Saturday, 26 Jul 2014 17:50 GMT

Digital Signage

Once a sector with walls so steep they seemed impossible to scale, Brendan Perring reports on a trend seeing sign-makers begin to breach the defences of digital signage

Storming the barricades

There is a new battlefront opening up. Across the United Kingdom sign-makers of all shapes and sizes are arming themselves with information, technology, and new tools to take the fight to the specialist audio visual (AV) companies who have dominated the digital signage sector for more than 30 years. But why has it taken us so long to even begin to gain ground?

The answer lies in the very nature of electronics themselves. From cell phones to computers, the first models were all big, clunky and required highly-specialised know-how to maintain and support.

Indeed, Mitsubishi Electric were the very first full screen digital signage pioneers, developing their Diamond Vision large-format LED display in 1980 and launching it at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. This was closely followed in 1985 by Sony and its JumboTron, one of the largest non-projection video displays ever manufactured.

Since then it has been a steady process of refinement and simplification of both software and hardware. And while this trend has accelerating sharply for more than a decade, it was not until the last couple of years that trade suppliers of digital signage technology started to package systems in such a way that they could be easily specified, purchased, and installed by sign-makers.

Our allies in this regard are still few and far between, but the tide of battle does now seem to be firmly changing. This means that today a sign-maker can now feasibly quote on built-up lettering, wide-format graphics, and digital signage all under one roof—rather than having to steer their customer away for this latter element.

This has now reached a balance point that has made it possible for highly-sophisticated technology to be packaged in products that are robust, simple to operate, and certainly much easier to install than illuminated built-up lettering. The management and design software for products such as digital signage posters has also progressed to a point where it is actually easier in some cases to create and process graphics for a digital screen, then it is, say, to setup a wide-format print job.

Some fair advice

One of the very first suppliers servicing the UK sign industry to offer digital signage alongside more traditional products is Fairfield Displays and Lighting. The company has not just stopped at packaging trade products in this area—from fully networked 46" daylight screens through to point-of-sale touch screen solutions with integrated media players—but has also created compressive business, technical, and training guides to help its sign-maker customers transition into this lucrative boom sector.


One of Fairfield Displays and Lighting’s flagship digital signage systems is its 46” Shine out screen from LG, which reflects the sun and so keeps its brightness. The company has drawn up a full guide to help sign-makers transition into specifying digital signage



“Sign companies are still very nervous about dealing with digital, and so we have created a support system to help them take it step-by-step,” says Janice Fairfield, marketing director at the firm.

Sign companies are still very nervous about dealing with digital, and so we have created a support system to help them take it step-by-step”


She continues: “Our systems are very easy to use, and so they do not need to be frightened about installing them or having their customers use them. Thinking back five or six years ago, things were a lot more complex, but a lot has changed.”

Fairfield laughs, remembering one early customer who asked why he should buy a made-for-purpose system from them when he could go and buy a wide-screen television from Comet. The obvious answer is that digital signage screens are not just display conduits, but powerful computers in their own right, and far more robust and flexible than your basic LCD TV. They also carry with them three year warranties from Fairfield Displays, unlike your basic TV warranty which will be invalidated if it is used for a commercial purpose.

Fairfield concludes: “All of our systems are wi-fi enabled now, and another very interesting recent development is a 24/7 display we have just got in that can literally just have a USB stick put into it with the right formatted images on it and it will just be off and running.”

Another key point that Fairfield raises is that digital signage software has evolved to a point where, ‘you can monitor and control a network of 20 digital screens, in 20 separate locations, from a beach via your smart phone’. This means that the historical barriers to entry into the sector have fallen away to a large extent. The reason for this is that with some basic training from companies such as Fairfield Displays and Lighting, sign-makers can now setup a network of screens in, for example, a chain of estate agents or fast food takeaways.  The sign-maker can then teach a couple of chosen staff members how to monitor and control it, and then even supply them regularly with designed and formatted content as and when needed—just as they formally would have with wide-format print.

Digital dreams

Another key player who has seen the potential of helping sign-makers scale the walls of the digital signage sector is Digital Media Systems, which has created its squareVIEW brand of trade hardware and software products and a comprehensive training and support system.


Technology such as Digital Media Systems squareVIEW Digital Menu Boards are becoming increasingly popular among sectors such as fast food



“It was 2006 when we brought my extensive experience in IT infra-structure management together with hardware and software supply to start setting up digital screen networks for schools and colleges,” says technical director Avtar Singh, who adds: “This was because at this point digital signage was being supplied by IT box shifters, who could supply you the kit but couldn’t build up a solution for the specific needs of a customer.

“So, we turned ourselves into a one-stop-shop for everything from cables and brackets through to our own software for content management and creation.”

Now a supplier to everyone from the US air forces bases in the UK, through premiership football clubs, to the ferry companies that connect us to Europe, Singh explains that there is huge potential in this sector for every size of business.

“A sign-maker can come to us with the needs of their customer and we can supply them with the kit and know-how to make it happen—even how to create, format, and sell content. Demand for digital posters, menu boards, and general digital signage grows year-on-year and are well within the capabilities for sign-makers to install—we can even help them with content creation,” adds Singh.

He concludes: “We work hand-in-hand with sign-makers across the UK, because they don’t want to be turning work down and we can partner with them to provide a solution. The first thing they need is the belief they can actually do it and an open mind. The hardest project is always the first one, because you don’t know what questions to ask, but once you have gone through the process with us the next one will be just as easy as selling and installing wide-format print.”

This is a vital point from Signh, as the output device as such does not matter. What you are selling is the design and processing of artwork, whether it is sent to a wide-format printer or a digital screen is simply a matter of the customer’s immediate requirements.

Profit in a box

Looking back to the comments from Fairfield, she firmly agrees with this argument from Singh, urging sign-makers to up sell digital signage as an option when consulting on a project. Indeed, she highlights that when you combine the initial installation profit, continued supply of artwork, and a slice of the servicing contract through the reseller, it make for a very attractive proposition.

This view is also shared by one of the biggest names in large-format LED digital signage, Daktronics. Its business development manager, Mark Taylor, explains that while there are obstacles to be overcome, the opportunities are worth the effort: “One major barrier is that there are many AV companies already established in this sector.


This Daktronics installation was the very first digital roadside screen in Newcastle. It is also the first installation of an outdoor fully-encapsulated surface mount diode (SMD) video display in the UK



Sign-makers will have to differentiate themselves by what products and services they are offering. These systems could also potentially be extremely high value, so the systems have to be designed and executed correctly. Mistakes could be costly.”

Taylor continues: “Sign-makers can find great opportunities in the digital signage sector though. It is a natural progression from traditional print signage and it provides more flexibility and many opportunities to use modern technology to engage with their customers. Sign-makers will also already have existing relationships with companies and organisations that can potentially become digital customers. By offering both ends of the spectrum, they can be a one-stop-shop for all the signage requirements of their customers.”

Picking up on Taylor’s point about AV companies and the need to differentiate, there is one key company that, although seemingly well entrenched in the ‘enemy camp’, believes that breaking into the sector has become far easier over the last few years.

DisplayLite specialises in the supply of standard LCD large format displays, touch screens, interactive video walls, touch tables, and multitouch interactive signage software.

It also works as a third party contractor for several big sign-makers to provide higher-end digital solutions, such as interactive video wall kits, that are too complex for sign-makers to feasibly deal with.

“Several of the projects we are working on at the moment has a sign-maker as the main contractor, and they are increasingly making the transition into providing digital signage solutions for their customers,” says Simon Perry, DisplayLite’s director.


 Get in touch: DisplayLite’s director, Simon Perry, says its new 55” Zero Bezel touch table uses Projective Capacitive Technology (PCT) to handle 40 simultaneous touch points



He adds: “For a recent project the customer asked for an interactive touch table and digital wall, and so the sign-maker contacted us to see if we could specify and support the installation. This trends is becoming far more common, where the companies cont-acting us mainly deal with wide-format print, vinyl application, and sign lettering.  This is because they can say yes now when a customer asks for digital signage.”

O Factoid: A retail industry standard statistic is that static posters with one message will normally generate upwards of a 50 percent sale uplift. The same figure for digital signage is upwards of 300 percent, as the screens movement draws the eye and then multiple marketing messages can be thrown at the consumer. O


Perry also has some important pieces of advice for those getting into digital. The first is to contact suppliers to understand and note exactly what type of questions you need to ask your customer when they say they want digital signage—making the process far more efficient and professional. The next key thing is gauging whether you will be able to buy and install the kit yourself before you start supplying content to the customer, or if the level of project sophistication will require the help of a third party.

Whichever the case, it seems that there is gold aplenty in digital signage’s castle keep for those sign-makers who are brave enough to get out their ladders and scale its walls.


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