- What is Digital Signage?
- What is content and where do we get it?
- What is a presentation?
- What is day parting?
- Do we need to invest in servers to manage our Digital Signage?
- What is a schedule?
- What is a media player?
- Do we have to use commercial grade LCD panels?
- What is a Digital Menu Board
- What are the advantages of Digital Menu Boards?
To download the FAQ brochure*, click here.
Digital Signage, or Digital Out Of Home (DOOH) advertising is a technology that distributes digital content across the Internet, for display on LCD, LED or Plasma displays. A digital signage network is comprised of:
- A centralized server containing the digital content, that manages its distribution to a predefined list of displays.
- LCD panels and media players,located in multiple remote locations to retrieve digital content from the centralized server, and output it to the display. top of page
2. What is content, and where do we get it?
Content for digital signage implementations can be created in a variety of formats, including html, jpeg, mpeg, flash etc.
Your organization likely already has digital content available from your conventional signage and advertising/marketing programs. It may be suitable to re-purpose for a digital signage implementation.
Otherwise, GET Signage has the resources to create digital content for you, or there are many other organizations that can help you design and create content for your digital signage implementation. top of page
A presentation is a combination of the various types of content that you create and ultimately show on your Displays. Our Presentations are HTML pages that can be shared and previewed in any browser. top of page
Day parting refers to scheduling digital content to display based on day of week and time of day. As an example, a fast food restaurant would want to display their breakfast menu between 6am and 11am, their lunch menu between 11am and 4 pm, and their supper menu from 4pm to close.
Scheduling presentations along these lines is called day parting. top of page
5. Do we need to invest in servers to manage our Digital Signage Network?
Not necessarily. You do need to run centralized Content Management software to schedule your presentations on displays. This can be accomplished either by purchasing software and server hardware, or, you can subscribe to SaaS (Software as a Service) Content Management software, where all you need is a high speed internet connection to manage your content. top of page
A schedule refers to what content displays at what time. Each element within a digital signage presentation, can display different content at different times of the day, different times of the week, etc.
As an example, a restaurant could display the beverages menu 24 hours a day, on one screen. A second screen could display the breakfast menu from 6am – 11am, lunch menu from 11am – 4pm, and the supper menu from 4pm to closing. top of page
A media player is a special purpose computer appliance, designed specifically for high definition digital signage applications. Media players come in various configurations, and run varied operating systems (Windows Embedded, Windows XP, Windows 7, MacOS or Linux). They can support from 1 - 8 screens (depending on brand and model), have an Ethernet connection, and usually have no keyboard or mouse (to avoid tampering). Some even come with the ability to connect to the internet wirelessly with an appropriate cellular wireless subscription. top of page
8. Do we have to use commercial grade LCD panels?
Not necessarily. It depends on your application, the physical environment the displays will be located in (ambient temperature, exposure to sunlight, and hours of service per day), how long you want the displays to last, and your requirements for extended an on-site warranty services.
Commercial grade LCD panels are designed for 24x7 operation, usually have thinner bezels, don’t have a tuner, and come with 3 year warranties, and optional on-site replacement warranties.
LCD TVs, while less expensive, are not as robust, have shorter warranties, with no on-site warranty replacement options. top of page
9. What is a Digital Menu Board?
A digital menu board is an electronic mechanism for displaying menus (quick serve restaurant, self serve retail, ….) on flat panel displays. top of page
10.What are the advantages of Digital Menu Boards?
In multiple site scenarios, the biggest advantage that Digital Menu Boards offer is the ability to “change once, change everywhere”. A price change or addition/deletion of a product only needs to be made in the content manager software, for automatic update in all locations, reducing labour costs in each site, and ensuring compliance.
We’ve all heard “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Digital Menu Boards offer the ability to add high quality digital images to accompany descriptions and price. Consumers may be drawn to products they weren’t already considering by the accompanying image, and add it to their shopping list, either this visit or future visits. top of page