5 ms·

Singapore subway (mrt) information display types

59 points by gregorvand 15d ago

landgenoot 12d ago
Why are plasma displays being used? I would expect they would burn in rapidly.
- ValentineC 12d ago
  Now I'm really curious if they're actually plasma. Many of the stations were built long after LCDs became the norm (the first parts of the Thomson-East Coast Line [1] only opened in 2021), so it's likely mislabelling on the website's part. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson%E2%80%93East_Coast_Line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson%E2%80%93East_Coast_Lin...
  - bobthepanda 12d ago
    it also could be one of those things where in this specific context or dialect of English, plasma was generalized away from the term strictly being a technology to a generic term for that general shape and form factor. after all none of us have used floppies to save for over a decade or two at this point.
  - linohh 12d ago
    Yes, they were, back then. Back in the day when the North-South and East-West line were built (mid 80s) Conrac (today DATA MODUL) was really big in manufacturing plasma screens for airports, etc. in Germany. Pretty sure they are replaced with LCD today though.
- Reason077 12d ago
  Besides that, all those plasma screens running for >18 hours a day will be using a lot of energy, and generating a lot of heat that puts more demand on the air conditioning! Replacing them with more modern screens would save a lot of power and money. (I know a guy who still uses a ~20 year old plasma TV. It still looks great but it doubles as a heater in the winter time!)
ranger_danger 12d ago
Stuck in an infinite captcha loop :/
- deleted 12d ago
  [deleted]
chanux 12d ago
I preferred the old style route display (DRMD panels, apparently) over the LCD displays. Main reason: The most important info was always on display. Also loved it when the new route map depicted the circle line as a circle [1]. [1] https://blog.sgtrains.com/2020/06/system-maps-over-the-years/ https://blog.sgtrains.com/2020/06/system-maps-over-the-years...
- decimalenough 12d ago
  Yup, the old ones are so much better it's not even funny. Crystal clear at times where you are and where you're going. The new LCD ones loop ads and random garbage half the time. The other half of the time they often show just the next station, not the whole line with its interchanges etc.
  - thenthenthen 11d ago
    Some decades ago they changed all the train and metro clocks from analog round clocks with arms to digital number clocks… its such a downgrade, before you could read the time from any end of the platform, now you need to get up pretty close. Maybe i need glasses as well… ahh age! (Also is it just me or have most clocks in public space disappeared?)
deleted 12d ago
[deleted]
delta_p_delta_x 12d ago
I wish they hadn't got rid of STARIS 1[1]. It was highly intuitive and informative, and showed you everything you needed at a glance, and was visible from nearly anywhere within the carriage. In fact I am not very happy with the little things when it comes to LTA. They ruined MRT wayfinding with highly abstract symbols[2] in the new Thomson-East Coast Line, so much so that station staff have had to regularly supplant it with ugly printed signs that aren't standardised. They also changed from using alphabetical exits to numbered exits, with no listing of nearby landmarks. Older stations still have this wayfinding, but I suspect they will be replaced in short order, as everything in Singapore is wont to be. Speaking of standardised, LTA have two corporate typefaces: LTA Identity, and Ocean Sans. They stopped using both and moved to Stroudley, which just looks bad, with ugly vertical terminators on the 'a', 'e', and 'g' glyphs. Ocean Sans is simultaneously superbly readable and yet very distinctive, something very few fonts have achieved. I must also be in the minority but I do not like the new map[3]; it makes the city centre too cluttered. I much prefer the one from ~2010[4], which is quite reminiscent of the London Underground's map. In fact I believe they could've simplified it further by getting rid of station codes. Which passenger needs to know Dhoby Ghaut is NE6/CC1/NE24? Even as a (self-professed) transport nerd I don't really care. I have other rants about the giant stroads, weird cycling paths, and their decision to use 'anticlockwise' and 'clockwise' for the full Circle Line, but that is neither here nor there, and I think other creators discuss that better than I ever could. Singapore's public transport is great, no doubt, but it could be so much better still. It needs trams. [1]: https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/c151-staris-1024x688.jpg https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/c151-st... [2]: https://www.sgtrains.com/guide-wayfinding.html https://www.sgtrains.com/guide-wayfinding.html [3]: https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/05-sm-20-03-en-exp.png https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/05-sm-2... [4]: https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/03-Network_Map_100112.png https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/03-Netw...
- ValentineC 12d ago
  > their decision to use 'anticlockwise' and 'clockwise' for the full Circle Line I saw this on a banner a few days ago: https://imgur.com/a/gMZXYRs https://imgur.com/a/gMZXYRs I don't know what kind of groupthink is festering within LTA, but I'm guessing someone who shouted the loudest got the rename through, and the no-blame, face-saving culture meant that they have their hands tied for a while.
m4rtink 12d ago
Singapore MRT or SMRT literally means DEATH in Czech. First heard about that from a friend during his travel presentation about Singapore. They found it amusing but little worrying, that if you ride the metro there, you are riding with death. ;-)
- oliculipolicula 12d ago
  Came here looking for this comment. Was looking at some billboards the other day and wondered at the new ads/ad-jokes this could generate Eg http://www.bryanv.com/smrt http://www.bryanv.com/smrt
  - m4rtink 12d ago
    Those are perfect, thanks a lot! :D Best one if the poster with the lady showing the way "I want to help people reach their final destination" - indeed! ;-)
senorrib 12d ago
Why are all the displays placed at 90°? That seems like bad UX.
- ValentineC 12d ago
  They're meant to be seen from across the station. (They could have put multiple displays, but noooooo.)
noeltock 12d ago
Multivariate testing

59 points by gregorvand 15d ago

landgenoot 12d ago

Why are plasma displays being used? I would expect they would burn in rapidly.

ValentineC 12d ago
Now I'm really curious if they're actually plasma. Many of the stations were built long after LCDs became the norm (the first parts of the Thomson-East Coast Line [1] only opened in 2021), so it's likely mislabelling on the website's part. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson%E2%80%93East_Coast_Line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson%E2%80%93East_Coast_Lin...
- bobthepanda 12d ago
  it also could be one of those things where in this specific context or dialect of English, plasma was generalized away from the term strictly being a technology to a generic term for that general shape and form factor. after all none of us have used floppies to save for over a decade or two at this point.
- linohh 12d ago
  Yes, they were, back then. Back in the day when the North-South and East-West line were built (mid 80s) Conrac (today DATA MODUL) was really big in manufacturing plasma screens for airports, etc. in Germany. Pretty sure they are replaced with LCD today though.
Reason077 12d ago
Besides that, all those plasma screens running for >18 hours a day will be using a lot of energy, and generating a lot of heat that puts more demand on the air conditioning! Replacing them with more modern screens would save a lot of power and money. (I know a guy who still uses a ~20 year old plasma TV. It still looks great but it doubles as a heater in the winter time!)

ranger_danger 12d ago

Stuck in an infinite captcha loop :/

deleted 12d ago
[deleted]

chanux 12d ago

I preferred the old style route display (DRMD panels, apparently) over the LCD displays. Main reason: The most important info was always on display. Also loved it when the new route map depicted the circle line as a circle [1]. [1] https://blog.sgtrains.com/2020/06/system-maps-over-the-years/ https://blog.sgtrains.com/2020/06/system-maps-over-the-years...

decimalenough 12d ago
Yup, the old ones are so much better it's not even funny. Crystal clear at times where you are and where you're going. The new LCD ones loop ads and random garbage half the time. The other half of the time they often show just the next station, not the whole line with its interchanges etc.
- thenthenthen 11d ago
  Some decades ago they changed all the train and metro clocks from analog round clocks with arms to digital number clocks… its such a downgrade, before you could read the time from any end of the platform, now you need to get up pretty close. Maybe i need glasses as well… ahh age! (Also is it just me or have most clocks in public space disappeared?)

deleted 12d ago

[deleted]

delta_p_delta_x 12d ago

I wish they hadn't got rid of STARIS 1[1]. It was highly intuitive and informative, and showed you everything you needed at a glance, and was visible from nearly anywhere within the carriage. In fact I am not very happy with the little things when it comes to LTA. They ruined MRT wayfinding with highly abstract symbols[2] in the new Thomson-East Coast Line, so much so that station staff have had to regularly supplant it with ugly printed signs that aren't standardised. They also changed from using alphabetical exits to numbered exits, with no listing of nearby landmarks. Older stations still have this wayfinding, but I suspect they will be replaced in short order, as everything in Singapore is wont to be. Speaking of standardised, LTA have two corporate typefaces: LTA Identity, and Ocean Sans. They stopped using both and moved to Stroudley, which just looks bad, with ugly vertical terminators on the 'a', 'e', and 'g' glyphs. Ocean Sans is simultaneously superbly readable and yet very distinctive, something very few fonts have achieved. I must also be in the minority but I do not like the new map[3]; it makes the city centre too cluttered. I much prefer the one from ~2010[4], which is quite reminiscent of the London Underground's map. In fact I believe they could've simplified it further by getting rid of station codes. Which passenger needs to know Dhoby Ghaut is NE6/CC1/NE24? Even as a (self-professed) transport nerd I don't really care. I have other rants about the giant stroads, weird cycling paths, and their decision to use 'anticlockwise' and 'clockwise' for the full Circle Line, but that is neither here nor there, and I think other creators discuss that better than I ever could. Singapore's public transport is great, no doubt, but it could be so much better still. It needs trams. [1]: https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/c151-staris-1024x688.jpg https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/c151-st... [2]: https://www.sgtrains.com/guide-wayfinding.html https://www.sgtrains.com/guide-wayfinding.html [3]: https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/05-sm-20-03-en-exp.png https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/05-sm-2... [4]: https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/03-Network_Map_100112.png https://blog.sgtrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/03-Netw...

ValentineC 12d ago
> their decision to use 'anticlockwise' and 'clockwise' for the full Circle Line I saw this on a banner a few days ago: https://imgur.com/a/gMZXYRs https://imgur.com/a/gMZXYRs I don't know what kind of groupthink is festering within LTA, but I'm guessing someone who shouted the loudest got the rename through, and the no-blame, face-saving culture meant that they have their hands tied for a while.

m4rtink 12d ago

Singapore MRT or SMRT literally means DEATH in Czech. First heard about that from a friend during his travel presentation about Singapore. They found it amusing but little worrying, that if you ride the metro there, you are riding with death. ;-)

oliculipolicula 12d ago
Came here looking for this comment. Was looking at some billboards the other day and wondered at the new ads/ad-jokes this could generate Eg http://www.bryanv.com/smrt http://www.bryanv.com/smrt
- m4rtink 12d ago
  Those are perfect, thanks a lot! :D Best one if the poster with the lady showing the way "I want to help people reach their final destination" - indeed! ;-)

senorrib 12d ago

Why are all the displays placed at 90°? That seems like bad UX.

ValentineC 12d ago
They're meant to be seen from across the station. (They could have put multiple displays, but noooooo.)

noeltock 12d ago

Multivariate testing