Polywell Computers U-series media players Digital Signage

Main article: Digital Signage

2022: Polywell U11L2

On August 22, 2022, Polywell Computers announced the release of the U11L2, the Digital Signage media player, which combines performance in various aspects with the ability to work both indoors and outdoors.

Polywell U11L2

According to the company, the system is based on the Intel Tiger Lake-u Platform (SOC). The choice of processors can really satisfy any possible needs - starting with the Intel Celeron 6305 1.80 GHz with 2 cores and ending with the Intel Core i7-1185G7 3.00/4.80 GHz with 4 cores. Up to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM is supported. If Intel Core i5-1135G7 and higher processors are installed, the system will receive the capabilities of built-in Intel Iris Xe Graphics. U11L2 supports four video outputs, two of them are DP 1.4 8K 60Hz. The remaining two support HDMI 2.0 4K 60Hz resolution. This feature makes U11L2 especially convenient for Digital Signage applications, allowing one player to work with four screens at the same time. For August 2022, most installations work with FHD resolution, but gradually, as technology develops, more users are inclined to launch 4K and even 8K video clips on displays that support such resolutions. From this point of view, Polywell U11L2 will be a long-term investment.

The 8-channel (7.1) audio subsystem Realtek ALC897 also makes U11L2 attractive as a media player, since some installations require proper sound.

The system is equipped with two gigabit Intel LAN interfaces. This allows you to use the machine as a network bridge: one LAN port receives traffic from the WAN, and the second allocates it to the LAN.

One of the biggest challenges in Digital Signage applications is accessibility. No advertiser or owner of the Digital Signage network will tolerate system freezes, transmission interruptions or poor playback quality. At the same time, no software or hardware is perfect, and sometimes it freezes. Typically, Digital Signage installations are unattended by technical personnel, and if this happens, a problem may arise. Polywell U11L2 can prevent such problems thanks to the hardware Watchdog, which will automatically reboot the frozen system.

It also supports Wake on LAN (WOL) and diskless PXE loading, making it even more flexible and resistant to possible trouble.

U11L2 is also equipped with an LTE (4G) module with a SIM card slot . In some cases, this saves on the deployment of private LANs or Wi-Fi networks, provided that the site has good access to the cellular network. This is especially important if the user deploys only one or two machines on site and does not want to lay a cable there and buy a router to power only one system. The storage subsystem provides one 6 Gb/s SATA port and one M.2 2280 slot (for SATA-6 Gb/s or PCIe x4 NVMe).

As additional bonuses that are not directly related to Digital Signage applications, we can mention the RS485 port and the full-size MiniPCIe slot not occupied by system-level devices. The latter is optimized for the PCIe Intel Movidius Myriad X visual processor, widely used in artificial intelligence, machine learning and image recognition applications combined with OpenVINO tools.

U11L2 (like all Polywell Computers) is made of industrial grade components. This ensures the reliability of the computer and the openly declared MTBF in 100000 hours. In addition, it has very serious technical characteristics for working in harsh conditions:

• Operating temperature: -20 to + 50 C °
• Storage temperature: -20 to + 70 C °
• Vibration during operation: 9.8 m/s2 (1.0G) from 5 to 500 Hz
• Storage vibration: 49 m/s2 (5.0G) 15 to 500 Hz
• Impact during operation: 3.920 m/s2 (400G) 2 ms
• Impact on storage: 8.820 m/s2 (900G) 1 ms
• Relative humidity during operation: from 8% to 90% (without formations condensate)
• Relative humidity during storage: from 5% to 95% (without condensation)

The above specifications definitely conclude discussions about installing Digital Signage indoors and outdoors. Because Polywell is U11L2 suitable for both environments. Now there is no need to buy different equipment for internal and external use, which is very important for large networks in terms of service. A number of applications (road controllers, video surveillance outdoor screens, video walls, etc.) also require a reliable media player capable of working outdoors. The system can be supplied with MS Windows 1011/,,. Windows IoT Linux It can also be supplied in a fanless case to ensure quiet operation, energy saving and the ability to work in a dusty environment, including conductive dust.