Digital signage

File:Digital sign dearborn.ogv

Digital sign video clip, Dearborn, MI

Digital signage as flight information display system at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

Digital signage is a sub segment of signage. Digital signages use technologies such as LCD, LED and Projection to display content such as digital images, video, streaming media, and information. They can be found in public spaces, transportation systems, museums, stadiums, retail stores, hotels, restaurants, and corporate buildings etc, to provide wayfinding, exhibitions, marketing and outdoor advertising. Digital Signage market is expected to grow the USD $15 Billion to over USD $24 Billion by 2020.

Digital Contents

Traditionally content designs are typically done through specialist firms. However they are often deemed as expensive and have uncertain ROI. Nowadays, digital content can be created easily via Content Management System. Its control panel has built-in tools which allow advertisers to combine audio, video, image and interactivity easily by themselves. Digital contents displayed on the signage are presented in one of the following formats:

Text - Scrolling text. Either scrolling text, or text dynamically updated via extern newsfeed source.

Images - Scrolling images, usually in the format of digital advertisement posters

Video - Usually in the format of commercial TV advertisements.

Interactive interfaces - Combining with Touch Screen and Kinect Sensors, it allows two ways communications with the users. It help to engage users and also helps advertisers to gain insight in customer behaviours.

Content Management System (CMS)

Since digital signage content may be frequently and easily updated using content management systems, and also because of the interactive abilities available through the accompanying employment of real-world interfaces such as embedded touch screens, movement detection and image capture devices which enable these forms of signage to understand who and how users are interacting with them, they are gaining acceptance as an alternative to static signage.

Digital audiovisual (av) content is reproduced on TVs and monitor displays of a digital sign network from at least one media player (usually a small computer unit, but DVD players and other types of media sources may also be used). Various hardware and software options exist, providing a range of different ways to schedule and playback content. These range from simple, non-networked portable media players that can output basic JPG slide shows or loops of MPEG-2 video to complex networks consisting of multiple players and servers that offer control over enterprise-wide or campus-wide displays at many venues from a single location. The former are ideal for small groups of displays that can be updated via USB flash drive, SD card or CD-ROM. Another option is the use of D.A.N. (Digital Advertising Network) players that connect directly to the monitor and to the internet, to a WAN (Wide Area Network), or to a LAN (Local Area Network). This allows the end user the ability to manage multiple D.A.N. players from any location. The end user can create new advertising or edit existing advertisements and then upload changes to the D.A.N. via the internet or other networking options.

Developments in web services have meant the APIs for some digital sign software now allow for customized content management interfaces through which end-users can manage their content from one location, in a way which suits their requirements.

More advanced digital sign software allows content to be automatically created by the media players (computers) and servers on a minute-by-minute basis, combining real-time data, from news, to weather and prices, transport schedules, etc., with av content to produce the most up-to-date content.

Personalised Digital Contents

One specific use of digital signage is for out-of-home advertising in which video content, advertisements, and/or messages are displayed on digital signs with the goal of delivering targeted messages, to specific locations and/or consumers, at specific times. This is often called "digital out of home" (DOOH)H.

Technologies

Interactivity

Interactive Digital Signage allows end users to interact the displayed digital content via Touch Screens, Body Sensor or QR code via smartphones.

Digital sign can interact with mobile phones. Using SMS messaging and Bluetooth, some networks are increasing the interactivity of the audience. SMS systems can be used to post messages on the displays, while Bluetooth allows users to interact directly with what they see on screen. In addition to mobile interactivity, networks are also using technology that integrates social and location-based media interactivity. This technology enables end users to upload photos and messages to Twitter and Facebook as well as text messages to the displays.

Lately, mainly due to the fact that Smartphones are widely spread, we can witness adoption of new technology known as SSI (Screen–smart device interaction), that allows smartphone holder to interact directly with digital signage screen: participate in a poll, play a game, or shared social network content.

Other Innovations

3D display - The first 3D flat screens that do not need glasses (autostereoscopy) were introduced in 2010 by Sharp, and in 2011 by Toshiba. However it is not gaining traction in the digital signage market. New technologies for digital sign are currently being developed, such as three-dimensional (3D) screens, with or without 3D glasses (see Anaglyph image and Autostereoscopy), 'holographic displays', water screens and fog screens.

Some queue management systems use the split screen technology to combine queue management with digital signage. The required calling information attracts the attention and the adjoining video message benefits simultaneously. The resulting synergy is an inherent part of customer experience management (CEM) strategies.

Markets and Applications

While the term "digital sign" has taken hold throughout most of the world, some companies and organizations prefer to use the terms "narrowcasting", "screen media", "place-based media", "digital merchandising", "digital media networks", "digital out-of-home" or "captive audience networks".

China currently leads the world in the number of digital sign displays deployed and number of NASDAQ IPOs. Total revenue from the digital sign equipment market in the United States – including hardware, software, installation, and maintenance—is expected to grow by about 33% in 2009. Another source for information on digital sign displays and impressions (the number of times a viewer reads/views digital sign), is a report provided by Nielsen, the "4th Screen Network Audience Report". In it Nielsen identifies that digital screens in the "fourth screen" category in the US generated over 237 million monthly exposures to persons 18+years or older,. The report identifies Screenvision, NCM, Captivate, GSTV and IndoorDirect as among the companies that are leaders in the fourth screen category. One of the leading digital sign companies in movie theaters is Screenvision, with over 14,400 screens in the US; another leader in the "fourth screen" marketplace is GSTV (Gas Station TV), which reportedly generates over 32 million digital sign impressions every month. Nielsen estimates these 237 million+ exposures translate into more than half (54%) of the adult population being exposed to a place-based video ad during the period measured.

Digital signs are used for many different purposes and there is no definitive list. However, below are some of the most common applications of digital sign:

1. Public information – news, weather, traffic and local (location specific) information, such as building directory with map, fire exits and traveler information.
2. Internal information - corporate messages, such as health & safety items, news, and so forth.
3. Menu information – pricing, photos, ingredients, and other information about the food(s) being offered, including nutritional facts.
4. Advertising – usually either related to the location of the sign or using the audience reach of the screens for general advertising.
5. Brand building – in-store digital sign to promote the brand and build a brand identity.
6. Influencing customer behavior – directing customers to different areas, increasing the "dwell time" on the store premises, and a wide range of other uses in service of such influence.
7. Enhancing customer experience – applications include the reduction of perceived wait time in the waiting areas of restaurants and other retail operations, bank queues, and similar circumstances, as well as demonstrations, such as those of recipes in food stores, among other examples.
8. Fashion Store Dressing Room – Helps shoppers to choose dresses inside a fashion store
9. Enhancing the environment – with interactive screens (in the floor, for example, as with "informational footsteps" found in some tourist attractions, museums, and the like) or with other means of "dynamic wayfinding".

Equipment and Network infrastructure

Digital signage in the Warner Village Cinemas in Taipei

Digital signage in a pharmacy store

Digital signs rely on a variety of hardware to deliver the content. The components of a typical digital sign installation include one or more display screens, one or more media players, and a content management server. Sometimes two or more of these components are present in a single device but typically there is a display screen, a media player, and a content management server that is connected to the media player over a network. One content management server may support multiple media players and one media player may support multiple screens. Stand-alone digital sign devices combine all three functions in one device and no network connection is needed. Digital signage media players run on a variety of operating systems including Windows, Linux, Android and IOS.

LCD and LED displays

Digital sign displays may be LCD or plasma screens, LED boards, projection screens or other emerging display types like interactive surfaces or organic LED screens (OLEDs). Rapidly dropping prices for large plasma and LCD screens have led to a growing increase in the number of digital sign installations. Another price-related benefit that is allowing a larger group of businesses to install digital signs is the increasing availability of newer LCD and plasma display brands in the market. Many users have opted to forgo more expensive brand-name displays in favor of more affordable displays from less well-known companies.

Digital signage displays use content management systems and digital media distribution systems which can either be run from personal computers and servers or regional/national media hosting providers. In many digital sign applications, content must be regularly updated to ensure that the correct messages are being displayed. This can either be done manually as and when needed, through a scheduling system, using a data feed from a content provider (e.g. Canadian Press, Data Call Technologies, Bloomberg LP, Thomson Reuters, AHN), or an in-house data source.

Whenever the display, media player and content server are located apart there is a need for audio-video wiring between the display and the media player and between the media player and the content server. The connection from media player to display is normally a VGA, DVI, HDMI or Component video connection. Sometimes this signal is distributed over Cat 5 cables using transmitter and receiver baluns allowing for greater distances between display and player and simplified wiring. The connection from media player to content server is usually a wired Ethernet connection although some installations use wireless Wifi networking.

Modular display construction - LED matrix displays often use modular display components, to allow for varying sizes and shapes of displays, and to make assembly and construction easier. A modular display consists of display matrix modules and display matrix controller For example, a variable-size display may use modules 16 LEDs wide and 16 LEDs tall.

Standards

JPEG images and MPEG4 videos remain the dominant digital content formats for the digital signage industry. For interactive content, HTML5 and Unity3D are widely used due to their popularity among web developers and multimedia designers.

There are a number of technologies which are hoped to have improve standardisation and interoperability of the digital Signage industry, such as SMIL and POPAI. POPAI has released several digital sign standards to promote "interoperability between different providers". The objective of these standards documents is to establish a foundation of performance and behavior that all digital sign systems can follow. However we have yet seen them gaining traction in the industry.

The Digital Signage Federation, the Digital Screenmedia Association, the Digital Place-based Advertising Association and OVAB Europe are some of the non-profit industry trade groups representing firms and professionals in the digital signage market.

Deploying and managing Digital Signage Systems

Digital signage is an expensive and long term investments. It requires a good understanding of your target audience, sustainable source of digital contents and efficient maintenance team in order to deploy and maintain an effective digital signage system.

1. Understanding ROI – the costs of deploying digital sign can be high. Large outdoor screens are expensive - but the much more common, and much cheaper, digital signs based on LCD screens can still represent a significant investment when a large network is planned: the cost of installing one screen in, say, each restaurant in a large fast-food chain could run to millions of dollars. An investment of this magnitude has to be justified by a clear ROI plan before receiving approval. studies have shown digital sign to be effective in aiding customer recall and retention of displayed information in large-scale merchandising applications, especially taking into account the downward trend in LCD panel and playback device prices. Today a small-scale retail or restaurant digital sign installation can be implemented for just $1,500-2,000 using inexpensive SaaS tools, and ROI may be realized quickly. One of the best ways to make the case for implementing a digital strategy is to calculate the ROI or ROO upfront. Determine what the goals and objectives are for the digital sign – is it to increase sales at point of purchase? Can it be used to improve lead generation or build brand awareness? Thus, knowing how to calculate the ROI of digital sign is very important.
2. Understanding your customers - a digital sign network can involve at least the following vendors: displays, media player, management software, project planning, installation, field service, network connectivity, bandwidth, content creation, and advertising sales. Managing such a complex value chain is a daunting task and all parties involved may introduce risk factors to fail a project.
3. Effective Digital Contents - In the cases where understanding is clear and a value proposition is well defined, many organizations overlook content. Fresh, dynamic content that is attractive and engaging to the user at the time and place where the Digital Signage display is located is a critical component to the success of Digital Signage. Failure to understand and plan for content is one of the biggest issue in the industry.
4. Efficient management and maintenance team - Despite considerable media coverage there remains a general lack of understanding about the requirements for the successful use of digital sign. Problems arising from this include poor content and improper type or location of screens. Business entities have been formed to consolidate segments of the long value chain. Display units with built-in media players, content design agencies which also provide hardware and support, as well as management software which allows advertisers to manage a whole sign network are examples of how the industry is coming to work together and consolidate.

See also

• Kiosk software
• Retail media
• Electronic signage
• Emergency communication system
• Out-of-home advertising

External links

• Digital signage at DMOZ