Video in print

Physics Today : In one of the first examples of embedding a video player into a print magazine, the US television network CBS has paid Entertainment Weekly to play a 40-minute video in the 18 September issue. Ironically the ad mentioned Physics Today.The video, which is activated when the magazine page is opened for more than 5 seconds, opens with Jim Parsons , the actor who plays Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist on the television sitcom The Big Bang Theory , welcoming readers to “the current edition of Physics Today” before finding out he has been duped into supporting a different product.Other parts of the page are touch sensitive to pull up additional content.The advertisement is powered by technology similar to that used in a mobile phone. Designed by Los Angeles-based company Americhip , the video screen uses a 5 cm diagonal, 320x240 resolution, thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) says Americhips Bob Shaud. The display can be as large as 10 cm he adds, but the cost goes up significantly with larger displays.The whole screen is only 2.7 mm thick and encased by polycarbonate to protect the display from damage. The remaining electronics are sandwiched behind the screen between two pieces of thick paper. The sound uses a similar chip to those found in electronic audio greeting cards. The battery lasts 65—70 minutes and can be recharged using a mini-usb connector.The cost of embedding the video electronics is “more than a can of Pepsi,” said CBS president of marketing George Schweitzer at a press conference earlier today, which is why only a small number of subscribers in New York and Los Angeles will receive the “video-in-print” ad, and why CBS managed to obtain additional sponsorship from the soft drinks manufacturer Pepsi. Paul Caine—president of the Time Inc. magazine group which publishes Entertainment Weekly—told the Wall Street Journal that it was in the “low teens.""This is expensive technology,” says Shoud “and the price per unit fluctuates depending on how many are ordered.” A production run of 1,000 of these displays for a marketing campaign would lead to a cost per unit of about $50, increasing production to 100,000 units drops the price down to $20 he says.In terms of educational use—such as embedding displays in textbooks—the pharmaceutical industry is evaluating whether the displays would be useful in providing doctors with instructions on how to use new drug examples.Paul Guinnessy