Digital signage
Encyclopedia
Digital signage is a form of electronic display that shows television programming, menus, information, advertising and other messages. Digital signs (such as LCD, LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....

, plasma displays, or projected images
Video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other...

) can be found in public and private environments, such as retail stores, hotels, restaurants and corporate buildings.

Digital signage Displays are most usually controlled by personal computers or servers by way of proprietary software programs, avoiding any large capital outlays for the controller equipment.

Advertising using digital signage is a form of out-of-home advertising
Out-of-home advertising
Out-of-home advertising is made up of more than 100 different formats, totaling $6.99 billion in annual revenues in 2008 in the USA. Outdoor advertising is essentially any type of advertising that reaches the consumer while he or she is outside the home...

 in which video content, advertisements and messages are displayed on digital signs with a common goal of delivering targeted messages to specific locations at specific times. This is often called "digital out of home" or abbreviated as DOOH.

The market sees digital signage as more beneficial compared to static signage because content that updates frequently can be digitally updated, saving the cost of printing. Digital signage also has the ability to be interactive with imbedded touch screens, movement detection and image capture devices.

Market and applications

While the term "digital signage" 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 signage displays deployed and number of NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...

 IPOs, with the country's biggest digital signage firm, Focus Media Holding
Focus Media Holding
Focus Media Holding is a Chinese company which claims to operate the largest out-of-home advertising network in that country, consisting predominantly of digital signage screens, and claims to own the country's largest Internet advertising agency.-History:...

, alone operating more than 120,000 screens. Total revenue from the digital signage equipment market in the United States – including hardware, software, installation, and maintenance—is expected to grow by about 33% in 2009.

Digital signage is used for many different purposes and there is no definitive list. However, below are some of the most common applications of digital signage:
  1. Public information – news, weather and local (location specific) information, such as fire exits and traveler information
  2. Internal information - corporate messages, health & safety, news, etc.
  3. Menu Information – pricing, photos, ingredients and other food information including nutritional facts
  4. Advertising – either related to the location the signage is in or just using the audience reach of the screens for general advertising
  5. Brand building – in-store digital signage 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
  7. Enhancing customer experience – applications include the reduction of perceived wait time in restaurant waiting areas, bank queues, etc., as well as recipe demonstrations in food stores
  8. Enhancing the environment – with interactive screens (in the floor for example) or with dynamic wayfinding

Content

"Content", in the context of digital signage, is the name used to describe anything designed and displayed on screens. Content can be anything, including text, images, animations, video, audio, and interactivity. It has frequently been argued that digital signage relies on good content if it is to work effectively.

While the technology is well-established, it is often the content that fails, because marketers have not adapted their thinking to produce appropriate and engaging content.

Content design (much like the design for static signage) is typically done through a specialist agency or in-house. While there are a great number of different software solutions available, the most popular are proprietary to digital signage. The use of other systems to run a digital signage network often does not provide the necessary flexibility and management, as the proprietary software can create conflicts with open-source software.

In many digital signage 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
Data feed
Data feed is a mechanism for users to receive updated data from data sources. It is commonly used by real-time applications in point-to-point settings as well as on the world-wide web. The latter is also called Web feed. News feed is a popular form of Web feed. RSS feed makes dissemination of blogs...

 from a content provider (e.g. Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...

, Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...

, AHN
All Headline News
All Headline News is a United States based news agency or wire service. Launched in 2003 it has grown to become a major worldwide online news wire service, providing news and other content, to websites, digital signage, and other publishers who pay a fee for the service.The company's daily news...

) or an in-house data source).

Technology

Digital signage relies on a variety of hardware to deliver the content. The components of a typical digital signage 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 signage devices combine all three functions in one device and no network connection is needed.

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 two parts:
  • display matrix modules (8x8 pixels, 16x16 pixels, 8x16 pixels, etc.)
  • display matrix controller


For example, a variable-size display may use modules 16 LEDs wide and 16 LEDs tall. To construct a display 64 pixels wide and 32 pixels tall, the display is built using four modules wide and two modules tall. To correctly align the individual modules, either a support frame is used or the modules are joined together along the edges.

Matrix modules may be joined to the controller using individual data connectors, thereby limiting display area expansion to the total number of data connectors available on the controller, or the modules may communicate with the controller using a shared data bus, and the position of the matrix module to display its portion of the overall image is assigned via a data bus ID number or matrix position code.

Re-use of position/bus-ID codes allows for more than one matrix module to display the same information. In this manner a double-sided or quad-sided display can be constructed using a single matrix display controller, and reusing all module position/bus-ID codes on each face of the display.

In either case, unusual non-rectangular display shapes can be sometimes also be constructed by using the tiles in a free-form construction, skipping module locations in the matrix. Very large displays can be built to span across physical gaps in space where module mounting is otherwise impossible, but the disjoint modules still form a coherent image coordinated with other modules in the matrix.

Standard LCD or plasma video displays may also be combined in this manner using a special VGA matrix controller, but typically there is unusable display area around the perimeter of a standard LCD or plasma panel which cannot be hidden, so combined LCD panels tend to have an appearance of an image broken into tiles.

Displays - 2D and 3D

Digital signage displays may be LCD or plasma
Plasma display
A plasma display panel is a type of flat panel display common to large TV displays or larger. They are called "plasma" displays because the technology utilizes small cells containing electrically charged ionized gases, or what are in essence chambers more commonly known as fluorescent...

 screens, LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....

 boards, projection screens or other emerging display types like interactive surfaces or Organic LED screens (OLEDs
Organic light-emitting diode
An OLED is a light-emitting diode in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compounds which emit light in response to an electric current. This layer of organic semiconductor material is situated between two electrodes...

). New technologies for digital signage are currently being developed, such as 3D screens, with or without 3D glasses (see Anaglyph image
Anaglyph image
Anaglyph images are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses where the two lenses are different colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect...

 and Autostereoscopy
Autostereoscopy
Autostereoscopy is any method of displaying stereoscopic images without the use of special headgear or glasses on the part of the viewer. Because headgear is not required, it is also called "glasses-free 3D" or "glassesless 3D"...

), 'holographic displays
Computer generated holography
Computer Generated Holography is the method of digitally generating holographic interference patterns. A holographic image can be generated e.g...

', water screens and fog screens.

The first 3D flat screens that do not need glasses (Autostereoscopy
Autostereoscopy
Autostereoscopy is any method of displaying stereoscopic images without the use of special headgear or glasses on the part of the viewer. Because headgear is not required, it is also called "glasses-free 3D" or "glassesless 3D"...

) were introduced in 2010 by Sharp Corporation
Sharp Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more than 55,580 people worldwide as of June 2011. The company was founded in September 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder's first...

, and in 2011 by Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...

.

Due to cost issues, many of these newer technologies have been used for smaller one-off installations rather than large networks.

Rapidly dropping prices for large plasma and LCD screens have led to a growing increase in the number of digital signage installations. Another price-related benefit that is allowing a larger group of businesses to install digital signage is the increasing availability of newer LCD and plasma display brands in the market. Many locations have opted to forgo more expensive brand name displays for more affordable displays from less well-known companies.

Content playback and management - 2D & 3D

Digital audiovisual (av) content is reproduced on TVs and monitor displays of a digital signage network from at least one media player (usually a small computer unit, but can also be a DVD player). Various hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....

 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
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...

 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
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...

, SD card or CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....

, Another option is the use of D.A.N (Digital Advertising Network) players that connect directly to the monitor and to the internet or a LAN (Local Area Network). This allows the enduser the ability to manage multiple D.A.N players from any location. The enduser can create new advertising or edit existing advertisements then upload changes to the D.A.N via the internet.

Developments in web services have meant the APIs
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...

 for some digital signage 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 requirement.

More advanced digital signage 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 uptodate content.

Network infrastructure

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
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...

 or Component video
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...

 connection. Sometimes this signal is distributed over Cat 5 cables
Category 5 cable
Category 5 cable is a twisted pair cable for carrying signals. This type of cable is used in structured cabling for computer networks such as Ethernet. It is also used to carry other signals such as telephony and video. The cable is commonly connected using punch down blocks and modular connectors...

 using transmitter and receiver balun
Balun
A balun is a type of electrical transformer that can convert electrical signals that are balanced about ground to signals that are unbalanced , and the reverse. They are also often used to connect lines of differing impedance...

s allowing for greater distances between display and player and simplified wiring. The connection from media player to content server is usually a wired Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....

 connection although some installations use wireless Wifi
WIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...

 networking.

To manage a network, a management server is usually required. This can be located anywhere, so long as it is connected to the digital signage network. New content will be managed and organized here, while the actual content itself is stored and played on the player servers. Digital signage networks can either be closed or open to the web, which will affect how the content on the screens is updated. For closed networks (without Internet access), updates need to be done locally through USB sticks, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 drives or other 'onsite' updates. Open networks (with Internet access) can be updated remotely and stream data from other Internet sources (such as RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...

 feeds). The availability and type of Internet access (wireless, broadband, etc.) depends on the location and client.

Technologies such as IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...

 allow digital signage to be used as a method of broadcasting. Convergence (telecommunications) between digital signage and broadcasting allows for real-time distribution of broadcast sources (TV) on a narrowcast network (digital signage). An example of this is the TelVue Corporation, a digital media company that has deployed its WEBUS community bulletin board (CBB) digital signage systems to a network of municipally owned Public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access television, refers to three different cable television specialty channels...

 (PEG) channels on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

. The content is played according to instructions provided by play lists created by a broadcast programming system and the playout
Playout
In broadcasting, playout is a term for the transmission of radio or TV channels from the broadcaster into broadcast networks that delivers the content to the audience...

 of content is controlled by a broadcast automation
Broadcast automation
Broadcast automation incorporates the use of broadcast programming technology to automate broadcasting operations. Used either at a broadcast network, radio station or a television station, it can run a facility in the absence of a human operator...

 system.

Other technologies

Digital signage can interact with mobile phones. Using SMS
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...

 messaging and Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

, some networks are increasing the interactivity of the audience. SMS messages 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 send Twitter and Flickr messages as well as text messages to the displays. Some signs use 3D display
3D display
A 3D display is any display device capable of conveying a stereoscopic perception of 3-D depth to the viewer. The basic requirement is to present offset images that are displayed separately to the left and right eye. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the...

s that operate using a technology called autostereoscopy
Autostereoscopy
Autostereoscopy is any method of displaying stereoscopic images without the use of special headgear or glasses on the part of the viewer. Because headgear is not required, it is also called "glasses-free 3D" or "glassesless 3D"...

, which allow the viewer to see a 3D image without using special glasses.

Standards

POPAI
POPAI
POPAI The Global Association for Marketing at-Retail is an international trade association for the marketing at-retail industry, founded in 1936...

 has released several digital signage 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 signage systems can follow. The current set of standards published by POPAI are:
  • "Screen-Media Formats" specifies the file formats that digital signage systems should support.
  • "POPAI Digital Signage Device RS-232 Standards"
  • "POPAI Digital Signage Playlog Standards V 1.1"
  • "Digital Control Commands"
  • "Industry Standards of Digital Signage Terms"

Education

Industry education has been limited, but more options are becoming available. One firm, Platt Retail Institute, offers formal education programs, as well as various research reports (such as the North American Digital Signage Index and the Journal of Retail Analytics, among others), as well as a searchable article library. Another option is manufacturers that offer technology focused training (firms such as Black Box Network Solutions and Ingram Micro). Several other firms offer introductory courses and IT based training as well. In 2009, Texas State Technical College created an associate’s degree in Digital Signage Technology, using their Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...

 delivery system.

Issues and progress

Digital signage in the broad sense has been in use for decades in the form of LED ticker signs and LED video walls. However, despite its recent growth it has yet to become a major public medium, due in part to the following negative factors:
  1. Uncertain ROI – the costs of deploying digital signage can be high. Large outdoor screens are expensive - for example, the LED sign in front of the Las Vegas Wynn Resort cost $15 million - 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. Any investment of this magnitude has to be justified by a clear ROI plan before receiving approval.
  2. Lack of interoperability – digital signage products today are mostly closed, proprietary systems. It is difficult to advertise across digital signage networks running different solutions, making the emerging media inferior to nationwide advertising media such as television and the Internet. Due to the lack of a common communication protocol, products from different vendors do not mix, making digital signage systems expensive to build and hard to expand.
  3. Complex value chain - a digital signage 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.
  4. Lack of understanding - despite considerable media coverage there remains a general lack of understanding about the requirements for the successful use of digital signage. Problems arising from this include poor content and improper type or location of screens.


These issues are being addressed today in the following ways:
  1. Understanding the ROI – studies have shown digital signage 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 signage installation can be implemented for just $1,500-2,000 using inexpensive SaaS
    Software as a Service
    Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...

     tools, and ROI may be realized quickly.
  2. Open standards for digital signage – industry organizations including POPAI
    POPAI
    POPAI The Global Association for Marketing at-Retail is an international trade association for the marketing at-retail industry, founded in 1936...

     (Point-of-Purchase Advertising International) and OAAA (Outdoor Advertising Association of America
    Outdoor Advertising Association of America
    The Outdoor Advertising Association of America is a trade association representing the outdoor advertising industry in the United States. Founded in 1891, the OAAA is dedicated to promoting, protecting and advancing outdoor advertising interests in the U.S...

    ) are actively developing and promoting technical standards that will make it possible to communicate across digital signage networks made by different vendors. Interoperability across systems and media players is increasing competition in the supply chain, significantly lowering costs and making the ROI on building networks vastly more attractive.
  3. Value chain consolidation - 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 signage network are examples of how the industry is coming to work together and consolidate.
  4. Understanding the industry - there are a significant number of trade shows with conferences as well as specialized conferences and also more informal training and briefing sessions all focused on aspects of digital signage. There are also more user friendly products available which are plug and play and don’t even require scheduling software.

See also

  • Narrowcasting
    Narrowcasting
    Narrowcasting has traditionally been understood as the dissemination of information to a narrow audience, not to the general public. Narrowcasting involves aiming media messages at specific segments of the public defined by values, preferences, or demographic attributes. Also called niche...

  • Retail Media
    Retail Media
    Retail media is marketing to consumers at or near their point of purchase, or point of choice between competing brands or products. Common techniques include in-store advertising, on-line advertising, sampling, loyalty cards and coupons or vouchers....

  • Advertising
    Advertising
    Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

  • Out-of-home advertising
    Out-of-home advertising
    Out-of-home advertising is made up of more than 100 different formats, totaling $6.99 billion in annual revenues in 2008 in the USA. Outdoor advertising is essentially any type of advertising that reaches the consumer while he or she is outside the home...

  • Electronic signage
    Electronic signage
    Electronic signage, , are illuminant advertising media in signage industry. Major electronic signage include fluorescent signs, HID , incandescent signs, LED signs, and neon signs. Besides, LED signs and HID are so-called digital signage.-Status:Electronic signs may be used indoors or outdoors...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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