Digital Signage: A bright future for dynamic displays

by all | 5 January 2013 8:30 am

By Mark Meyer
Few situations have been as frustrating for businesses as the sluggish economy following the 2008 financial crisis, so it is has been welcome to hear researchers forecast a bright future for at least one sector: the digital signage industry.

Intel, for example, estimates a 26 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), with 22 million digital signs sold by 2015. Global Industry Analysts (GIA), meanwhile, predict a $13.8-billion worldwide market for all types of digital signage by 2017. There are several reasons for such positive predictions.

For one thing, digital displays are coming into their own while the advertising effectiveness of newspapers, radio and TV declines. Broad-based advertising in these traditional media cannot be changed quickly and does not reach customers at the point-of-purchase (POP). And the proliferation of hundreds of radio stations and TV channels has only fragmented the market.

Emerging technologies like mobile phones and digital video recorders (DVRs) have further weakened the effectiveness of traditional media advertising. Many of today’s consumers use these technologies to avoid exposure to commercials and solicitations.

Digital displays are incredibly flexible in the context of advertising. They reach the entire ‘front-door’ audience, but can also target specific groups with messages tailored for certain demographics. Most importantly, unlike the aforementioned traditional media, the content reaches customers right when they can stop and buy the advertised products or services.

Clearer screens
As interest in digital signs continues to increase, market demands are dictating their product features. Future displays will have higher-quality image capabilities, particularly because retailers believe better graphics will increase sales. When a quick-service restaurant (QSR) runs an image of a burger and fries at around 11 a.m., that image needs to look terrific.

Displays with very high resolution are now available on the market. These include outdoor and/or very large displays that place light-emitting diodes (LEDs) close together to help content look detailed, vivid and crisp.

Manufacturers also offer a choice between ‘through-hole’ and surface-mount device (SMD) LEDs. The former type directs light to a specific area. SMD LEDs, on the other hand, are mounted to the face of a circuit card and can disperse light more evenly.

The choice will depend on the intended sign application. Through-hole LEDs work well for outdoor displays, as their high level of brightness can compete with sunlight during the day. SMD technology is better for indoor signage, allowing both closer and wider viewing angles.

The science of reliability
While digital displays may occasionally need repairs just like any other electronic technology, their users expect a high level of reliability given the importance of the investment. Many of today’s retailers, after all, use digital signage as their primary marketing tool.

To increase reliability, hardware engineers have improved the design of next-generation displays, based on data collected from the field, including information about the root causes of chronic issues. In the future, a greater number of manufacturers will also maintain in-house labs where technicians can test components and completed products by pushing them to their limits, using testing equipment similar to that of the automotive and aerospace industries.

All of this effort will help engineers design and build more dependable products. Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT), for example, generates data about component performance in extreme weather conditions, using a special chamber that combines intense temperature changes—from -110 to 200 C (-166 to 392 F)—and extreme mechanical vibrations—up to 5,000 Hz—to stress a product until it reaches complete failure.

This information can be used to better protect digital display components against corrosion and other effects of the elements. Some manufacturers have even gone on to freeze an operating digital signage module within ice, to demonstrate how completely its inner components have been protected against outside forces.

Limitless design
Hardware engineering also comes into play in the process of designing more distinctive displays. A standard rectangular display cabinet need not place limits on a sign company’s expertise and creativity, in terms of shapes and materials.

In the recent past, sign companies have built all sorts of creative and unusual structures for digital displays, including blade-shaped monuments, structures that resemble giant video games and curved-screen installations. Not all of these are necessarily high-end projects, either. A regional bank, for example, recently had a local sign shop design and install a simple, circular LED array around a cube-shaped static sign.

As designers further integrate digital signs into buildings, a sort of ‘mediatecture’ trend is emerging. Dynamic signs may be installed throughout the different levels of a building’s façade, for example, while shopping centres are building interior walls with displays of various sizes. The technology lends itself well to these new and exciting uses.

Uncommon content
As digital signs continue to become standard equipment for businesses of all kinds, the software behind them is becoming all the more important, as it must be used to create and display engaging content. While the industry is well-aware of the motto ‘content is king,’ most digital signage network owners are still not exploiting the medium’s potential to deliver a high return on investment (ROI).

Poor content can easily compromise the hardware’s effectiveness. While signs with outstanding content get noticed, those that exemplify common errors—such as white or light-coloured backgrounds, fonts that are too small to read and content that is not changed often enough—will be overlooked.

With this in mind, in the future, more vendors will offer comprehensive support, including the bundling of professionally created content, options for software training, additional content offerings and tips for creating successful messaging.

As for the network owners, more of them will assign digital signage operators to receive training related to control software. Some will even keep a content artist on staff.

Another trend will see content become more interactive, personalized and up-to-date. A greater number of screens will share tweets, customer-specific messages and seasonal content, along with the more traditional feeds of news headlines, weather forecasts, sports updates, etc.

A wide-open market
Another trend that is growing stronger is the use of digital signage by non-retail entities. This market can include libraries, municipal governments, houses of worship, fire stations and all sorts of service organizations.

Digital signs can help these facilities inform, inspire and entertain their tenants and/or visitors. Charitable organizations like the Canadian Red Cross, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada have all used digital signage to help raise community awareness.

So, in addition to digital displays representing an advertising opportunity as an alternative to traditional media, they also represent a broader communications medium for businesses and service groups alike. In both of these senses, a digital sign can be seen as the light at the end of the economic tunnel.

Mark Meyer is the Canadian region leader for Daktronics, which manufactures LED-based digital displays. For more information, visit www.daktronics.com[6].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/a-bright-future-for-dynamic-displays/

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