Free Digital Signage Software

Digital signage has been in the minds of people for a long time, but for many years, costs, technology and software were not up to the task, the idea of using electronic displays for information and advertising has been the logical next step for years, but there were some pieces of the puzzle missing.

Why is The Age of Digital Signage now?

Since high-tech flat panel displays hit the mass market some years ago, regular people is now getting this displays for their homes, that means that the market is getting bigger and as a result the prices are getting lower.  This is the key element with which you can consider that Digital Signage is going to be available to everyone.

Other technologies such as LED, projection and videowalls are out there, but I don’t include them in the same way, since they are not becoming part of every day home life, they haven’t reached the mass market in the same way, some of these are very expensive and they are available only to a few specialized companies.

What else do you need?

The problem of the delivery media is solved, today you can go to a Wal-Mart and get that 50” LCD TV that looks perfect for digital signage, now you need a playback device, something that will push the images, video or whatever graphics you want into the display.

What are the playback device options?

There are different playback devices, first thing that comes to our minds are DVD players, they are affordable and you can get them everywhere; the problem with these devices is that they are not meant for continuous playback for hours, the life time is short and creating the content might not be as easy as it seems.  Besides the mechanical limitations, DVD players have a big issue with resolution, it is too low, and we are getting used to HD, unless you go for Bluray players, but those are more expensive and creating the content might be more difficult and expensive.

Another playback device is the hardware video players, usually is the same technology as the DVD player but without moving parts, these are very reliable but at the same time limited and for now, they are still part of a specialized market.

Then we have computers, there are many models and options, and prices start at very low prices.  A computer can be the most flexible device you can find, they can connect the internet, manage almost any type of media and be programmed in any way you want, and the best of all is that almost all new flat screen displays can be connected directly to the computer, something that we haven’t had since the time of the Commodore 64 and Amiga computers.

Now, there is something very important about computers, they can do whatever you want, but that is driven by software, there are several companies offering digital signage software, and one interesting thing that you will find is that no one talks about prices, there is some kind of secret behind all this companies, before giving you a price you might need to sign a NDA and talk about the size of you business, and revenue model.  This is not what you need to start in digital signage, the missing link now is a playback software that is as easy to use as iTunes or MSN Messenger and at a price that is appealing to everyone else.

This is the first of a series of digital signage articles meant to help people that want to start into this business and they don’t know were to start, come back soon!