Digital Sign Displays and EMCs

EVEN IF YOU HAVE a digital print-vinyl-cut shop, you must be aware of the growing numbers of electronic message centers (EMCs) that you encounter almost daily. In fact, the EMC market is one of the fastest-growing segments in the sign industry, and the trend is toward dynamic rather than static signs. Businesses, schools and corporations have embraced the technology and have seen increases in revenue, plus a means to both gather and disseminate information vital to making business decisions, while heightening customer awareness of goods and services. So how do these signs work and what will the future bring?

EMCs can be as simple as an incrementing sign showing which number is being served or as complex as a dynamic 3D display that can show all angles of a product. We are probably most familiar with the TV-style menu displays in fast-food joints and the church and school signs that display upcoming events. To some extent the hardware does not seem so complex. The main guts are usually some type of LED array. Depending on the type of message being displayed as well as the viewing distance, you need to determine the display resolution. You can get the signs in a variety of sizes ranging from billboards down to models that fit on countertops.

Obtaining the hardware is just one piece of the solution. Unless a computer or image source is directly attached, the sign itself will have some type of processing unit and storage on board. How do you get the messages loaded into the signs? Loading the data becomes the next trick. It can be as easy as using a good-old thumb drive with data created on a workstation or more likely, it is accomplished over the air via 4G with the sign having a modem to receive the data. If you have a number of signs in a wide geographic area, this makes the most sense. Various companies make software for designing the displayed messages.

Let’s talk about emerging technologies. Using a cloud service to handle the distribution of EMC data is here and the trend is growing. It eliminates issues with centralized equipment going down and allows for changes plus scheduling from virtually any device. Some companies are looking to incorporate 5G rather than 4G transfer for radio-based systems. At 5G speeds, real-time video could be streamed.

Probably the most ground-shaking innovation in EMC and digital display technology is the use of AI. Short of generating cute cartoons and gathering info, what good can it do for an EMC? If it is tied to other in-house systems like CRM, it can map customer trends and adjust content on the fly. Customer interaction can be tightly targeted, tracking not only their buying habits but also adjusting messaging to offer new deals tailored to their history. The signs can even adjust item pricing on the fly based on time of day or inventory levels. These examples just scratch the surface of what is possible, but the technology is here and companies such as McDonalds are using it.

A final new technology to keep an eye on is spatial 3D displays. To see a model turn 360 degrees with full spatial depth is an amazing sight. Who knows how this will scale going forward?

If you are not already participating in this market, it is a great one to look at to grow your offerings. Businesses want this type of dynamic messaging, and it might become a necessity in the future.

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