As we live in a digital age, everything is done online to provide efficiency and convenience for communicating. Digital signage is a vital part of today’s technology landscape. The popularity of digital signage systems has grown to the point where you can’t go online, shop, or walk down the street without seeing a brightly lit, attention-getting sign. Although digital signage is a widely used technology, many people still ask, what is digital signage?
Digital Signage Components
The term digital signage refers to signs displayed on a digital screen. Digital signage displays have largely replaced paper marketing, which has diminished its prominence. A paperless approach is becoming more popular among businesses and other industries. Digital signage is often used to convey a specific message. The target audience could be members of an office’s internal team, students at a school or clients in a store. Digital signage can be customized to show content relevant to your purpose or objective, depending on the situation. In this article, we’ll take a glance at the main components of a digital signage solution.
Displays
If you wonder what a digital signage display is; this digital signage component is really similar to your smartphone or television, and it’s a display screen that shows data; the size and type of this screen can change depending on the information that needs to be displayed on it.
Displays are the most apparent requirement when implementing a digital signage solution. Any device with an HDMI port will work, but digital signage TVs are the most popular option. Many digital signage solutions support any HDMI-enabled digital display, including HD, 4K/Ultra HD, and beyond.
A digital signage solution can be implemented using a variety of display devices. There are LCD/DLP digital signage projectors, LCD/DLP monitors, plasma displays, TV video walls, and even digital signage tables. Indeed, some display devices have built-in PC/Chipset modules that can store and process content server software, obviating the need for PC/Media Servers and Content Servers. It can be utilized in many ways.
Display devices used in digital signage solutions are increasingly fostering user interactivity through cutting-edge technologies such as touch screen technology, Bluetooth, SMS interactivity via cell phones, and social media interactivity.
Mounting Hardware
When considering a digital display solution, many business owners don’t take the mounting hardware and connection cables into consideration. Mounting hardware consists of more than just brackets that hold a digital display to a wall, floor, or table. The mounting hardware you use can be angled in various ways to ensure your digital signs are visually appealing and easily accessed by your audience.
Furthermore, you should also consider where you place the mounting hardware when installing your digital signage solution. Is it going to fall through the ceiling? Or right on your wall?
Media Players
Media players are small devices that connect to digital screens and display content. The media player is essentially a computing engine (software or hardware) that decides on what content should be displayed on the display (or multiple displays). You can also access your media player via a web portal in some cases since it is also connected to the Internet.
There are many types of digital signage players, each with its own price. When selecting a media player, you should choose one that works with your digital signage hardware and software. Choose a media player that will not only meet your immediate needs but will also support your long-term business goals, ensuring that it will continue to function as your company grows. But also please note that some digital signage screens have built-in media players.
Network and Connectivity
All digital signage players and displays have a range of ports in common, regardless of their size or shape. These ports enable you to set up a network and lay the groundwork for your solution.
Through digital signage networks, multimedia content is distributed and managed. A digital signage network can be used at different locations and has a variety of features, such as the ability to update the content remotely.
An IP Network (lines, 5G, etc.) transports content from content servers to media players and then to display screens. Video over Cat 5/6/6A cables is still an effective technology for content transmission but wireless networks have also been widely used to transmit content to the displays.
Cables are essential to the functioning of digital signage systems unless you have a cloıud-based digital signage solution. VGA (HD15), DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, and RJ45 are the most common connector types.
Content Management System (CMS)
Content management systems are the core of digital signage and are, arguably, the most important feature of the software. Users can customize, schedule, monitor, and deploy content on digital displays using a content management system for signage.
The content management system is the system’s control center and is the leading digital signage software component. Content management systems for digital signage are essentially the command center for the content that plays on your network. You can generally create, browse, customize and schedule content with a digital signage CMS.
Content
While having the right parts is essential, you must also understand that all other digital signage components exist solely to support content. You could also say that your digital signage solution’s content is it’s beating heart.
The content displayed on digital signage determines your solution’s quality, and there’s no better way to display visually compelling content; however, there are many content options available that don’t require the involvement of an artist like using ready to use templates or 3rd party digital signage apps. To create compelling content for your digital marketing display, you must consider several factors. It revolves around your company’s branding as well as your target market.
Device Management System
Running a digital signage network entails more than just uploading, managing, and distributing content. For a successful deployment of multiple digital displays in different locations, handling the network remotely is vital. Best device management platforms gather device data, report on it, and take action on it.
It is an essential component of digital signage as it is responsible for the following tasks;
- Examining other components’ health status: free disk space, memory usage, temperature, network status, and so on.
- Taking screenshots of what is playing in a media player to ensure that everything is working correctly.
- Updating other components of the system.
- Taking action against network information, such as turning on and off displays, rebooting the device, and so on.
- Creating network alerts through email communication or gaining access to third-party management consoles via APIs.
Conclusion
The business world has quickly adopted digital signage as one of the most common and effective communication tools. These devices can broadcast real-time information in multimedia to engage with customers and clients. While setting up digital signage, you first have to understand the components used in digital signage architecture and what they do.