Digital signage has steadily made a major mark on society – we go behind the scenes to discover the top-tier tech powering these diverse displays
Words Katie Kasperson
Look around you: digital signage is everywhere. It’s in airports, on the high streets, in universities, on the freeway. Constantly competing for our adigital signs boast bright colours, high resolutions and smooth transitions, all enabled by pro-grade, energy-efficient LED screens and cutting-edge tech.
While often used in advertising, digital signage also plays a more general communicative role, with the end goal of displaying crucial information or creating an immersive experience. LIVE looks at an array of applications, exploring how digital signage can vary in shape, size and scope – all while noting the tech involved in its upkeep and the future of this evolving AV area.
Peripheral visions
When’s the last time you were in a major metro area, or drove down the road, past a billboard? What about when you went to a drive-through, took a train or visited a shopping mall or a sporting arena? Digital signs adorn all these places, whether you notice them or not.
Steadily on the rise, digital signage is slowly replacing traditional displays. Presenting infinite possibilities, these signs are often more eye-popping, usually incorporate motion and offer environmental benefits as they don’t require regular replacement. However, there are many technical considerations worth noting when deciding whether to install a digital sign, such as how to get content from server to screen, how that screen will be powered and what happens if the system fails or falters.
“From what we have seen,” begins Thomas Kramer, the vice president of strategy and business development at Mainconcept, “the biggest challenge is getting updated content to screen devices in the field.” While some digital signage hosts static content, there’s a growing demand for livestreaming capabilities. “If the device performs livestreaming from an online server, it requires permanent internet connection. The challenge is the connection stability,” Kramer notes, adding that these signs should ideally “fall back to static content if the connection fails,” akin to a radio station’s playout setting.
Echoing Kramer’s idea, “displaying content in real time, especially across varying networks or remote locations, requires robust software infrastructure and planning to prevent downtime issues or technical failures,” adds Mónica Fernández, MD of nsign.tv.
Instead of livestreaming, some digital signs pull updates via 5G or OTA broadcasts. “Mainconcept offers streaming and codec SDKs for technology providers,” Kramer explains. “It is a choice by the customer on which they wish to use, typically aligning with their specific use case. HEVC/H.265 is currently seeing the most uptake.
“This is the same Mainconcept codec used across verticals like broadcast, streaming and surveillance.”
While Mainconcept falls on the software side of digital signage, providing data streams and signals from source to sign, there are hardware components also involved – namely, the screens themselves. “Ensuring seamless integration between the content management system and the hardware is critical,” argues Fernández. “A flexible CMS that supports interactive features or data-driven content can make a huge difference in creating a more engaging user experience. Digital signage is only as good as the content it displays, and audiences quickly lose interest if the messaging becomes static or repetitive,” she concludes.
The latest signs are generally composed of LED (or OLED) panels that can support high resolutions, such as 16K, from manufacturers like Roe Visual, Leyard or Pixelflex. To compete for our attention, these displays are getting bigger and brighter – featuring crisp, colour-accurate visuals that hold up under various conditions, which is important for outdoor environments.
Big flex
If you’ve ordered food via drive-through, you’ve likely interacted with an outdoor digital menu board (DMB). Although these have been around for years, the technology has continuously evolved to support thinner, space-saving displays. Palmer Digital Group, for example, produces wall-mountable menu boards – all IP65-rated – that fit neatly in tight lanes. An IP65 rating is key for outdoor displays, ensuring they can withstand (almost) any weather.
Why bother with a DMB? Restaurants regularly alter their menus – which are often lengthy – and prices, offering timely deals. A digital display can support these frequent changes and rotate through various menu sections without any upheaval. Better stated by Fernández, digital signage “allows for easy updates, reduces the cost of printing and replacing static signs and offers the flexibility to adapt content as needed.” The same is true of all digital signage; versatility is a key draw.
Nsign.tv recently put this into action at Tea Shop, using digital signage across its several stores. “With our platform, Tea Shop can easily manage promotional content, adjust pricing dynamically and create a more immersive in-store experience that reflects their brand identity,” says Fernández. Nsign.tv’s ‘applets’ – “which are pre-configured interactive content blocks,” she adds, akin to widgets – allow clients to tailor content without writing complex code.
Flexibility is especially useful in outdoor advertisements, which take turns occupying highly coveted spots in the public eyeline. Take Times Square, for instance: over 300,000 people pass through it every day. Neon signs initially replaced traditional ads, followed by the birth of digital displays, which were introduced as early as the seventies. These billboards do much more than communicate advertising content; they bring people together in a ‘third space’. Millions of people – both in person and at home – turn their eyes to Times Square’s digital displays every New Year’s Eve. In 2004, Friends fans gathered to watch the series finale, also broadcast live on one of the Square’s big screens.
Going jumbo
These big screens, known colloquially as Jumbotrons, also play a crucial role in sporting events. From university arenas to minor- and major-league stadiums, these displays communicate key game information as well as entertainment (kiss cam, anyone?). It’s no surprise that, in recent years, many arenas have received makeovers, installing state-of-the-art screens which are larger and less one-dimensional.
The Los Angeles Clippers recently unveiled their $2 billion arena, the Intuit Dome, ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season. Of course, the Jumbotron – a 38,000 sq ft Halo Board – was central to the upgrade, provided by South Dakotan Daktronics. It’s a double-sided display that wraps around the arena, powered by more than 230 million LEDs and three times the size of the Hollywood Sign. Plus, it’s interactive, allowing fans to participate via four buttons on each armrest. No longer a simple scoreboard, the Halo has turned Clippers games into a full-blown spectacle, increasing fan engagement and leading a new live sport experience.
While this may be the way of the future, most Jumbotrons maintain their basic functionality: hyping up the crowd, providing instant replays, streaming a live feed (thus relying on low latency), keeping score and capturing the moments that make these games so memorable – and that keeps the fans coming back for more.
Catalysing consumption
Besides food, leisure and entertainment, digital signage plays an important role in retail venues, from mall directories to window displays. The in-store experience has always been a focus of consumer psychology, and research has illuminated that digital signs do make a difference in purchasing behaviours. A survey by Saturn Visual Solutions, for instance, found that, of 2000 UK-based adults, 17% of under-45s spend more than they had originally planned when presented with an in-store digital display. This same survey also found that digital signage had a stronger effect on the behaviour of men than women, and that 22% said these displays made shopping feel more ‘fun’ and ‘luxurious’.
Another report by Mood Media also showed that shoppers appreciate a blended experience, combining in-store with online retail. Of its respondents, 75% expressed interest in using QR codes to learn about a product, while 73% felt positively about using their smartphone for store navigation. Digital screens that displayed ‘inspirational’ videos, as well as interactive kiosks, were found to enhance atmosphere, elongate exploration and drive purchases.
Digital signage for retail doesn’t differ all that much from other types of displays, but in general, the screens needn’t be as big or as bright, and they don’t require an IP65 rating. They are relatively low maintenance and – thanks to the research – come with clear payoffs; another survey by Aura Futures found that 68% of stores plan to invest in digital technology to drive foot traffic. This tech, which will almost certainly continue to crop up over the next few years, could include intelligent, immersive and/or interactive displays.
In many places, such as New Jersey’s American Dream shopping mall, these displays already exist, both inside and out. Powered in part by Infuse Digital, the mall – which is the second-largest in the US behind Minnesota’s Mall of America – contains over three million sq ft of stores, restaurants and attractions, including Nickelodeon Universe and Legoland. Of this three million, 40,000 sq ft are occupied by Infuse Digital’s LED displays, ranging from fine-pitch interior video displays and kiosks to large format exterior signage – such as the latest Ultimate Display, which is prominently visible from nearby highways and draws attention from passers-by
A collaboration between Infuse Digital and SNA Displays – and installed by AMA Electric Sign Company – the Ultimate Display wraps in a half-circle around the mall’s facade, extending 170m wide by 14m high and offering 180° of visibility – making it one of the largest outdoor LED displays in the country.
It’s not easy being green
In today’s environmentally aware era, sustainability is a top concern for both businesses and consumers. Digital signage, especially that which uses LED technology, “plays a significant role in contributing to sustainability efforts,” claims Fernández, with “one of the most immediate benefits being the reduction in paper and ink usage.” Digital displays cut down on material waste, “reducing the carbon footprint associated with printing, transportation and disposal.”
Because LEDs are energy-efficient, digital signs only use as much power as they need at any given moment, thanks to features like automatic brightness adjustment. Modern displays can also use CMS software “that can operate with an embedded player,” explains Fernández, which “reduces the number of external devices required,” therefore “resulting in lower energy consumption.”
At the same time, every rose has its thorn, and digital signage is no different. Its potential environmental drawbacks include “the initial production and disposal of hardware,” according to Fernández, though “manufacturers are now designing screens with longer lifespans and recyclable materials to mitigate these additional impacts.”
Feeling futuristic
In Back to the Future Part II, Marty – in the year 2015 – shields himself as a holographic shark ‘attacks’ him, part of an advertisement for the latest rendition of Jaws. Digital signage was one of the film’s predictions that proved true, with today’s displays featuring AR and VR, holographic content and personalisation.
“Digital signage is evolving rapidly and its future looks incredibly promising,” states Fernández, who lists interactivity and immersion as two leading trends. “As digital signage becomes increasingly interactive, audiences can engage directly with displays to explore information and receive content based on facial recognition or mobile data,” she asserts. With interactivity comes tailored content, made possible by big data and AI. Smart signage can also offer predictive recommendations based on AI algorithms.
“We are also witnessing a rise in immersive experiences with VR and AR,” elaborates Fernández, “particularly in sectors such as entertainment and retail.” A recent example is Maybelline’s marketing campaign in which two videos went viral: one of a London Underground train applying mascara with a three-dimensional wand, and another of a double-decker bus doing the same. While these AR-based ads didn’t actually include any digital signage (they combined traditional ads with smartphone technology), they are an example of creative thinking when it comes to AR and immersion.
And just like the fictional Jaws poster, digital signs are now going holographic. Dublin Airport recently introduced a three-dimensional advert, powered by Hypervsn’s four-ray LED-based display, which uses fan rotation to create the illusion of floating content. As Fernández explains: “Digital signage [needs] to be more than just functional; it needs to captivate and hold attention,” doing so by “transforming the space into a visually dynamic environment that elevates the overall experience.”
Digital signage is the future, with eco-friendly, visually appealing displays already at the forefront of a booming sector. A balance between foolproof technology – in both the front and backend – and captivating content, these signs will continue to crop up everywhere, but the innovations we’ve yet to see are by far the most exciting.
