How Modular Computing is Helping Drive the Growth of DS

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By Gerhard Gilch, congatec AG
 
 
Digital signage epitomises the target application for the computer-on-module approach to system design, as this approach successfully meets the combined high technical requirements and equally stringent commercial parameters of DS. 
 
Over a few short years, several key elements across complementary market sectors have come together to create an entirely new industry: digital signage. The affordability of display technology is perhaps the aspect of digital signage everyone is most concerned with, but many more elements are needed to make this new application area truly significant.
 
Digital displays in public areas used for advertising messages are now commonplace. Since display technology delivers greater flexibility and definition at a commercially realistic price point,  the industry is expected to continue growing to become a multi-billion dollar market.
 
The leading OEMs in the sector rank amongst the biggest players in display technologies today. What lies behind the display, however – both physically and metaphorically – is an increasingly complex value-chain of solution providers, each providing a  critical element in delivering the overall experience. The increased use of high definition displays and content, consumer expectation for connected and  current information, coupled with the OEMs’ need to deliver an experience that is significantly different from other media is driving innovation at both the software and hardware levels.
 
Software as a Service, or SaaS, has emerged in much the same timeframe as digital signage and although both have their own distinct needs and uses,  the two are becoming intimately linked. Improved displays may be the public face of digital signage but arguably it is  the software used to deliver the content that represents the more significant element in the value-chain. Depending on the system architecture, content can be hosted locally or streamed  from a media server. Similarly, the end user can choose to create their own content, subscribe to content produced by a specialist provider or use a SaaS approach to generating, maintaining and deploying content. A growing number of SaaS providers are now  focusing on digital signage, providing the link between content and delivery. Typically these providers will have a large number of servers dedicated to  storing, delivering and even streaming in real-time digital content. The growing migration to ‘the cloud’ for SaaS providers and others, where the benefits  of globally available storage joins with distributed computing, is also driving this change.
 
One further key element in the digital signage value chain is the turning of stored content into something that can be displayed on a screen. The  DS industry makes use of standard display technology, insomuch as the displays used are engineered to accept A/V input using the industry standard  interfaces such as HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, SCART or even composite video.
 

 
This threatens to create a disconnect  between the content and the display,which could impact the overall quality of the entire system. Whatever  method used to store and retrieve the multimedia content, it requires a platform capable of transferring that data to a high definition, wide screen  display in an efficient, industry-standard A/V format.
 
Digital  signage that is intended to  replace conventional printed media will be expected to perform at least  as well, which means failure is not an option. Developing a platform that is able to withstand harsh environments,  offers continuous up-time and can meet the high processing demands of a digital signage application, all in a small, fanless form factor commensurate with the constraints of a public location, presents significant design challenges. While many conventional PCs can meet the technical requirements of streaming A/V, they are typically not equipped  to meet the environmental or extended operational conditions. The solution is modular computing. Developing a media player for digital signage not only requires a stable, robust hardware platform but also a fully integrated software solution, so the  highest possible processing performance is a must. As the industry evolves, the demands on the platform will grow significantly, meaning the flexibility to carry out upgrades in the field becomes increasing  y desirable. Modular computing was developed to meet these exact needs.
 
As the applications for digital signage  continue to expand, it is expected that more installations will demand multiple screens showing different content. For instance, one screen may be used for  streaming live weather or traffic updates, while the second is used to deliver sophisticated advertising messages. A media player that supports multiple  screens will, therefore, offer a greater return on investment.
 
Opportunities for All
 
As the digital signage industry grows it will present an increasing number of opportunities to end-users. This means there will be room for a greater number  of participants. Several of the key elements in the value-chain described here are following their own individual  but inter-related development paths.
 
The opportunities for system integrators are perhaps even greater  than for software and hardware providers. Through the power of computer-on-module design, the flexibility and scalability of current  products and the continued investment  from companies such as Intel and congatec, the opportunity to benefit from the growth in digital signage is open to many more.
 
The growing number of content  providers will further lower the barriers to entry in to the digital signage industry. When coupled with the tumbling cost of display technology, the final challenge is in creating a powerful, reliable media  player. In response to this opportunity, we are driving innovation by continued investment with the aim of developing  the right solutions for the applications.