM]

and Texas, Maryland, California, Connecticut, London, Rotterdam, and Melbourne, too!

[cavok @ Jul 15th 2008 11:11AM]

http://www.walkseven.com/

installed at zurich airport... takes the concept even a bit further.

[squeak @ Jul 15th 2008 11:26AM]

uh: www.thinkingpictures.com

[Richard Ahlquist @ Jul 15th 2008 11:29AM]

Umm BTDT got these in Arbor Place Mall here in Georgia, not only that but the multiplex theater replaced their 30 feet of menu boards and combo 'meal' pictures with Sony flat screens. They appear to not be 65" but still monstrous.

[GoVegan! @ Jul 15th 2008 11:34AM]

Each display's power is 560W, no wonder Japan is the third largest nuclear power user in the world with 55 nuclear reactors. Not good.

[OX4 @ Jul 15th 2008 11:38AM]

I didn't realize that if I turn my TV on its side it become a "digital poster." Way to go, Tokyo!

[Carmen Vj @ Jul 15th 2008 3:26PM]

lol. That's funny. This is exactly what this digital looks like. The way you describe this.... lol..

[Auras @ Jul 15th 2008 11:47AM]

Hell, even in Romania we have vertically installed HDTVs running all sorts of ads in malls.

[BratPAQ @ Jul 15th 2008 11:59AM]

ive seen one of those at some mall, with winXP OS and saying "this copy of windows is not genuine"

[kye3k1 @ Jul 15th 2008 12:02PM]

The camera man likes young girls

[Peter F @ Jul 15th 2008 2:33PM]

it's be better if they took a picture of the walkway continued behind the display and remove the border...... *THUNK*

[Madison @ Jul 16th 2008 2:10AM]

this is news FTW?