What do you mean by "zero power"?

How does an update occur?

What frequencies do we use?

What is the range of the wireless communications?

Are your communications two-way?

Are you using encryption?

Do you use frequency hopping?

What do you mean by "zero power"?

The unique, patented bistable LCD display that forms part of the product, only requires power when the display needs to be updated. The product has been designed to ensure that all electronics associated with the display update are shutdown when an update is not in progress, therefore making the display a "zero power" display.

How does an update occur?

All of ZBD's products feature a unique wireless communications interface that has been designed to use the minimum of power. When a new image is required to be displayed it is first transmitted to the product via the RF interface. The display is then updated with the new image and then the product returns to its power save mode.

What frequencies do you use?

The product can operate in two different unlicensed Industrial, Scientific & Medical (ISM) bands; In Europe we use the 868MHz ISM band and in the USA we use the 915MHz ISM band.

What is the range of the wireless communications?

Radio frequencies are affected by objects that appear in the path, so it is not possible to give an exact range for in-building use. ZBD has tested their products in a number of retail environments to be able to give an indication of the typical range one can expect.

In free air i.e. no obstacles in the transmission path the product is capable of a maximum range of 250m. Within a building this range is reduced to typically 100-150m, however large open plan retail environments can often achieve ranges greater than 200m.

Are your communications two-way?

Yes. All wireless communications with a ZBD display are acknowledged by the receiving unit, so you can be assured that the data sent has been received.

Are you using encryption?

No. We are using compression on the image transfer, but not encryption.

Do you use frequency hopping?

No. Frequency hopping schemes are primary used to increase the reliability of the comms and to reduce its susceptibility to RF noise. Since the biggest issue a ZBD label will have in store is a shopping trolley in the way of the label and thus blocking its reception of data we do not require advanced techniques. Any label transmission that fails will be rescheduled and tried again.