News

Planar's displays light Underground ticketing kiosks

March 26, 2004

BEAVERTON, Ore. - Planar Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:PLNR) has designed custom displays for Cubic Transportation Systems' new interactive ticket dispensers for the London Underground.

CTS, a subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corp. (AMEX:CUB), is part of TranSys, the consortium of companies working on the London project.

Bill Sproull, Planar's vice president for the industrial business unit, said that outdoor ticketing kiosks require tolerance for high temperatures, superior reliability, vandal-proof design and the ability to read screens in many lighting conditions.

Planar based its design on a solution developed with CTS for the New York City and Singapore subway systems last year. The London Underground project, called Queue Buster, features active matrix color touchscreens. Nearly 3 million passengers who pass through the London Underground's 275 stations daily will use the system.

Planar's displays are the primary interface of the Queue Buster system. The dispensers allow London commuters to select destinations, determine fares and purchase tickets via touchscreens. Planar packaged the 10.4-inch, thin film transistor, active matrix LCD displays with acoustical wave touchscreens, high back-lighting to increase readability and special video electronics for integration into the custom-designed, self-service ticket vending machines.

Planar Systems Inc. develops high performance information display systems. It's displays are used by more than 1,000 customers. Headquartered in Beaverton, Ore., Planar also has operations in Europe.