Zero Client Cloud Kiosk and Touch Monitors

Traditional thin client technology operates with a full operating system to connect to other computers. This technology embraces zero client technology, sometimes known as ultra-thin client, which operates purely on firmware with no requirement for processor, memory, hard drives of storage. Zero client technology uses the Teradici PC-over-IP protocol to shift and render pixels from a centralised VMware VDI server to the zero client device, which can be a stand-alone unit or an integrated all in one touch screen monitor device.

Sentios Technology is now able to provide cutting edge Zero Client Touch Monitor and PCoIP kiosk units with its Zero-G range of PCoIP Touch Products. The Zero-G 12, 15, 17, 19 and 21 inch cloud touch monitors are used to support and enhance any VMware or Citrix virtualized desktop environment deployment or solution. Zero-G cloud monitors boast high resolution interactive touch-screen technology, ranging from 12” to 21” in size, displaying up to 500 cd/m2, and rendering up to 1920x1080 high definition screen resolution. Anti-glare and anti-reflection tempered monitor glass is also available as an option for any PC-over-IP touch screen. All Sentios Technology zero-client monitors use resistive touch technology as standard, but capacitive touch is available as an interactive touch technology on any Sentios PCoIP touchscreen unit. Sentios Zero-Client cloud kiosks are like any other kiosk unit, with an upgrade from the traditional industrial PC unit to either an all-in-one embedded PCoIP open-frame monitor, or a standard touch screen fed by an internal PCoIP interface. Cloud kiosks boast lower power consumption, less heat output, increased reliability, less servicing and an overall reduction in hardware and implementation cost.

All Sentios zero-client models have D-Sub 15 pin VGA video in ports to enable them to be used as a standard monitor as well as a cloud monitor. Video out connectivity is provided via DVI sockets up to 2560x1600 resolution. Headphone, microphone and line-in sockets feature as standard, as does RJ45 Ethernet with Wi-Fi access as an option. Entry-level Zero-Client monitor units have 2 USB ports, moving to 3 USB ports on 17 to 21 inch models. On-board controls include power on/off, menu access, selection buttons and multi-functional +/- buttons. Sentios Zero-G Touch Screens operate on 12V DC, making them idea for safe environments and are mountable via standard VESA plates. PCoIP housing units are available in either black or white. Zero-G cloud monitors support virtualization software for desktop on all platforms including Mac OS-X, Microsoft Windows, Linux and Unix.

Zero Client Monitor Hardware 

Zero Client touchscreen units do not require any local CPU, Hard Disks, Memory or even a Power Adapter with UPOE enables devices. In addition to being able to leverage and harness powerful centrally located server power, Zero Client Monitors provide a considerable power usage cost saving due to the fact that they contain no moving parts or on-board processing circuitry. This in turn reduces heat and emissions in everyday office environments.

Zero Client display units provide a perfect hot desk solution in corporate environments as all user files and configuration settings are virtualized locally, giving employees total freedom to log-in to any workstation. After simple authentication, workers are presented with their own personal desktop environment regardless of location. This technology is equally valuable in school and further education settings, allowing pupils and students to go from classroom to classroom whilst still having full access to all of their documents and study material. Zero client cloud monitors are being trialled extensively in the banking sector as bank tellers, business advisors and bank staff are able to switch quickly from station to station whist accessing centrally located data and customer details. Zero-Client touch screen monitor hardware is also an attractive option for the banking sector due to the high levels of security. In retail, PC-over-IP Zero Client offers a secure and powerful EPOS (Electronic Point of Sales) option and is expected to be rolled out into large retail outlets throughout 2012.

PCoIP Technology

PCoIP is a breakthrough compression technology which pixel shifts screen images from a central processing centre to low cost, light weight zero client touch monitor units. PC over IP technology can be rolled out across existing standard IP networks and allows users, power users and administrators to be managed from a centrally located data centre. Data is compressed, encrypted and encoded at the data centre and only transmits pixels to the client. At the data centre, a small number of powerful servers running virtual desktop environments are able to serve many clients with pixel images. This means that your data never leaves the server, or the data centre, thus increasing information security. Pixel imagery supports full HD high resolution and 3D graphics. VMware technology fully supports USB connectivity, HD audio and high resolution media across local or wide area network.

In conventional PC systems, all local drivers are integrated with the computer's display to optimise performance. With a PC-over-IP solution, drivers are not local, but are instead located at the server end of the solution and are therefore separated by the LAN or WAN. When rendering images, commands and client responses have to communicate across the network, thus introducing a risk of application performance degradation. Host rendering is used to ensure that application performance is not affected. PC over IP, or PCoIP as it is better known, broadcasts only encrypted pixels and not all user data over the LAN or WAN. The client’s job is to decode pixels only, not to process information or manage applications. This reduces risks of incompatibility and ensures that applications work in an efficient and lean fashion. By using Host Rendering, data shift latency is dramatically improved offering a more reliable solution for end users, power users and system administrators. Additionally, Zero Client touch monitor technology uses less network bandwidth as IP traffic is only travelling in one direction (from the centrally located server in the data centre, to the remote PCoIP client). Sentios cloud monitors can be used as a true all in one zero client units, replacing the need for individual components. The AIO cloud PC unit integrates the PCOIP interface and all associated input and output ports. This combined with touch technology provides a compact, easy to install interactive solution for slim client/server applications.

On a standard PC, images are generally displayed in different ways. If the same codecs were used for all applications, an unnecessary about of network bandwidth would be used. To mitigate this risk, PCoIP continually analyses the various elements of an image (such as text content, photos, movie/video etc), decompresses it and then re-compresses it at the client end using the appropriate codec on a pixel by pixel basis. Multiple codecs are used in order to ensure that images transmitted, decompressed and optimised on the fly. Lossless technology is used to ensure that no loss of pixel data occurs. For network environments with less capability or bandwidth, PCoIP settings can be changed and configured to ensure that network resources are not impacted, without affecting image quality.

PC over IP is a form of Desktop Virtualization, or client virtualisation as it’s sometimes called, and essentially separates the physical processing computer from the user’s desktop interface environment. VDI (Virtual Desktop Interface), or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, refers to a variation of the classic server-client model, which enables the virtual desktop interface. Desktop Virtualization can be used to either provide access to a full information system, or to the actual environment.