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When it comes keeping the world in touch, Datapath has all the cards ; The world is growing ever more hungry for information, and for the means to... [Derby Evening Telegraph (England)](Derby Evening Telegraph (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) When it comes keeping the world in touch, Datapath has all the cards ; The world is growing ever more hungry for information, and for the means to display it and record it. Oliver Astley talks to a Derby company helping it make the right connections. IT is the technology that allowed President Obama to witness the killing of Osama Bin Laden, enables the safe running of trains in New Jersey and will revolutionise in-store advertising. And when multiple screens on trading floors around the world showed jagged red lines follow a brutal downward trajectory at the end of last week, the chances are that graphics cards designed in Derby were making it all work. In a anonymous-looking building in Alfreton Road, Derby a firm called Datapath develops products enabling the simultaneous display of vast quantities of information spread across dozens or even hundreds of monitors. The kind of graphics cards designed by its engineers are not like the kind used for gaming that you can pick up at PC World for under Pounds 30. When you see large banks of screens on the X-Factor, at the Dow Jones, at rock concerts or in mobile command centres in Afghanistan, it will be these graphics cards that make images, graphs and real- time data appear on the right monitors at the right time. Full high- definition images at 60 frames a second. At a time when many firms are concentrating on survival, in the first quarter of this year, Datapath saw growth of 30% as markets for its products grow and new ones emerge. Managing director Bjorn Krylander said: "Our graphics cards are supplied to companies that put together entire systems so we rarely get involved with the end user and, even if we supply to a European customer, they might be selling into the US market." Unsurprisingly, with rapidly expanding infrastructure to monitor across large areas, China has a big appetite for data walls. Bjorn said: "A control centre in Europe might have 20 people but in China, there might be 200 people and information coming in to over a hundred screens." There is the feeling that there is even some competition between administrative areas to see who can have the biggest control centre for the management of rail or road networks, perhaps understandable given the entire regime is geared around control. Closed-circuit television systems represent a good example of what Datapath's cards are used for. You might have 100 cameras out on the street, a nuclear facility or at a high-security industrial complex. That would require 100 screens within a controlcentre environment. If anything untoward was going on then high-definition images from the relevant security cameras could be spread across dozens of screens immediately. Security is a significant issue with many of the endusers of Datapath technology. Being able to capture and store images is essential to many sectors, not least the financiers and brokers tearing their hair out last week. Indeed, a key stage in its development came in the mid-90s when its products started being used by stockbrokers because they allowed two monitors to be used with the same PC, allowing them to track prices and complete trades simultaneously. Video-capture technology now allows tamper-proof information on who sold or bought what and when to be stored. It is useful for sensitive applications because internet or intranet connections are not required, so there is no risk of hacking. Using the internet to transmit the Osama Bin Laden's final moments to the Whitehouse or to monitor military movements would have been an unacceptable risk. Mr Krylander said: "Video cable is strictly one-way and so you are keeping the information captured on screen within a closed environment which is particularly important for the military." Control rooms and trading floors represent the traditional markets for Datapath, although a number of interesting new developments are starting to drive sales for the Derby firm. Mr Krylander said: "At the moment, the digital signage market is growing as the price of small individual screens comes down. "It is becoming economical for chains such as Burger King or McDonald's to have screens above the counter displaying menus and the offers of the day rather than printed material which take time to produce. If you can make changes from a computer then it's quicker and easier." Supermarkets are becoming interested in technology that allows them to react faster to conditions that could help drive sales. Mr Krylander said: "If it starts raining then within minutes you could have a screen at the entrance to the store displaying where to find the brollies." In the education and medical sector, there are also opportunities for Datapath. Mr Krylander said: "Video-capture applications are being used more and more."y universities in the US as a growing number of students study from home and for teaching purposes, images from surgery can be captured." The technology can capture medical procedures for surgeons and their students and could potentially prove invaluable to patients if anything should go wrong. This being a very specialist market, Datapath also has a consultancy side and also sees an opportunity for aftersales support. A couple of years ago, it was primarily concerned with supplying cards for other firms to integrate into their systems. Now, more frequently it is being asked to build entire systems for customers, buying in mother boards and hard drives. Apart from a stagnant 2008, the company has always experienced year-on-year growth. Last year, it turned over around Pounds 10m and took on additional software engineers, boosting head-count to around 40. There are threats to the business and high-technology firms such as Datapath need be innovative. There is always the possibility that a new product could come along that achieves the same results cheaper. With less than a handful of competing companies worldwide, advanced graphics cards of the kind designed by Datapath in Derby represents a niche market but one which has great potential. Even if the current economic turmoil in the US and the eurozone means another blip, the financial markets will still need Datapath show exactly what is going on. [email protected] HOW IT ALL STARTED LIKE so many Derby firms, Datapath evolved from expertise first developed at Rolls-Royce. It was established in 1982 by Tony Jones, Steve De'Ath and Brett Butcher and within six months had launched a low-cost colour graphics terminal for computers. This was primarily used for early computer-aided design programmes for engineers. During the 1980s, it got a foothold in the UK and German markets. In 1986, the company launched its first highperformance plug-in graphics card for PCs as PCs overtook the minicomputer for CAD applications. Datapath continued to focus on high-value specialist technology during the 90s, technology to enable radar display simulations, real- time 3D displays and medical imaging applications. The second half of that decade saw Datapath develop technology that allowed two monitors to be used on one PC. It was ideal for trading desks in the financial markets and Datapath gained the lion's share of this market in Europe. Building on this success, graphics cards for video walls were developed. Datapath graphics cards are currently being used display walls, medical imaging, video conferencing, distance learning and advertising. "Video-capture applications are being used more and more." BJORN KRYLANDER (c) 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |