Volume 8, Issue 12 — December 21, 2016

Welcome to the third and final (for now) installment of this blog series on digital signage. We’ve covered why you need digital signage in your lobby and even offered some creative ways to use digital signage technology in our first two posts. Now it’s time to talk about the most important aspect of your lobby signage: the content.

Figuring out what you want your messaging to convey, what you want it to look like, how to get it to properly display on the installed technology, and who is going to create it are all critical components to a comprehensive content strategy. Whether your signage consists of a simple LCD panel, a curved DV LED wall, a mosaic configuration, or other display technologies, content is the key to using digital signage effectively

Digital signage doesn’t consist of display technology alone. You should also consider the hardware and software solutions which allow you to process and display your custom content. There are solutions all over the spectrum of cost and capabilities — such as high-end enterprise solutions offered by Haivision, simpler solutions like Brightsign, and mid-sized solutions from Visix and SVSi.

There are a lot of digital signage solutions out there and the choices can be overwhelming. An AV provider can offer key insight to help you find a solution that fits your goals and your budget. Every project is unique, so defer to the expertise and vendor relationships of your AV provider to figure out which back-end solution makes the most sense. After all, that’s what AV experts are for!

No matter what, your content strategy will be a deciding factor in which digital signage solution best fits your needs. So the first question to ask yourself is, Who is going to handle our brand storytelling?

To help you answer that question, let’s look at three strategies for creating a killer digital signage content strategy!

1. Leverage Your AV Partner’s Vendor Relationships

Many digital signage vendors offer content creation as a part of their signage package. A knowledgeable AV integrator can help you find a dependable technology provider who will help you strategize, create and manage your content going forward.

Visix is one such digital signage company that we recommend both for software and content creation. In addition to enterprise-level digital signage software, their award-winning creative team can bring your signage to life by developing branded messaging for your signage that draws viewers in and encourages them to act. Simply put, their goal is to make your signage impossible to ignore.

No matter what signage solution you go with, it’s important for your message to have a consistent tone and visual style. It’s a good idea to create and stick to a brand style guide that incorporates your company’s colors, fonts, graphics, and other components of visual identity. Visix’s creative team can even help you start from scratch and develop a content strategy tailored to your corporate vision.

2. DIY Content Creation

Another way to get creative branded content for your signage is to do it in-house. If your internal marketing is up to the task, this is certainly the most cost effective option. This is a good option if your marketing team has graphic designers and software experts who are experienced with tailoring content for digital signage.

It may also be a good way to go if your company would like to offer an intern position. Many talented graphic designers and digital artists these days are looking for just this kind of career path when they get out of college. One of them may be just the right addition to your team, and bringing them on staff would allow for quicker design changes and more consistent messaging.

It can be good to have outside perspective for content creation, but there’s also a benefit to having content creators on staff. It’s often easier to create engaging brand content when you’re plugged into the company. Internal content creators may be better able to understand and express your company’s message.

3. Hire a Third-Party Design Firm

This is probably the most expensive route for content creation, but depending on your budget and business goals it may be the best option. Many advertising and digital teams specialize in digital content strategy, and the results of good design are hard to beat.

It’s important not to write off this option simply because of the cost. Because content is the most important aspect of digital signage, you should consider the long-term ROI of expertly designed content for your signage. If you can afford it, hiring a team of experts who specialize in content strategy is the best way to ensure your digital signage reaches its full potential.

Content Doesn’t Reign Alone

There’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario when it comes to digital signage. Should you decide on your hardware technology first and then address content to fit? Or should you start with content and optimize the hardware to match your creative vision?

The answer is, it depends.

If you’ve already set the look and design for your lobby signage—if it functions as a digital architectural piece in an expansive lobby area, for example—you should probably decide on the content first and then get hardware for maximum visibility and optimization. But in another scenario, it’s possible that your content won’t need to come first.

Although content is “king,” context is just as important to the success of your digital signage. In fact, context is the key to any branding or marketing effort. That’s why you shouldn’t discount the value of an experienced AV partner who can design an environment that maximizes the impact of your digital signage.

But even with the right environment and the latest signage technology, content is still the most important factor in the success of your signage. Without a solid content creation strategy, a sign is just a sign.

This column was reprinted with permission from Synergy CT and originally appeared here.

Choosing the right technologies has never been more complex, nor key to the success of the digital signage installation and everyone involved. As part of Integrator education during DSE17, I’ll demystify the process and provide a framework for making hardware and software choices that fit the requirement.

Photo credit: Intel Corp.

Integrators constantly ask, “What software, flat panels and media player should I use?” — in particular as these technologies and end user needs are constantly advancing. The most suitable technologies serve current needs and future-proof the digital signage network. The selection process must serve the interests and concerns of a range of departments within the end user organization and make sense for the integrator that is putting its reputation on the line.

Integrator opportunities are coming from new projects, expanding systems, upgrades and corrections (i.e., right-sizing) as many existing installations have proven their value to brands and end users and are poised for expansion.

In the major markets served by digital signage, physical retail is challenged by online shopping, food services and grocery battle daily for share of $1.6 trillion in annual North America food spending and new nutritional posting regulations become effective Dec. 1, 2016. Banking and credit unions are challenged to succeed in a low interest rate economy and all forward-looking organizations are seeking greater productivity of places, processes and staff and the need for improved customer experience.

End users have benefited from a wide range of supply options, but at the same time have experienced sourcing confusion that has stalled projects. End users’ expectations of software providers have increased since media management is at the core of efficient digital signage system operations. Total cost of ownership relates primarily to system operations and poor vendor selection can become the most expensive mistake of any project. Because Content Management Software (CMS) functionality from many providers looks very similar, the key selection criteria for CMS is increasingly based on relevant application experience, stability of the provider and value-added services by or through the primary provider.

Source: Google images

Technology selection starts with knowing the business objectives that are to be accomplished by the digital signage investment. This allows a definition of what content must be presented to achieve the results. Content awareness then enables selection of the most suitable technologies to present the content that achieves the return on investment.

Integrators need to describe why they are recommending certain technologies, and their ability to do this well results in both their business success and that of the project. Mistakes are the most expensive part of any project — there are so many supply options available to end users that the ability of an integrator to describe how they are delivering value becomes a strength toward winning the service opportunity.

Many flat panel options look similar, but each offers unique value in multiple ways. The lines appear to have been blurring between consumer and commercial grade with descriptors such as “prosumer” or “light duty commercial,” which calls on deeper assessment of the flat panel options available. It is what is “under the hood” that matters most in the cost/benefit decision.

The term “good enough” too often defines the relationship between cost and benefit. Cost reflects production, service and mark-up while benefits reflect functionality in the context of the overall technology ecosystem and expected life.

All flat panels models are not created equal. Connectivity, features and adjustment control all add to the benefits that the display can deliver over its service life. Unlike the plug-and-play of home TV, which requires minimal set up, digital signage is a demanding application of media presentation requiring long hours of reliable use. They must often be set for optimal performance in the environment in which they will operate with internal adjustments automatically applied for optimal performance. Assure that optimal performance is part of your Total Cost of Ownership assessment.

Content management software (CMS) is the most impactful contribution to total cost of operations over the four+ year life of the system. Functions available, ease of use and the stability of the CMS provider are the primary selection criteria, but within these are multiple characteristics. I will address these issues in his DSE17 presentation in the Integrator education track.

The way that technology selection relates to the Request for Proposal and proposal submission processes is another topic I’ll address in this session. The intention is to save the integrator time and money in the supply process while helping them to reduce project risk and maximum return on investment.

As digital signage becomes of ever-increasing importance to the achievement of revenue, margin, cost containment and customer experience goals of end users, integrators are challenged to improve their supply capabilities. Part of this lies in being more rigorous in defining the technology elements that they propose and provide. Doing this well will assure their own success.

Author Lyle Bunn will present Seminar 24 entitled, “Buying Digital Signage – Sourcing Pre-RFP to Contracting,” on Thursday, March 30 at 11am at DSE 2017 to be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. For more information on this or any educational program offered at DSE 2017 or to learn more about digital signage go to http://www.dse2017.com

Lyle Bunn (Ph.D. Hon.) is North America’s longest-serving independent digital signage industry analyst, advisor and educator. Lyle has assisted hundreds of end user and supply organizations to benefit from digital signage, has published over 350 articles, whitepapers and guidebooks and has helped to train more than 10,000 professionals through live and online presentations. Reach him at Lyle@LyleBunn.com.

Technology selection is a major section of the Digital Signage Planning Guide by Lyle Bunn, now in its sixth edition. See it here.

Digital signage has been around for a few years now. It was originally the reserve of large corporations with deep marketing budgets and most popular in consumer-facing industries like retail.

Today, digital signage is increasingly sophisticated (as well as more affordable) and its users are highly creative in its application. It can be found in almost any sector, with the education market in particular exploding as screens multiply around campuses and colleges. In this article, we review industry trends as we enter 2017 and make predictions for the future of digital signage.

Gamification

Gamification has been one of the biggest developments in not only the technology world but in marketing over the past decade. Nike+ pioneered this trend back in 2006, transforming running into a game with a vast community of competing players. Gamification creates an immersive experience for consumers, encouraging engagement with a brand or product.

The interactivity of digital signage and gamification has been a perfect match. In retail, for example, screens are often used to deploy brand or product related games. The use of in-game leaderboards has become particularly popular. The most effective retailers might offer daily prizes in the form of shop vouchers to their best performing players.

Gamification is equally popular when it comes to digital signage in education. Classroom games allow students to learn or be tested on material without it feeling too much like school. The class test has effectively been replaced with the interactive quiz.

Near Field Communication

Near field communication (or NFC) has been another milestone in interactive technology, and one ideally suited to digital signage as a platform. Major cities like London are already familiar with a ‘tap culture’ that includes Oyster cards and Apple Pay. With NFC integrated digital signage, consumers can tap digital displays with their smart-phones to engage with its content.

The sector where this seems to really come into its own is real estate. Without having to go inside an agency for a brochure, prospects can collect property information on their phones by tapping digital property listings in the window to save them for later. NFC in digital signage is definitely a technology to watch as concepts like Apple Pay become mainstream.

Big Data Analytics

Marketing today is driven by big data. Companies want to know where and exactly who they are spending their budgets on. Everything is recorded. Once anonymous visitors to your website are now tracked and characterized, with companies knowing the demographic and source of their leads through tools like Google Analytics.

The problem with traditional forms of advertising like TV or radio is that marketers have a very limited understanding of their reach. It’s not enough to know how many viewers tuned into Coronation Street at a certain time. Broadcasters have no way of knowing how many left to put the kettle on while your advert was playing, or how many viewers fast-forwarded it on demand altogether.

As a marketing channel that breaches offline and online, digital signage is uniquely positioned to cater for the drive towards big data. Up until now, retailers, for example, had no real means of collecting data for engagement with their billboards etc.

Developments in digital signage technology now mean that screens are able to track who’s walking past and who’s stopping to engage with their content. Almost every mobile phone nowadays has Bluetooth. Using this, advanced signage screens are able to collect data on passers-by. Some screens even have eye-tracking and facial-recognition capacity. At the forefront of the technology, retail digital signage is able to identify the gender and age of its real-time audience and adapt its content accordingly. This kind of targeted marketing is surely the future of display advertising.

Profit Generating Potential

Finally, we want to talk about digital signage as a financial investment. The first trend to acknowledge is the dramatic fall in hardware costs. Everyone today knows you can pick up a TV screen far superior in quality and at a fraction of the price of a screen just a few years ago. As screens have always been the largest cost associated with digital signage, this is great news for the end-user. Similarly, media players have continued to get smaller while growing more powerful and affordable.

The trend that is yet to be properly exploited, however, is the profit-generating potential of digital signage. Advertisers trade in attention. Today people are glued to screens so the premium on this space is rocketing. The more screens a user has on their network, and the higher footfall their locations, the greater the value of this platform to potential sponsors. A dynamic digital signage solution allows users to intersperse internal and external forms of content. 30 seconds out of a two-minute loop, for example, might be sold to advertisers.

The benefit of owning a network of screens is having complete control over the extent and nature of your advertising. Working with sponsors does not have to mean selling out. A dentist, for instance, might want to only display sponsored content for dental products they genuinely recommend. If you own a chain of stores or practices, or just a large network of screens on one vast site, sponsors will be biting your hand off to gain access to your audience.

What we are beginning to see are companies across sectors, even charities, investing in digital signage primarily to generate profit, with the internal communication capacity of the technology being a welcome side feature. It is not unusual for large companies to happily spend £2,500 a month on a 100 screen nation-wide network, in the knowledge they can sign up a dozen sponsors at £1,000 a month each for a slot in their content playlist.

Conclusion

As we enter 2017, digital signage is becoming an increasingly powerful communication platform, one that is able to reinvent itself and adapt to a number of applications and sectors. Gamification and near field communication are great examples of its capacity to integrate with developments across technological fronts. The future of digital signage is exciting precisely because of this versatility. The trend to definitely watch is this drive towards big data. Screens that are able to measure engagement, whether it’s through Bluetooth, facial recognition, eye-tracking or some future breakthrough, will have unprecedented value to marketers. The days of wondering how many people actually saw the posters you had printed, or heard the radio advert you had produced, are almost over. The introduction of audience metrics to digital signage will consolidate its place as a high priority for communicators and advertisers alike.

In this column, I want to write about an experience I had while at the conference. Being from Maine, I really enjoy visiting warmer climates in the winter. Yes, when you are from Maine, even early November counts as winter. To be walking around in shorts and a t-shirt at 9 p.m. at night in November is simply a treat a true Mainer will never pass up. So, one evening I decided to stroll off the river walk and go into a part of the city I had not experienced. During this walk I happened to come up the display of “The Saga.”

“San Antonio — The Saga” is an art installation that tells the story of the great city of San Antonio. For those of you who may have forgotten, San Antonio has a rich history and is the site of the Alamo. So, an art installation depicting this history has a deep well of resources. The art piece is indeed an “installation.” It is a 24-minute video that tells the story of San Antonio through images, sound and imagery. According to sources it covers about 7,000 square feet and cost over one million dollars. Projection of the story on the San Fernando Cathedral only adds to the piece. The Cathedral is the oldest operating church in the United States. The picture of the Cathedral during the day was taken from Wikipedia in order to show the beauty of it with no imagery.

While we cannot all take off for San Antonio to see this display, if you get a chance, do it! The show is expected to run several nights per week for the next decade.

Bottom image via Wikipedia. Other photos by Scott Tiner.

After years of a terrible world economy and very little innovation, 2016 was a boon for new technology — especially in the world of AV. And, some of it crossed both high-end residential as well as commercial. Let’s take a look at a little of what was 2016 and then I’ll tell you want to realistically expect from 2017 in the way of innovative technology in AV.

4K, 4K, 4K: I have to start with that one. 2016 will forever be remembered as THE YEAR 4K debuted. It was the talk of all four major trade shows including ISE, InfoComm, Integrate and CEDIA Expo. We’ve seen more 4K products (including displays, cables, switchers, scalers, decoders, transcoders, servers and media players) than any other single technical innovation of the year. 4K is going to be big business and HUGE in 2017 — keep reading to hear why.

2016 FINALLY brought us the long-promised AV/IT convergence that everyone’s been touting (including yours truly). Sure, we’ve had networked-audio for years — thanks to Audinate’s Dante system. Video seemed like it was never going to be networkable, but companies like AptoVision have led the way in AV-over-IP systems, partnering with more than 10 different companies that are already building 4K-over-IP systems or plan to in 2017. Those include ZeeVee, iMAGsystems, IDK and Gefen. In addition, biggies like Crestron and AMX have also announced 4K-over-IP systems. And, each one of those companies is offering a plethora of options — with various compressions rates — depending on what your customer wants quality- and cost-wise.

The laser projector made its debut in 2016 with companies like Sony and Barco leading the way — they shipped laser-phosphor products that not only promised to have amazing colorimetry, but actually did. Laser might well end up being the saving grace for the projector market too, as it’s currently being swallowed up by the flat-panel monitor companies.

Speaking of large booth crowds — Sony, at InfoComm 2016, blew away all booth attendance records with the launch of its Micro-LED called Canvas. It’s expensive but the company showed a pixel-less 8Kx2K resolution image that was 35 feet wide. If you were listening at InfoComm, it’s all you could hear anyone talking about it.

Innovations in 2016 weren’t relegated to video. In fact, 2016 was a big year in audio too. Harman — the industry’s biggest audio company — was purchased by Samsung, but not before debuting the largest line of network-based audio products across six different subsidiary brands. All use Dante as the networking platform and allow for networkable everything — including speakers individually addressable via the network. Now, just about every speaker company does this. So, instead of planning the “zones” of a distributed audio system before install, you can do it any time now — and change them on the fly.

Finally, collaboration. It moved from a word meaning people working together on something to one that means the same thing as a Barco ClickShare. Yes, that happened. The ClickShare, although launched in 2012, is still dominating the wireless-collaboration market (meaning, connecting multiple laptops, tablets or phones to the same display over an ad-hoc network). Sure, there have been imitators, but Barco crossed the 150,000 unit sales mark in mid-2016. That’s a lot of boxes. Also, never underestimate an end user’s love of a simple, giant button.

So, on to 2017

If you want to see the future — I mean years-out future — go check out anything that Oblong is doing. You interact with a truly collaborative system with natural hand gestures and it’s always connected — no having to go to a meeting 15-minutes before it starts to make sure the AV technology works. It’s always on. But not everyone can afford a room that STARTS for $150,000 and moves up from there.

In 2017, we will see some major technological developments (some from the consumer market that will trickle-up to the commercial market) that will get nearly every room more than halfway to an Oblong Mezzanine room for way, way less. How? Well, read on!

First, let me start with the Digital Canvas. Now that we have 4K in both flat-panels and projectors, we will see the opportunity of a lifetime. And, the death of the projector can be slowed down if you offer your clients with something I call the Digital Canvas. The Digital Canvas concept is simple — and now we have projectors high-res enough to do this — instead of deciding what size screen to put in a room based on least-favored-viewer stats, you put in as big of a screen as the room can handle — fill the front of the room with projection, if you can. Then, use the projected image to provide you with your “normal-sized” projected image for PowerPoint or whatever else you’re showing but use the leftover projected image (mind you, it’s all in 4K resolution so you can actually have four PowerPoint slides up simultaneously in native resolution) to project stuff like the preview slides, a clock or even social media feeds. All simultaneously filling the front of the room — thus, you make a giant Digital Canvas.

So, the benefit of 4K isn’t just prettier pictures — it can help us turn every room space into a Digital Canvas. By the end of 2017, this Digital Canvas concept will start to catch on as 4K projectors will be 30 to 50 percent less expensive than the first generation launched this past fall. And thanks to laser imaging, the colorimetry will be stunning. We will see blacker-blacks and whiter-whites and thus all color will look better. So, laser can be the saving grace of projection.

However, that won’t be fast enough to save the projector from being pushed almost totally out of the small to medium-sized meeting room. Nearly every integrator that specifies a screen that’s 80” or smaller now uses a flat-panel instead of a projector. That number will grow to 94” by the end of 2017 and could reach 100” depending on what Samsung, Sharp and LG decide to debut in 2017. But expect the 100” LCD to come down, considerably, in price next year.

Speaking of flat-panels, as I mentioned above, LG (and Samsung) both have curved displays which, in to digital signage, make for some creative installs. 2017 will be the year the TV/monitor moves into art in a big way. We will see more flat-panels installed for digital signage and museums than any other year before now — expect that growth to be in the 20 to 25 percent range. And, the more creative the install, the more profitable it will be. 4K will also massively drive down the price of 1080p displays, while the 4K TVs themselves will be 50 percent of what they were in cost in 2016 by the end of 2017 — making for more to install.

Virtual Reality (VR) has been in the ProAV market for years — in fact, years ago, there were companies that come to shows and built VR caves — using projection. But, now that Facebook owns Oculus, Samsung has its VR Gear and Microsoft is shipping its VR games, what is relegated to gaming now will move in to the commercial AV space. The cost of developing content for VR applications will be driven down so we, the AV market, will need to get in to the VR market for higher-end installs — virtualization in architecture, visualization of fashion, recreating history in museums and a plethora of new applications where content drives the display format. And, you will even be selling the gear, too.

Speaking of content, the way the digital signage industry works now is soon going to be the way you’re designing classrooms and meeting rooms. So, why not get into digital signage to learn it now? Here’s the deal: All the content in a digital signage system isn’t carried from display to display via HDMI or VGA. It’s all driven by the network. All the content is sent to the various displays from an integrated cloud-based network. So, playing the content doesn’t require a computer to be connected to the display (or at least the kind of computer you know computers to be). But, the content travels across the network and is output through a $200, $99 or even a $25 media player — like a purpose-built digital signage computer. So, that methodology is what will happened in the not-so-distant future of the classroom and meeting room. If the content (e.g., PowerPoint, website, slide-deck) is on the network, there will no longer be the need for a dedicated computer or VGA port or HDMI port in the room. Just keep it on the network and “play” it using the display’s media player — one that’s built-in (e.g., Samsung SmartSign) or using the $25 media player (e.g., ChromeStick). So, that, alone should be reason enough for you to get into the digital signage network (to learn how to design the classrooms and meeting rooms of the future). But in case that’s not enough — how about the fact that the digital signage market, although less than 10 years old, is larger than the entire education AV market? And, in fact, it’s the fastest growing segment of AV right now.

Collaborative systems, rather than products, will be the wave in 2017. Everyone was rushing out to build the Barco ClickShare competitor for the past three years but, everyone failed miserably. But now that the wireless collaboration market can be realized (thanks in part to bandwidth and in larger part, thanks to Barco paving the way), you will see more collaborative systems — even Barco is doing it with its new WeConnect. Sure, we will see more ClickShare competition in 2017 but, more importantly, we will see a plethora of companies debut complete integrated systems you (that are all 100 percent network-based) and you can drop in to nearly every room. Sure, not every room, but 90 percent of them, however. This will be big.

Simplicity will be a HUGE theme in 2017. This is what Amazon Alexa is all about — people turning complicated systems into something you can talk to to carry out commands — sort of like an iPhone Siri for your room. Speaking of Siri, Apple has already staked a claim to controlling the home, and everything in it, via Siri and its new HOME app. So has Google with its home line where you tell Google everything you want to do — and assuming you have Android, it works. You will see a massive more towards simplification from everyone in AV — less individual boxes and more integrated systems (or all-in-one) solutions.

Oh, did I forget to mention the forthcoming 8K displays? Ugh, ran out of space in this column…

Featuring advanced panel matching, the brightness and color of each panel comes pre-calibrated, eliminating much of the image adjustments typically required when installing video walls. The Smart Light Control feature can automatically adjust the brightness of each panel for uniformity across the entire video wall and maintain consistent performance throughout its lifetime. With an OPS slot, these panels accept a variety of embedded processing modules, such as the Christie Phoenix EP, for a complete video wall solution that is perfect for critical viewing environments.

With its narrow bezel, the Extreme Series is suitable for government facilities, public utilities, security and surveillance, telecommunications, and transportation. The Extreme Series is also good for artistic and architectural displays, corporate lobbies, higher education, retail outlets, financial institutions, arenas and stadiums.

Here are all the options.

The content will be contextually triggered against our real-time analytics, on the basis of criteria such as distance to screen, gender, age, mood and attention duration of the audience, but also on the basis of external events such as touch, gesture, product hand picks, weather, traffic conditions and so on.

With these rich insights, customers get the definitive demonstration of the impact of their communication on their target audience and can tell precisely which part of their content generated the most engagement. Also, Quividi introduced a new A/B/n testing service. Agencies and network operators will be able to test, in real conditions, which version of a content works best with a specific target audience based on the attention it gathers, in an easy to implement and bias-free approach.

Here are the details.

Each of these bundles immediately brings a new dimension to sales environments such as furniture or interior design show rooms, car dealerships, architectural sales, etc. Salespeople can bring up examples of items that may not be present on the show floor or examples of products in use, all while using the drawing/annotation tool to highlight aspects of a particular photo or video. While all of this can be done on table alone, the swiping of content to a large extended desktop gives users a more life-sized impression of the content that is being reviewed.

There are three different packages and you can see all the details here.

The new EZ TV 8.0 platform delivers the most advanced user experience on the market. IPTV users benefit from low-latency playback, real-time updating of electronic program guide, video-on-demand content with new assets updating while events take place, time-shifted TV, live video access from PCs and mobile devices, and user-controlled mosaic viewing of multiple channels.

The integrated digital signage features offer easy-to-use signage authoring, administration and analytics — ideal for enterprise customers and sports venues. VITEC’s IPTV and signage end-points feature discrete hardware processes for video and graphics, supporting the most complex digital signs that blend live streams, video files, social networking widgets and dynamically updated data including sports scores, calendars, and catering menus.

More details are here.

Together with the MPX Management Software Suite, the MPX100 II is marketed as a complete digital signage solution for applications such as retail, restaurants, hotel lobbies, airport information, and public transportation.

Also PureLink added a new entry-level player called the MPX50. The PureStream MPX50 is a simple player for applications that don’t require any custom programming or software management. It plays media files from USB or SD card storage, allowing users to load images, videos, and audio content onto a USB or SD memory device drive and connect it directly to the box. It includes a VGA, HDMI and optical audio output. It’s basically a content slide player that were the duration of each slide is in 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-second increments and transitions between slides are limited to blinds vertical, horizontal, mosaic or  random.

PureLink is here.

The Appspace platform is used in a wide range of use applications including workforce communications, guest communications and retail signage. Appspace provides a robust toolset for managing digital signage content. The company is here.

Of course, BrightSign is here.

The NS02 series supports 4K Ultra HD displays (3840×2160) and is pre-installed with Android 5.1.1 and Shuttle’s software DS Creator 2.0 so users can easily schedule and dispatch their content to any of the NS02 series players through their mobile devices.

The NS02 series is equipped with Rockchip RK3368 Qcta-core processor. Its compact design with built-in DDR3L 2GB low-voltage memory effectively reduces power consumption of the system.

These new players also offer an auto recovery feature, which protects content in the event of a system-wide power failure. When the power is cut, these players “park” the existing memory data, so when power returns, the player is ready to resume without risk of data corruption.

Shuttle’s new NS02A and NS02E vary by power supply options. The NS02A comes with a standard power adapter, while the NS02E can be powered by PoE (power over Ethernet). This feature allows users to easily do on-site installation without additional wires required with an AC adapter. Shuttle offers a three-year limited warranty on all its products. Available this month, the NS02A expected to sell for under $150 and the NS02E under $170. Here are all the specs.

Here are all the specs.

Their new 27” strip monitor is designed for shelf advertising and pricing in retail. Dubbed the Ultra Wide Stretched Shelf Edge Display, it is a low cost display that’s “bezel-less” (with no bezels in-between each display) and is designed to be clipped on to a store shelf. The M0-275-001-EW-1000-L has a DVI input as standard but a USB model is also available as well as a version with a built-in Media Player now available.

It is a 27.5” cut display with 1,000 nits brightness via an LED backlight. The native resolution is 1366×70 pixels with a viewing area of 697.7×35.7 millimeters (27.5×1.3″). The outside dimensions (including the mount) are only 722.1×69.7×38.8 millimeters.

Here are all the specs.

PUSH is designed with the Videotel VP71XD industrial grade digital media player, inter play harness (IPH), along with a choice of LED illuminated push buttons. You can trigger a single video file or display multiple content files and associate each with its corresponding button.

And, now the entire solution is only $443. Here are the details.

The entire CDM Series is spec’d at 450 nits of brightness with a 3H hardness anti-glare IPS panel for easy integration into public display applications. With a slim design and 9.6mm bezels, CDM displays can be used in a monitor wall configuration or as stand-alone displays for signage. These commercial-grade displays include dual-input screen PIP/POP splitting features with video loop-through and can be tiled and daisy-chained for multi-display and video wall configurations in either portrait or landscape orientations.

For digital signage applications, ViewSonic’s CDM Series includes an internal media player with a quad-core processor with 16GB eMMC storage that is expandable to 32GB with a micro-SD, USB multimedia video playback, and embedded LAN/Wi-Fi and web browser. Coming with content management software, these displays also include an internal Smart Scheduler with seven content storage channels and integrated speaker.

Connectivity includes HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort with loop-through, as well as LAN and RS232 support (for control) and the 43” CDM4300R, the 49” CDM4900R and the 55” CDM5500R will be available January 2017 and are priced at $999, $1,299 and $1,699, respectively.

Here are all the specs.

Part of the new FrameLED Plus product line, the company will launch two models of LED display modules. The LVM 3P is a high-contrast outdoor LED module with 3.86-millimeter pixel pitch. This model is targeted at the rental market for either outdoor or indoor applications, as well as high-resolution fixed outdoor installations. The other model is the iLVM 2P, an indoor solution with 2.68-millimeter pixel pitch for higher-resolution projects, for example, TV studios.

EKTA’s original 386×386-millimeter module frame design is continued in FrameLED Plus. With only 28 kg/m2 weight of iLVM 2P, FrameLED Plus stays as one of the world’s lightest rental screen solutions.

Both LVM 3P and iLVM 2P modules have the EKTA SmartSurface technology with a low brightness setting starting from 0.3 percent of maximum brightness. Also, SmartSurface allows maintaining remote module diagnostics functions and monitoring the technical screen status over the cloud.

Here are the details.

Because it is cloud-based and uses HTML5, Wallin ONE provides several advantages. No special hardware platform is required, making it very affordable, with prices starting at only €20 ($25US)/month. It can be managed from any Internet-connected device via Wallin’s simple, intuitive Wallin ONE is also easily scalable as a business’s needs grow.

Also to debut at ISE is something they are calling WallSign. WallSign is a multi-channel cloud or on-premise content management system (CMS) for digital signage that allows customization, deployment, scheduling and monitoring of content across a network of digital displays.

WallSign allows users to manage thousands of different digital signage platforms from any Internet-connected device, and is the first such CMS to enable the import of dynamic content from social media – such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – as well as images, video, RSS feeds, live news, calendars and so on. Importantly, it is digital signage player-agnostic, meaning that large, heterogeneous, multi-manufacturer networks can be integrated into a single solution via a simple web interface.

The integration of proximity sensors like beacons and NFC is simplified by WallSign, allowing users to trigger an action on screens and mobile devices and enabling them to create compelling, engaging interactive experiences. Here are the details.

Small size is a considerable criterion in deciding on a media player to used in digital signage deployment because space is precious in many commercial applications and sometimes players have even to be mounted in the space behind the displays for the sake of a specious environment or a pleasing atmosphere. QDSP-400 Series is housed within an about 0.5-liter rugged aluminum chassis. The ultra small size, lying completely within the palm area, makes it flexible enough to fit any space. Will it sacrifice functionality for small volume. Well, in fact, not at all. QDSP-400 Series has most demanding peripheral interfaces, such as a HDMI port and a DP port for 4K video output support, a LAN port to receive data from digital signage content management system, a RS232/422/585 serial port for display or other hardware control and four UDB3.0 for additional peripherals such as touch screen, camera, speaker, storage, printer, keyboard, mouse or other input devices.

QDSP-400 Series is powered by 6th / 7th Generation Intel Skylake / Kaby Lake ULT Series processors and thus it can deliver stunning 3D graphics and 4K video content. Kaby Lake model boasts in particular to play 4K UHD and VR content at a double-digit performance improvement. Someone may think whether it is necessary to upgrade the players to such high-end ones. People never end pursuing higher-definition contents to enjoy a more life-like viewing experience. In recent years, 4K contents have become more and more popular. Imagine what it would be like if a 4K advertisement runs on a playback not sufficient enough to stream it at full quality. Thus, a higher end player is a worthy investment to attract more attention from consumers from a commercial perspective.

IP-based remote control allows administrators to schedule and distribute contents anytime and anywhere. However, an IR remote control may be a flexible and fast way to adjust contents to fit on-site customers and shoppers on the shop floor. QDSP-400 Series has an IR receiver on the front panel and allows users to effortlessly control the content that shows on connected displays via a remote controller from a comfortable location. No additional IR receiver device is required. Another application is in intelligent shopping cart with a small display mounted on the cart handle. In such an intelligent system, QDSP-400 Series can be easily embedded into or mounted under the display device thanks to its ultra small size. Retailers can deploy IR transmitters around their stores. Then shoppers can read the designated advertising content on the display when the cart passes by a specific IR transmitter located in a specific floor area.

Here are the specs.

The new PN-Y556/Y496/Y436/Y326 professional LCD displays are an economical alternative to the PN-R series announced in October 2016. It also replaces the previous PN-Y series at an approximately 30 percent lower price point and is perfect for cost-conscious small and mid-sized businesses looking for durability and optimal performance.

Among its features, the PN-Y series has one of the most versatile mounting and orientation flexibility in the industry, allowing for face up, face down, tilted forward or tilted backward installation as well as in landscape or portrait orientation. Other key features include a built-in media player that allows for PC-free content playback from USB memory devices or optional SD cards and the ability to distribute content via software and schedule it as needed. Users can easily create their own signage by taking files in JPEG and WMV formats and delivering it via USB or LAN to various displays.

Additionally, the new PN-Y series features a narrow bezel width as small as 9.5 millimeters, making it slimmer than its predecessor models. The PN-Y556, PN-Y436 and PN-Y326 displays will begin shipping in late December. The PN-Y496 display is expected to ship in January 2017. Here are all the specs.

Here are all the specs.

The new omni-screen world is no longer limited to TVs, but now nearly everywhere — mobile phones, tablets, computers, wearable tech and even retail locations — bringing consumer engagement to new heights. With the cloud-centric SourceSync.io platform, content owners can stage and publish an unlimited array of data against any of their assets at any time using virtualized metadata and data linking tools. This allows for designing and fulfilling personalized strategies against real-time and file-based content that interfaces with any device to reach a new generation of content viewers.

Established as an open platform strategy, SourceSync.io seamlessly interfaces with any existing asset management system, production and post production data source to virtually and perpetually align it with new data for curation at any point against the programming. This includes use of advanced cognitive capture and alignment resources allowing an unlimited amount of data to be structured and stored against any frame of video. In addition, these stores of captured metadata can be leveraged for archiving and OTT and OVP platform delivery.

The Source IP is synthetically rooted to the registration of any data type or ancillary content, creating a virtual catalog of information, without physically binding the data to the frame of video. Subsequently using advanced sync methodologies to recognize the contents DNA, Source maximizes the flexibility to add, subtract, reuse, restrict, channelize and groom any type of data or content to link with content, at any time and on any platform and on any device.

SourceSync.io consists of the following core components:

• Scenenventory — metadata and asset warehouse for content related elements
• Kurator — metadata management tool; auto alignment and manual adjustment of stored assets with metadata
• Whisper — secure access to metadata (in Kurator) by time, data type and relationship to the content to create personalized engagement
• Pulse — analytics to help understand viewers and their behavior, indexing unique interactions and relationships as it pertains to viewer content

Here are all the details.

From its initial deployment, the highly scalable QL Professional solution, which Bell Centre self-hosts onsite, has rapidly expanded to hundreds of media players to create a fully digital experience for visitors. The network today supporting content resolutions up to 4K – as well as targeted advertising from sponsors – across concourse displays, concession menu boards, and video walls for experiential signage. The Navori QL solution also supports a massive LCD display at the main venue entrance. Considering these many diverse targets, the flexible QL multi-seat architecture allows many users to create, manage and schedule content both inside the venue and from remote offices with tremendous ease of use.

“I wanted a digital signage solution that could live on our central network but remain operationally independent from the IT department,” said Pierre-Eric Belzile, vice president of information technologies and communications, Montreal Canadiens hockey club, evenko, L’Équipe Spectra. “It needed to support multiple users with multiple different layers of access, support targeted playout by display, and leverage a variety of media players. Above all, it needed to be easy to learn, easy to install, and easy to use. The best solution by far was Navori, and we continue to find new ways to benefit from the flexibility of their software, including 4K support, data and even audio-only content.”

Bell Centre mixes a limited amount of 4K content into the network today, although expects to do so in a far greater capacity moving forward. Belzile points to Navori’s flexibility in content creation as a key enabler of this expansion, while noting that Navori QL Professional has zero restrictions on resolutions and aspect ratio.

“Navori provides the canvas within its QL software to support virtually any resolution we want, which gives our content creators the ability to bring stunning visuals to life on any display,” said Belzile. “We are beholden only to the limitations of the display. In the near future, we expect to upgrade the LCD screens that comprise our video wall to support 4K and higher resolutions. We also have a very large outdoor display for event presentation at the main entrance, with the pixels to support very high resolutions. Navori can grow with us to support higher resolution content.”

The flexibility of QL Professional, Navori’s flagship enterprise digital signage solution, also gives users the freedom to select an appropriate mix of media players to support targeted playout needs. Content can be synchronized across many screens for important messages, or targeted down to specific displays. The current architecture includes a mix of Windows and Android players, which users can switch between depending on the type of content being disseminated. The flexibility in player options – accentuated through Navori’s “player-agnostic” philosophy – also helps Bell Centre manage its costs appropriately as its digital signage network expands.

While the versatility of visual content also appeals to sponsors and fans – on the concourse, sponsored content is shown immediately to the right of a display showing a game, concert or other event – fans also find the rich data capabilities compelling, and often directly engaging. During many events, Bell Centre employees walk the concourse with iPads to offer 50/50 raffles. The iPads are connected to a common Avaya network that hosts Navori and other IT and AV systems, including Matrox encoders and decoders that extend Navori content distribution over the network. As employees enter new information into the iPads, Navori QL automatically updates the raffle information, including winners, on various displays every 15 seconds.

On the audio side, Belzile worked directly with Navori to create a message-on-hold program. The Navori players feed audio related to event, security and other important visitor information to callers; as well as to standalone sound systems at the box office and around the concourse. This flexibility eliminated the need to purchase a separate audio playout system, further extending the value of Bell Centre’s investment in Navori QL Professional software.

“Navori has reduced our overall costs over the years in many ways,” said Belzile. “It starts with a diverse array of media player options from Navori, Seneca Data and other vendors, all of which are managed centrally with a single Navori software solution. These range from very compact players with limited storage to support certain business operations; and very high-storage units for our more visually intensive playout requirements. The ability to customize QL to support advanced audio and data needs has also provided exceptional value – not to mention its reliability in scheduling and disseminating advertising content to accelerate our return on investment. They also provide exceptional support, both from their North American office in Montreal, as well as their Switzerland headquarters. They have been more than a supplier; they have been an excellent partner.”