Car Number Plates from European Countries

Although there are many new harmonisation laws across the European Union , each country still has its own unique way of identifying the vehicles registered in each country. The only common element is the blue border on the left edge of the number plate with the EU flag and country of origin and even this is optional in many member country. This article compares some of the member countries display of car registrations.

Beginning with England, number plates have black digits on white background ( front ) and yellow background ( rear ) with EU border optional number plates generally stay with the car during its lifetime.The numbering system has 7 digits with age and area identifiers.The first two digits are alpha characters and depict the area the car was first registered the next two are numbers giving the year of registration and the last three letters are random.France is adopting a new system in 2008 of 7 digits comprising two letters three numbers and two letters all purely random any area identify will be by a logo on the blue strip at the right hand side of the plate.The number plates will remain with the car during its life. France's current system comprises 3 or 4 numbers then two letters the two numbers , the last two numbers are the area identifier and if a car moves areas it is re-registered.Similar to England the digits are black on a white background for the front plate and black on yellow for the rear.

Spain adopted a new system in 2000 which comprises 4 numbers the 3 letters , black digits on white backgrounds front and rear, although the last 3 letters can give an indication of where and when the car was first registered it is not as blatant as the old system where the first two letters of the registration number indicated the capital city of the region concerned e.g M for Madrid and MA for Malaga.The blue EU border at the left hand side is compulsory on new number plates but was optional on the old system.Germany adopted its current system after re-unification in 1990 with a maximum of 8 black digits on a white background.

Much emphasis is placed on the area coding and if the owner changes his/her area of residence new plates must be bought. The registration will start with letters identifying the city and even district with numbers following. The exact combination of letters and numbers depends on how big the city/district is and how many cars are likely to be registered there.Curiously a space is considered to be a character so any a gap between digits would have a hyphen in it if it was not a space character. In between the area code and the rest of the digits there is a sticker signifying compliance with emmissions and safety testing.

The EU blue strip at the left is mandatory with the letter D for Deutschland. Italy adopted its current system in 1994 comprising 7 digits starting with two letters then 3 numbers then two letters. They discontinued the area identifier with this system but this proved unpopular so since there is option of having a regional code on the right hand side blue band which also displays the year of registration they also added the blue EU band at the LHS at this time. Both front and rear plates are white with black digits.Belgian car number plates differ enormously from the previous countries in that they are specific to the driver not the car and when you change the car you keep your registration number.

The rear plate is government supplied with red digits on a white background . It is usually mounted on a further plate which has the EU blue band at the right hand side. The front plate can either be the same as the rear or can be a European style similar to the previous countries covered earlier. Current numbering system is three letters followed by three numbers although because they are driver specific there are many still in use with one letter and four numbers or 2 letters and 3 numbers.Obviously area and age identifiers are not used as the registration number is specific to the driver not the car.Dutch number plates have followed the format of two numbers two letter two letters with hyphens between since 1999 , earlier systems were similar but varied the interchanged pairs of letters for numbers and vice-versa.Both plates are yellow with black digits and have the blue EU band at the right hand side.

Apart from special plates such as dealer and export plates the numbers and letters have no significance. Danish number plates normally have two letters followed by 5 numbers, displayed by black digits on white background since 1969 there is no area or age identifier although the number part signifies whether the vehicle is a car or bike etc. The blue EU band at the left border is not due to be implemented in 2008. It is interesting to note that the United Kingdom is the only country amongst the above to use plastic car number plate , nearly all others use pressed metal plates.

Benefits of Hotel Key Access Cards

Hotel Key Access Cards are an excellent branding and marketing tool for the hospitality industry. Their custom appearance and exceptional durability makes them an excellent choice for the quality conscience hotel. In addition, the reverse side is available with a variety of specific instructions for operating the many popular electronic locking systems that are currently in use today.

Printed on a high speed digital card press, plastic hotel and key access cards can have nearly as much color and detail as needed. The typical line screen is 144lpi (300dpi Photoshop file). This enables imaging Making the images on the plastic key cards to be sharp and clear.

These access cards are often customized to fit specific needs. They can be duplicated from a plastic key card that is already prepared or designed into something brand new. Plastic hotel and key access cards cards have exceptional quality and are competitively priced. A leading manufacturer offers hotel key cards are available in a business card size (3.5"x2") or a credit card size (3.375"x2.125").

Now, with the development of intelligent technology and contactless cards, hotels are increasingly using hotel key cards in many ways. The same card can be used as a loyalty card, a leisure access card for onsite leisure facilities and as a prepaid corporate expense card. Hotel key cards can also being used as mini advertising billboards to help promote special offerings.

Businesses are always seeking dependable sources of plastic cards for the the rapidly growing hotel, motel, and hospitality industry. Leading manufacturers have invested in a wide array of equipment to produce these cards accurately and with precision accuracy. Businesses should always inquire about the equipment and capabilities of the vendor prior to placing an order.

Home entertainment enhance with Amino's Int Act IPTV software

Amino has announced today that its IntAct™ IPTV software stack will be ported on to the new Intel® CE 2110 Media Processor.

Based on Amino’s IntAct IPTV software stack and the new Intel SoC media processing platform, operators will be able to offer attractive services such as advanced interactive TV, web browsing, video calling and communications applications, thus enhancing consumers’ home entertainment experience.

Amino’s IntAct IPTV software stack enables IP STB platforms to be created in a flexible and dynamic way to support a wide range of IPTV middleware and conditional access systems. STB vendors can therefore concentrate on their core business such as design and engineering while Amino provides the most cutting edge processor ecosystems. Third-party application software can also be ported to add new features for IPTV service providers, thanks to the open software platform architecture.

“The Amino IntAct IPTV software stack coupled with Intel’s SoC media processing platform allows operators and STB manufacturers to deliver a premium IPTV experience,” said William O. Leszinske, Jr., general manager of Intel’s Consumer Electronics Group. “Working with the broader CE ecosystem, the Intel CE 2110 Media Processor delivers the processing performance, flexibility and headroom needed to bring advanced information and entertainment services into consumers’ homes.”

“Home entertainment is changing, evolving into something beyond the digital television services consumers know,” said Karthik Ranjan, Vice President at Amino. “Powered by Intel’s new media processing platform, this idea will be closer to reality, allowing operators and STB suppliers to offer so much more. IPTV services can now exceed consumers’ expectations with the addition of next generation services, which will be available through their televisions.”

Amino’s technology licensing services facilitate outsourcing the costly software development function, bringing reductions in complexity, management and hence operating expenditure, time to market and risk by using a proven and scalable product. With the IntAct IPTV software platform, operators can minimise their overall CAPEX costs by choosing from a number of different STB hardware suppliers, yet maintain low OPEX costs by relying on an industry leading IPTV operating system, to deliver the integrated software to run across all their STB hardware platforms.

About Amino Communications

Amino Communications (www.aminocom.com) supplies the AmiNET™ series of set-top boxes, renowned for their low-cost and reliability. The AmiNET range materially reduces service operators’ capital expenditure, whilst offering the full range of specification required; MPEG2 and MPEG4 encoding standards, standard and high definition TV, personal video recording and home networking. The high performance coupled with the innovative design of Amino’s set-top boxes, has brought the series industry accolades and the company a leading position within the IPTV market.

The AmiNET series of IPTV set-top boxes has been used by more than 600 customers in commercial deployments and trials in over 50 countries worldwide. The set-top boxes have also been sampled by an additional 900 customers. Amino Communications’ principal customers are telecommunications, broadcast and hospitality service operators. Generally, AmiNET products are supplied with the IntAct™ IPTV software stack pre-loaded.

Amino Communications is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amino Technologies plc. listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM, symbol AMO. Amino’s HQ is based near Cambridge, UK, with offices worldwide.

Source:home.businesswire.com/portal