Getting started with digital signage doesn't have to be expensive. Indeed, you can use televisions or computer screens that you already have. Of course, your hardware will need to meet certain criteria that we'll discuss below, but any modern television can do the trick. Depending on the size of the project and your budget, and depending on the impression you want to leave, one day or another, you may want to use professional screens. Although these are much more expensive, they are specially designed for digital signage and therefore have important advantages compared to televisions. Here we will explain the advantages and disadvantages of each support.
Before getting into the details, let's take a look at the role of televisions in the installation of a digital signage solution. The elements that make up a digital signage installation are:
- The screens
- the player (the player that connects the screen to the Internet and transmits the content to it),
- your content
- and a digital signage content management system, namely an application or a platform
allowing you to control what content is displayed on your screens, when it is displayed and updated.
Therefore, to be operational for digital signage, a television must be able to be connected to a digital signage player (the player) or to a computer running a digital signage application, and it must properly handle your content.
Any television equipped with an HDMI port can be used. So, to use your television for digital signage, all you need to do is connect a player using an HDMI cable, for example, the Cenareo Plug & Play player. So you can control the TV from your content management system and start viewing content.
Few recent televisions do not have an HDMI cable. Some even have a DisplayPort connection designed for monitors, allowing high-resolution content to be managed more efficiently and at a better refresh rate.
If you are considering buying a new television rather than using the one you already have, there are some factors that need to be considered, such as the type of content you are going to display and where your display will be located.
When you buy a TV, your options for resolution are Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) or Ultra HD/4K, which is four times higher than Full HD (3840 x 2160). The resolution you need depends on the content you're going to display, especially if you're going to create content in 4K. As technology evolves, you may want your purchase to be a future-proof investment. It all depends on how much you are prepared to spend.
Second, where you are going to place the television (s). On your reception desk or on the wall above your counter? Check the bracket or wall mount options that come with the TV, you may need brackets if they're not included.
Do you want your display to be in portrait mode rather than landscape? If that's the case, look for a TV with a thin frame that's the same width all the way around, otherwise you'll get a thick border that might look unsightly.
Another factor to take into account when positioning the television (s) (if you have ambitious plans for your display): the impossibility of using monitors to create video walls. Their frames are too wide and televisions are not designed to display a section of image or video uniformly. To do this, you will need a professional display. Which brings us to the pros and cons of monitors compared to professional displays.
Not all television screens are created equal. What's satisfying in your living room isn't necessarily satisfying in your hallway. Professional screens (also called commercial screens) are more expensive than televisions, but it can be a worthwhile investment if you need your display to be active most of the time, or to be placed in a very bright location, or if you want a smooth screen wall.
Apart from the price, the most obvious difference is that a television has a TV tuner while a professional monitor does not. Professional displays are brighter, more robust, and can work up to 24 hours a day under warranty. If you use a television as a digital signage screen and it breaks down, you have certainly not respected your warranty contract and therefore you will not get any service or replacement from the manufacturer.
TVs are designed to run for about eight hours a day, and you'll probably want your display to be active all the time in your window. Professional displays can meet this need, while televisions that are used over extended periods of time may have color and image issues. “Ghosting” (ghost images), for example, is an image problem that remains displayed on the screen even though the content has changed, or even “burn-in” (afterimages) when pixels freeze.
With slim frames and sturdy enclosures, you can achieve a striking display composed of multiple monitors combined, in the form of a wall, tower, or stairs, and displaying your content consistently. If you have the budget, you can let your imagination run wild.
The latest professional displays can incorporate the digital signage player, so you may not need this additional hardware.
Whatever your project, whether you want to try digital signage for the first time with a television you already own, whether you are moving from a television to a commercial screen or whether you are considering deploying a fleet of 100 screens, Cenareo can help you.
Our CMS is easy to use, requires no technical knowledge and allows you to focus only on your messaging strategies. Contact us to find out how we can help you.
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