Digital signage systems are the modern version of traditional printed boards and posters. In the past few years, businesses of all sizes have increasingly adopted digital displays in place of static advertising boards. Retailers from every sector - cafes, restaurants, hair salons, food outlets, markets - are using digital signage to deliver industry-specific content and engage their customers more effectively.
Digital signage systems are the modern version of traditional printed boards and posters. Over the past few years in particular, virtually every business — large or small — has begun to widely adopt digital boards, known as digital signage, in place of static advertising panels.
Retailers across every sector — cafés, restaurants, hair salons, food and grocery outlets — use digital signage. These systems allow sector-specific content to be created, and their greatest benefit is the ability to update every branch instantly from a single point and to monitor the content being broadcast. Many businesses use displays to advertise products, services or campaigns, while others use them to share information and send messages. However, many companies invest in digital signage but fail to see adequate results because they publish poor-quality content. Without a clear understanding of how a digital signage system works, it is impossible to get value from it or to save costs.
In order to use a digital signage system effectively, you first need to learn its working principles and understand how it operates. The components of a digital signage system are outlined below.
Digital Signage Hardware
Digital signage systems generally consist of hardware and software. The hardware consists of a display and a player (player box, mini PC or Android box). These two hardware components connect to a server on the local or remote network through a software platform and are managed via the server.
Digital Signage Display
The displays used in digital signage systems can be LCD, plasma, LED or OLED based. When selecting a display, industrial-grade professional displays should be chosen instead of standard televisions. Industrial displays are different from consumer televisions and offer many advanced features. Industrial displays are also referred to as LFDs (Large Format Displays).
Digital Signage Player
This is the name given to devices that can be mounted behind a display and that run an operating system. The operating system and the player are determined by the software platform installed on the server. Before deploying a digital signage system, the platform to be used must be selected, and at this stage the player is also determined. There are many options for players; if a PC-based player is going to be used, an industrial PC is recommended.
Digital Signage Software
Another essential component of a digital signage system is software. Digital signage software creates a link between the players and the displays. To change the content on a screen, the central software is used. The change made through the software is detected by the player and, after synchronisation, the new content appears on the display.
Digital signage software can run as a desktop application or it can have a browser-based architecture. Cloud-based software in particular has gained traction in the industry recently. For more detailed information about digital signage systems, please contact us.
