Digital signage will be a major growth sector over the next few years. The potential downside: as more and more companies install digital signage, it becomes more commonplace and less engaging.

Even Walmart has digital signage now, so really it is becoming more of a defacto standard than a differentiator.

Most of us have a personal media device in our pockets. So why would we sit and watch a screen with someone else’s targeted content when we have what we actually want to watch in the palm of our hands? Although content is key to keeping the customers attention, you have to get their attention first.

If we really want to offer our clients a solution than cannot be commoditized, we need to offer them something that gets their potential audience’s attention and keeps it. Not every company has the sheer budget to do a 10-by-10 screen wall to “shock and awe” their customers into submission.

Here are three ways to make your firm stand out and make your client’s digital signage engaging, memorable and effective without breaking their bank.

Implement New, Unique Formats
I did a digital signage system at a new home exploration center that employed a 160x9 aspect ratio screen (10 16x9 displays installed in landscape orientation end to end) around a 40-foot arc in an oval room. This type of system required some custom content and a 10 output video server that synced 10 separate video files together for playback. The effect was a system that filled your peripheral and really stood out.

Another job I did had six 9 by 64 aspect ratio arrays (four 16x9 displays each stacked portrait style). This system actually uses two dual head PCs to run the content, which is much more cost effective. Floor-to-ceiling narrow arrays of video made a huge impact in the space. Some displays also have built-in screen wall software and loopout cards that allow you to feed the first panel in the array with one device and the displays themselves process the signal from there.

If budget is even more constrained, just doing a large display with a bezel over the top that has a different aspect ratio cut out to reveal a portion of the screen can be extremely effective, and driven by a solid state media player can be very cost effective.

Make it Interactive
Put an LCD screen within reach and it won’t be long before someone touches it to see what happens. We have been trained by our tablets and phones that screens can be interactive.

There are all sorts of ways to make digital signage interactive. Most people go right to touch or multitouch technology. While that is an effective way to capture someone’s interest, those displays become more expensive as they get larger, especially in a multitouch format. It is not uncommon for a 46-inch multitouch display to be over $15,000 retail.

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About the author

Mark Coxon

Mark started his technology career at IBM in 2000 before migrating into AV integration in early 2002. He currently works at Orange ProAV, a division of Mad Systems Inc., where he helped the company transition from the niche Museum marketplace to the corporate, education, government, and retail markets. Mark lives in Orange County with Lesley, his wife of 11 years and his 3 children.

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