Have you seen the Digital sign? Of Course yes, everybody has seen it knowingly or unknowingly.

Digital signs that use LED, LCD, and projection display images, videos, and other information for advertisement, promotional or informational purposes.

You cannot walk into a shopping store, drive along the road, or visit any hotel without noticing a digital sign. It is everywhere and shows some kind of information or signs. The software that operates the screen and displays the given content is digital signage software.

In simple, digital signage consists of a screen of any size displaying content of any type and for any particular reason.

What are the components used in digital signage?

The broad category of components used in digital signage are:

Hardware: The screen displays the content, media players for specific requirements; all the network components are connected to run the digital signage and mounts that are used to clamp the components.

Software: The devices and the content that is to be displayed on the screen are maintained with the help of digital signage software.

Connectivity: It is the way how digital displays are connected to the content management system. It could be either wired or wireless connectivity.

Content: The content that the user wishes to display on the digital screen to convey any kind of information.

Selection Phase of a Digital Signage

Do you have a requirement to implement digital signs with a planned budget? But unfortunately, the costs might go up from the planned one.

The setup costs can be attained within your planned budget. But the cost for content creation is solely dependent on the type of content you require. For example, it varies on for what purpose, the quality that is required, and the frequency of changing the contents.

Here are the few types of deployment, that are used for different purposes from simple to complex:

  • Single screen with content. For example, news, sports, weather, etc.
  • Menu Boards. (used in any shops or hotels).
  • Big boards that are public-facing and conveying information.
  • Screens that are used to find the way (like the one used in malls).
  • (A screen that displays an ad in a big clothing store, or cinema theatres).

So with all these types and purposes, determining what application, quality, and frequency of change you would require will help you get a clear idea of how much will be the cost and budget to set up and run a digital sign network.

Basic features to look while choosing a digital sign :

Support of media formats

If your requirement is to display any static images, then you could choose any digital signage software. Any basic software will be able to process your .jpg and .png files.

But for other requirements, like moving content in the form of a video, you should make sure to choose a digital signage software that supports it.

The standard format for the video would be mp4, and it is majorly supported in all the software, but for higher resolution and 4k videos, the software should be updated and should have the capability to process such data and display the same on the digital screen.

Platform Stability

It could be very annoying for both the publisher and the customer to see the screen with errors or crashes. It is very noticeable, and since it is all digital, there are high chances for such accidents to occur.

Due to such reasons, prioritise the stability of the platform as your major concern while looking at options from different digital signage providers. A good system lets you focus and achieve the purpose and doesn’t make you worry or think that the software has crashed again.

High-end security

When you have a digital display in a public place, it is possible that some people would try to hack into the network and try accessing the display.

Make sure that your software has the latest security updates to lock users who manage to hack into the system. Business-critical software uses SOC I and SOC II as the standard type of security, so before choosing a software check for these security types.

Apart from these basic features, the latest software offers many more options such as scalability, remote monitoring, remote controlling feature, automated content scheduling, delivering, expandability, multi-screen, synchronisation capability and content caching which could be displayed or delivered later.

Analyse more and plan for better software with all the features that fulfil the complete purpose of your requirement or business.