Think about your target demographic. What is in their living room? Perhaps a high-definition flat-panel television with a Blu-ray player and a blockbuster 3D movie in the tray, the latest generation videogame console, a ticket stub for the latest 3D movie that they saw this past weekend on the coffee table, a high-end sound system? Now think about your last shopping trip. Do you recall the digital signage systems you happen to come across at the mall, shopping center, or store? Do you even recall what you saw? Was it the same vivid HD imagery you would get on your TV, any leading-edge 3D graphics like found in a videogame console, did the sound quality leave any lasting impressions? I bet you can remember one of the commercials from the last Super Bowl better than the digital signage from your recent shopping experience. Why? Chances are your experience with digital signage is nothing quite as engaging and entertaining as you get at home.

Digital signage solutions have been deployed in various forms for quite some time. However, in recent years, there has been an explosion of smaller systems attached to or otherwise integrated in flat-panel displays deployed in more and more locations, such as retail, hospitality, transportation, healthcare, restaurant, sporting, education, and financial venues. This recent proliferation of digital signage has been effective in piquing the interest of the general audience. Consumers might find it interesting that a small screen sitting on a grocery store shelf was talking to them about the health benefits of a new food product (conveniently located on that shelf), or that they can interact with a screen on a taxicab to select what type of content to view.

However, as with any by-gone technology, interests sway toward whatever is new, fresh, and eye-catching. The number of digital signage systems deployed over the next several years is expected to increase significantly, and all of these systems will be competing for the attention of the audience. When consumers are at home, they are likely immersed in a wide range of high-definition and three-dimensional vibrant imagery and audio. Yet the digital-out-of-home experience for these same consumers is likely a mixture of plain video, bland two-dimensional graphics, and simple scrolling text.

To better engage this audience, the in-home audio/video experience needs to be mirrored out of the home. Consumers who have become accustomed to high-definition and three-dimensional imagery in the home will likely expect to see the same level of visuals elsewhere. And when they come across such levels of imagery, they will probably be more likely to spend time viewing the content presented. But, providing content at this level requires coordination across the key digital signage ecosystem players: hardware manufacturers, middleware providers, and content developers.

Digital Signage hardware manufacturers are constantly trying to strike a balance between power, size and cost—without sacrificing performance. From a performance standpoint, there are many hardware solutions available today which can come very close to matching the in-home audio/video experience. In fact, some small form factor, low power and cost solutions are specifically designed and optimized to provide a near in-home experience. To get into small form factors while delivering vivid graphics and video these systems are employing hardware acceleration techniques, enabling them to achieve high performance at low power. As the software and content providers learn to fully leverage this technology in digital signage, you will begin to be exposed to the immersive, entertaining, and memorable experiences that our audience is becoming accustomed to.

Kelly Gillilan is a product marketing manager for AMD Embedded Solutions. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites, and references to third party trademarks, are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only.  Unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third party endorsement of AMD or any of its products is implied.