The digital signage industry is entering a new phase. Automation is taking over, to the joy of content administrators. You’ve probably heard about facial recognition, rule-based programming, meta tags, content triggers… All these technologies are coming together and changing how we publish content to our screens.

When properly implemented, automation can provide big productivity gains, especially with very large screen networks. You can manage huge content libraries and ensure each image or video will be seen by the right audience, at the right time, with near-perfect acuracy.

Use meta tags and rules to determine how, where and when content can be seen. With automation, you don’t rely entirely on schedules. A single word in a RSS feed or a person’s physical traits can trigger any media instantly.

Advertised products can change dynamically within a programmed day-part, adapting to stock levels and competitive pricing in real-time. Ads for overstock items are shown more often, or pulled as soon as stock levels return to normal without any manual intervention.

Content can be triggered based on a variety of factors like the audience’s age, gender, or some other other physical aspect. Content can also be triggered by proximity using sensors and beacons.

Marketers and advertisers can achieve any scenario by combining these techniques.

Here’s an example… Take a morning playlist scheduled from 6:00 am to noon that contains tagged content (based on screen orientation and type of viewership). Meanwhile, a conditional rule is monitoring a social media feed ready to launch different content when a word match is encountered.

In this case, portrait content would only be shown on portrait screens. Content tagged as public would be shown on customer facing screens while private content would only be shown to staff members. Should someone make a mistake and drop the wrong content in the wrong playlist, the content would simply be ignored. Meanwhile, the company announces record revenues and suddenly all internal screens display a congratulatory message to employees while customer screens show a different message.

In this scenario, scheduling and tagging are the only manual processes. Everything else is dynamic.

Rules and tags provide peace of mind. Content will only play where and when it should so there are less mistakes. Complex programming scenarios can be executed quickly and more reliably.

This is why your digital signage CMS should support playlist based scheduling, tagging, rule-based programming and provide dynamic features like conditional triggering.

Navori has announced the upcoming release of it’s next generation digital signage CMS software. QL v2.1 will introduce mobile display updates from any iOS and Android device.https://www.navori.com/navori-amplifies-mobile-interaction-capabilities-ql-manager-ise-2019/

This builds on the previous versions remote control app that let QL end-users trigger content remotely. With this new version, Navori goes one step further by letting people upload snapshots taken from their smartphone and perform more complex tasks from any location.

Remote updates can be a real time-saver for anyone working out in the field, or those who work with the public like retail sales people and QSR managers.

Folks who don’t have easy access to a PC or laptop can make changes on-the-fly using a smartphone or tablet. They can change content, rearrange playlists and perform many advanced tasks that used to require a full desktop UI.

Who else can benefit from this app? People who work in car dealerships or appliance stores can call-up product-specific content while answering customers questions. QSR managers can make quick programming changes to respond to customer demand or to deal with competitive pressures.

Navori will be demonstrating the new QL 2.1 features at the ISE expo in Amsterdam in February, and at the DSE in Las Vegas at the end of March.

Your average Digital Signage CMS might support Full HD, or even 4K… but what about 8K? Enter Navori with its latest 64 bit media player engine. The IPR, or “insane playback rendering” engine supports up to sixteen full HD displays (that’s also four 4K displays, or a single 8K display).

With this new offering, Navori makes it really easy to drive very large video walls and high-resolution displays using mixed hardware platforms. You get the familiar Navori CMS dashboard that’s super-easy to learn and use, and you can manage a mix of PCs, Android devices, and System on Chip displays without giving it much thought.

Many software developers focus on specific types of hardware, and some even support multiple devices. But there aren’t many products that can offer the same experience across all supported devices and operating systems.

From the beginning, Navori has produced native software that’s optimized for the target platform. They just don’t believe in taking shortcuts. The result is a more predictable outcome regardless of the hardware you choose. The same features are supported across the board, whether you’re deploying an Intel NUC PC, a Samsung Tizen display or a Navori branded Android device.

Navori’s latest IPR media player is a great example of a company that reinvests in R&D to deliver more innovative products.  The Swiss company constantly updates its software and expands its capabilities, basically making it “future proof”.

The IPR player is an example of Navori’s commitment to constant innovation.

Navori QL IPR is a 64-bit Windows software optimized for ultra-high resolution content playback.  You install the software on a single device and all your content is shown fully synchronized.

It doesn’t matter if you’re playing a mix of videos, images, or HTML5 since the player sees the total screen area as a single unified backdrop. Content can be positioned anywhere… spread across multiple screens or inside zones positioned on each screen.

You can be as creative as you want.  You’re never locked into a static layout because each template can have it’s own unique design.  Just set your content validity, then add each template to your playlists and publish to your screens. 

Navori will be featuring the IPR player at the upcoming ISE show in Amsterdam, February 5 to 8 and at the DSE show in Las Vegas, March 26 to 29, 2019.

Is it time to consider System on Chip displays for your projects?

With SoC displays, digital signage operators and network owners have more options than ever.  As reported by David Haynes on the Sixteen-Nine blog, Sharp is adding a bunch of new Android powered System on Chip displays to their product assortment.

These new displays are light, extra-bright, and offer many network options through a MINI OPS port where you can plug-in adapter cards for wired or wireless networks.

SoC displays have come a long way.  Newer models feature content playback hardware that matches stand-alone Android players.  This has prompted CMS companies like Navori to develop proprietary software for SoC hardware that performs like any other media player.

While some vendors have opted for a web browser based experience, Navori has been especially good at developing a hardware specific version of their existing software.  This lets them retain virtually all the features of their Windows and Android players on SoC hardware from supported manufacturers (EloTouch, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung/Tizen, Sharp, including their upcoming support for LG WebOS).

SoC advantages

• Ease of deployment and installation.
• Cleaner installations with no external devices or wires hanging behind the display.
• Lower acquisition and operation costs.
• Enhanced support for remote control and display monitoring.
• Professional-grade hardware rated for 24/7/365 operation.
• A single vendor for warranty and service.

If you are deploying single digital signage displays, be sure to check out SoC products.  Current models are up to the task, and will cost you less than a traditional PC/Android device + digital display.

David Haynes recently posted a new article written by Sean Matthews of Visix.  It’s full of great advice and it’s worth a read.

I know about Visix, but I don’t have any experience with their software.  However, this article touches on subjects that are useful to anyone involved in digital signage, regardless of their CMS of choice. It’s certainly a good read for anyone who is contemplating a new digital signage deployment, or someone who wants to improve an existing project.

Digital signage CMS products are split into 3 camps.  Those who offer manual scheduling, the automated / programmatic software, and products that offer both options.

Talk to any CMS vendor and they will tell you their product is better than the others based on what they sell.  They will either say “software A is bad because it only supports programmatic scheduling”, or “software B is inferior because it doesn’t do it”…

Which one should you pick?

The push towards automation in digital signage stems from a broader trend in global tech.  The popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI powered devices has brought automation into everyone’s home.  It’s now common to schedule your Twitter postings and let Alexa manage the lights around the house.

The same trend is affecting digital signage. More and more products are adding automation features that are meant to simplify everyday tasks.  In fact, there are few CMS products still on the market that don’t offer some form of automation through rule-based programming.

While it’s true that automation has become essential to modern digital signage advertising, the same cannot be said of all digital signage applications.  For example, your typical “mom & pop” pizza joint doesn’t need a complex algorithm to schedule a menu.  Listening to some CMS vendors, you would think everyone is using algorithms and rule-based logic to trigger content based on external data.  However, it’s not always necessary.

There are still plenty of folks who are are perfectly happy using a playlist and time-based scheduling system.  They just want something that is easy to learn, and simple to use.  I see it in education, retail, corporate communications, and hospitality sectors.  There are small-scale projects being launched in  many corporate departments that have nothing to do with a global enterprise-wide rollout, or public schools and small businesses who have very simple needs and aspirations.  For many, programmatic features add complexity because there aren’t any dedicated staff who have the time or technical background to learn and implement these features.

Why go programmatic?

Programmatic and rule-based content scheduling has its place, otherwise it wouldn’t be so popular.  But the target customer tends to be larger, and more sophisticated.  They are national and global companies that have massive amounts of content and data to sort, update, and publish across vast networks.  They are communicators and advertisers who must rely on automation to deliver fresh content to very large and diverse audiences.

When shopping for a digital signage CMS solution, always consider your current and near-future needs. If you’re a small business or a minor department within a mid-size organization, look for software that is easy to learn and deploy.  If you plan to grow your network soon, make sure the software can also support some form of automation.  There’s less chance to outgrow your solution if it lets you automate repetitive tasks when the need arises.

Alternatively, consider third-party content providers.  They can be a great source of “fresh” material that will keep your viewers looking at your screens without adding to your workload.

Large corporations and global media outlets should only consider products that can be extended and enhanced through automation.  They should look for software that offers APIs (application programming interfaces) or SDKs (software development kits) so  in-house developers can integrate the CMS software into the company’s business systems.

Automation has its place, but it’s important to know when it’s a necessity.  One day, all our software and devices may be integrated into one bit IoT network. Until then, we still need to do some work manually and that’s where the old scheduling grid comes in handy.