Digital in fashion

On a recent shopping spree in Bristol I was waiting in line in the high-street store Zara when a wide digital display behind the tills caught my eye. With stylish models showcasing the store’s latest collection, coupled with vibrant flashes of the Zara logo, it certainly made the long wait in the queue more exciting as well as making the atmosphere more akin to a fashion show than a shop.

This experience and the impact it had on me as a consumer is clear evidence that digital signage presents a great opportunity for sign-makers looking to open up a potential new revenue stream, that is if they are willing to take the leap. After all, going down the digital signage path will certainly take time and money to get started, but the payoff could be significant.

I spoke to some of the experts in this field and asked them about what solutions they supply, what the initial challenges are for a sign-maker looking to buy and sell digital signage to their customers for the first time, how they can overcome these challenges, and lastly, how they think digital signage will evolve this year.

Getting started

Birgit Jackson, commercial director at Sharp Visual Solutions, says to make sure a sign company’s customers have a solution that works for them, there are a few things to consider: “The most important is location. Do you need digital signage for an indoor space or outdoors? What is the ambient light level like? You need to think about how digital signage will appear, and how likely it is to be noticed.

“When selling signage, you need to consider what end-users are trying to achieve. What content will be displayed and why? Signage can only work when the content works hand in hand with the hardware installation, which is why we aim to introduce products that make it easy to work with any content management provider.

“Once location and use case are established, it’s all about how big or small you need the digital signage to be. Size does matter. Connectivity is another important factor—what PC or distribution architecture is supporting the content? Following this, it is vital to be able to effectively communicate the value and quality of products, you need to be able to show why it is worth investing in digital signage.”

In terms of what Sharp offers the market, it has a range of interactive and professional displays to meet the demands of different environments such as corporate boardrooms, lecture theatres, retail, offices, and classrooms.

“We just showcased our largest ever range of flexible signage solutions at ISE 2018, with the launch of two smart display ranges for the mainstream market, the PN-M and PN-B series,” explains Jackson, continuing: “They are available in two different sizes, 40" and 50", and have an integrated SoC (System on Chip) which makes it easy to play content directly from the screen without an external player or PC.



“This can be managed either by Sharp’s own E Signage software or by any independent software provider as we use an Open Platform. We also won an award for our flagship 70" video wall display at ISE, which allows you to build large, impactful video walls with fewer monitors and bezels.”

Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) showcases the latest AV and systems integration technologies, products, and solutions. It is sectioned into different technology zones with one of these zones being digital signage and digital out of home (DOOH).



On the event’s website it says: “Digital signage has been the fastest growing market segment at ISE in recent years. The retail, transportation, healthcare, corporate, education, leisure, and hospitality sectors are just some of the areas where digital signage plays a significant role.” So, if digital signage really is something you are interested in, ISE may be worth the trip to Amsterdam.

Increase interest

Getting started in digital signage does come with initial costs that could scare some people off, which is why Chris Bartram, managing director of Crystal Display Systems (CDS), has some advice for how to get around this issue.

“The sign-maker will need to place the importance in the ease of replacing paper displays with a digital signage LCD solution instead over the cost involved,” advises Bartram, adding: “The initial costs involved may put customers off, but the sign-maker will need to prove to the customers that digital advertising displays are the way forward.
This is primarily because they can increase customer interest and consumer spending so over time, the displays will pay for themselves.

“In the modern day, display technology is seen as the key to facilitating essential communications and so the reluctance to embrace the technology could be holding some companies back in terms of engaging customers, new and old. Customers will be heavily reliant on sign-makers for technical advice and possibly with planning and integration, so a strong relationship will eventually build.”



CDS offers specialist and niche digital signage solutions as well as the standard technology in a bid to widen its customers’ horizons when it comes to boosting campaigns, Bartram tells me.

He continues: “We have a vast range of professional and commercial grade digital advertising posters which boast industrial grade panels to replace paper advertising. This range includes slimline poster displays which are aesthetically pleasing, appearing like large iPad displays, and they are fitted with impressive android media players for ease in content and software.

“As well as this, the range includes outdoors IP65 rated displays, professional monitors, PCAP POS displays, high brightness monitors, touch displays, networked digital menu boards, videowalls, touch interactive freestanding posters, PCAP dual OS, and digital signage players.”



It also offers transparent LCD, transparent LED, square LCD, ultra-wide stretched LCD, shelf edge displays, android tablets, and touch table—with Bartram saying: “These innovative products are designed to be high impact and really give the wow-factor retailers and the like are expecting.

“This is especially so with the amazing transparent LCD. With higher colour depth for stronger, more vibrant colours for that desired dramatic impact, it will help you amaze passers-by and customers. It is amazing how these effective displays work. The transparency of the display is controlled completely by the colour of the content.

White is transparent (translucent) but black blocks the light completely, allowing you to make the products appear and disappear before your eyes.”

Variety and versatility

As the world of retail and working environments, for example, change drastically as time goes on, so does digital signage. So, how will the market grow and change throughout 2018? Jackson from Sharp Visual Solutions says: “The digital signage market is constantly evolving. Customer expectations are changing, and we’re now seeing increased demand for tailored solutions that meet specific requirements.

“Variety and versatility are key here. People expect to be able to choose from a variety of screen sizes and the trend for pop-up venues in retail in particular means movability and flexibility are major assets.

“Installations themselves are becoming more attractive. You now see screens installed face up, face down, tilted forwards or backwards, whatever is most impactful for the environment. That is why Sharp’s range of digital displays includes everything from smaller screens, like in our PN-M and PN-B ranges, all the way up to Sharp’s 70" video wall display. Our signage line-up is designed to be flexible so it works for any kind of installation.”

O Factoid: 63 percent of people who have seen digital signage say that the advertising catches their attention (Inurface Media). O

It is also becoming easier to install digital signage, with Jackson concluding: “As signage becomes more integrated into shops or office spaces, displays are also becoming lighter, with smaller frames and embedded intelligence—meaning no additional hardware is needed to play content or be connected to a network.”

Chris Bartram of CDS highlights three key developments he sees coming up in the digital signage world. Firstly, 4K displays. He says: “These will become more popular and available in the market as the content developers are now catching up and creating much more and better content ready for the implementation and expansion of 4K displays in many sizes, and CDS has increased its range of 4K displays including smaller displays at only 28" for example.”



Secondly, ultra-wide stretched displays, as Bartram explains: “These are becoming more popular and CDS has noticed the increased requests and usage as we have expanded our range and with higher brightness and higher resolution options many new applications and locations are benefitting from these displays to help add that wow-factor.”

Lastly, transparent displays. Bartram says: “Originally Samsung only had 22" and 46" with low resolution but CDS has introduced a wider range of transparent LCD solutions with sizes now reaching 98” diagonal and higher resolutions including full HD and 4K options. Transparent OLED may make a comeback if LG decide the market is big enough for them to allocate valuable resources to this niche technology, but this will not make an impact until 2019.

“There are some more but they are three areas we not only think will play more of a role, we are seeing are starting to make more of an impact in 2018.”

So, once you have considered factors such as location and size for your customer’s digital display, and proven the value of digital advertising to them, there really is nothing stopping you from having success in this sector. As more and more digital signage is put in place, which you can see just walking around your local shopping centre, it seems not moving with the times could leave you in last season’s fashion.


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