Digital Signage Central

Control tower, control grid, taking control, controlling interest, command and control, and even control freak. Nearly everywhere you look and everywhere you go, the name of the game is control. Whos in charge here, anyway? Perhaps you have a friend like mine who wants more control over his own destiny. The good news is that this new technology can give everyone more control.

According to the iSuppli forecasts, vendors of the touch screen technology stand to reap the rewards of this consumer love affair. Consider this: worldwide shipments of touch-screen modules will reach 341 million units in 2008, or about $3.4 billion in value. In five short years, global shipments of touch-screen display modules will more than double to 833 million units.

At the same time the popularity of touch-screen interactivity is growing, the cable TV industry is hard at work developing new standards and systems to let viewers interact with programming through their remotes. What they envision far exceeds the rudimentary implementations of interactivity popping up on cable systems across the nation. The next generation of interactivity potentially will be far more grandular than todays offering, allowing viewers to click on on-screen items to get information about the blouse an actress is wearing or far deeper information about a car than what can be presented in its 30 second commercial.

Fortunately, good news is at hand literally. A recent forecast from market research firm iSuppli shows that by 2013 global shipments of touch-screen display modules are expected to double, or 833 million units. By way of comparison, in 2008 worldwide touch-screen module shipments will reach 341 million units, about $3.4 billion in value, according to the research organization. At symposium in Los Angeles last month put on by the Society for Information Display, nearly 60 companies promoted their particular touch-screen sensor technology.

When coupled with digital signage technology, such touch-screen sensors can transform ordinary linear digital signage content (in other words, a succession on visual and audio elements presented one after another) into dynamic, interactive content that lets the public seek out the information about a product they desire. Interactive digital signage combines the best of the kiosk world namely touch-screen interactivity- with the power of consistent messaging delivered when the sign operates in a traditional linear mode.

Fortunately for digital signage marketers, a variety of interactive technologies are being built into some of the latest digital signs available, delivering the same sort of touch-screen interface thats gaining broad popularity. Best of all, incorporating touch-screen technology into a digital sign is doubly powerful because doing so combines the best of the kiosk world with the strengths of digital signage.

Even the monolith of linear program presentation the television industry- has been forced by technology to re-evaluate its business model and begin making the transition from so-called appointment TV to the anything, anytime model of video-on-demand. Spurred by DVRs, VOD, pay-per-view, IPTV, and cable television, those whose business it is to generate revenue from commercial television sales are working hard to develop a business model that makes the most sense. While all of the details are being hammered out on a daily basis with each new media sale, its safe to say the future of TV will be built on interactivity.

Consider the ramifications from digital signage content. Marketers who rely on the presentation of endless linear digital signage content are likely to find their messaging becoming less effective as their audience increasingly finds their experiences with consumer devices, like an iTouch, and their television, to be more interactive.

To ignore the message consumers are sending by their mass adoption of iPods, Blackberry devices, and GPS navigation units to name only a few, as well as the efforts of the cable and IPTV markets to elevate interactivity, doesnt make sense for digital signage marketers who wish to tap into the true potential of digital signage.