In its most basic form, a digital signage player is the physical component that broadcasts content to your digital signage displays. These players connect all the dots of your digital signage campaign together. They receive information from your content creation platform, digital signage software, or content management system and eventually transmit signals to your screen.
Key features of digital signage players
There are so many things to consider when choosing a digital signage player. Overall, you should opt for a device that supports your other existing digital signage components. However, there are some hardware and software features that you should consider. Let’s explore them briefly.
Playing multiple content formats like images, videos, widgets and 3rd party apps
This probably is the most important feature to consider when choosing a digital signage player because there’s a good chance that your content will come in different formats. Therefore you’ll need a player that supports a wide range of formats and resolutions so that you won’t find yourself stuck at any point.
Playing content offline
Get you a digital signage player that can play content offline because it will definitely come in handy. We all know live or stream content is the new craze, but there are times when you’ll find the good old technique of playing pre-recorded content useful, which is why it is preferable to get a signage player that supports offline content.
Internet connectivity
In this age and time, internet connectivity is a feature that’s not negotiable. Nowadays, you’ll find that most digital signage players can access the internet, so again, what you might need to scrutinize is the type of internet connectivity that your digital signage player will offer you.
In situations like this, it is always best to buy a signage player that supports both wired and wireless internet connectivity, as this would give you more options to play with.
Some other things to consider
Hardware specifications
Digital signage players, computers, and gadgets generally follow a particular marketing pattern, which is the higher the cost price, the more sophisticated the hardware features and performance levels will be. When selecting a digital signage player, you must ensure that it meets the standards in terms of ports and other basic hardware requirements.
For companies, going all out to buy a premium device might be unnecessary, particularly in the short term. So it’s advisable to purchase an affordable player in the beginning and upgrade as your business expands. However, if your digital signage campaign requires you to display complex advertising content, you’ll need a top-quality product.
Software compatibility
Once you’ve found a digital signage player that matches your hardware expectation, the next thing to consider is if the player supports the type of software you use for your digital signage campaign.
Usually, most expensive digital signage players will save you this stress because they are built to support multiple digital signage software. So software compatibility issues are sort of exclusive to low quality digital signage players.
Form Factor
Before you even set out to scout, you must evaluate the area where the signage player will be installed and determine which shape and size would fit best.
A smarter alternative: player apps
After all said and done, physical devices still have their own limitations, which are where smart TV apps come in handy. Having a smart app as the digital signage player component for a cloud-based digital signage solution does not require transfer of the content from the player to the display, the content is already rendered on the screen. Apart from being a smart alternative to physical digital signage players, installation is very easy thanks to the app stores like Apple App Store and Google Play Store.