Touch screens
Another factor driving the market is the desire for interactivity, which is leading to the greater popularity of touch screens. With the ubiquity of smart phones, e-readers and tablet computers, many retail and restaurant customers are already used to interacting with on-screen content via the screen itself, instead of a keyboard and/or mouse.
For younger generations, especially, technology interfaces occur almost exclusively through touch screens. In fact, children will touch almost any LCD, expecting it to react accordingly.
People want to touch displays, so retailers, hoteliers, airport directors and other managers of public-facing venues have all started to use digital signage that integrates interactive features. The industry is preparing for this trend to become even more widespread in the future.
New ultra-narrow bezels are helping increase the adoption of larger video wall configurations.
OLED displays
As mentioned earlier, the OLED TVs at this year’s CES made a strong impression on attendees. Many in the wide-format display industry may wonder how this technology could affect the digital signage market.
This type of screen is a printed display that does not use backlighting, but instead is operated by electric impulses that activate the OLEDs. This technology means the screen can be thinner and lighter, consume less power, provide deeper blacks and emit less light per square inch than an LCD.
While OLED technology will therefore be a definite game-changer for the industry, it is currently very expensive and has little past performance to measure. So, it will still take years to establish the full role OLEDs will play in the digital signage industry, just as it took time for LED backlighting to be tested by the rigorous demands of commercial digital signage networks before it could build a strong foothold in the market. Until then, LCDs will remain the ‘workhorse’ of the industry and LED-backlit models will continue to add market share.
Rich Ventura is director of vertical market sales for NEC Display Solutions. For more information, contact him via e-mail at rventura@necdisplay.com or visit www.necdisplay.com.
