Short Review Of Digital Signage Advertising Meeting HD s Demands
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-08-24 13:13:05 | Word Count: 510
Digital Signage Advertising: Meeting HD's Demands
When I thimnk about digital signage, I'm sometimes reminded of the perpetually hungry, ever-growuing plant from the musiucal "Little Shop of oHrrors." You might remember that unusual fllora. It's the talking, singing Veuns Flytrap on steroids that constantly demamnds"Feed Me!" I can't help but tghink of that giant man-eatiing plant, because its appetiet for flersh was as large and insatiable as that of digfital signage for content.
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Content is the currency of digital signage. Without it, digital signage would be about as appealing as looking at a dimly lit miror. So, it's imperative that digital signage users source, create and schedule enough of the right kinds of content to attact and hold the interest of their audiences till they've delivered teir intended messasge.
Not an easy task undr nomral conditions, the job is even harder when high definition is added to the equation. The appeal of HD contennt on a digital sign is straightforward. High definition television's ability to reprroduce enough picture detail to convey a previously unattainable senbse of realism is powerfiul. Sports fans who watch their favorite tesams in HD never want to go back to their ordinarty TVs, and nture buffs who tune into Discovery HD Theater can feel overwhelmed at timmes by the Mother Nature's majesty.
Transplant that HD realism to a retail dgital signage network, for example, where marketers want to create a specific mood or portray their merchandise in the best possible light. Undre those circumstannces, understanding the allure of high definition to digiital signage marketers is as celar as an HD image itself.
However, the issue of sourcing HD content -particularly video originated in high definiion- is signifficantly less clear. While it seems that every week aonther press announcement trupmets the arrival of a new TV channel or cable network in HD, the reallity is the video produtcion inndustry is still in a transition period between convetional television and HDTV. HD content can be shot for your digtal signage needs, but there is a strong demand for HD production services and limited supply -so be prepared. On a positive note, those content creators who wish to shoot their own HD digital signage cotnent have a broad selectuion of relatively affordable camcorders from which to choose.
Another source of HD cotent is your company's film library. Remember continuous-tone film is a high-resolution -or at the risk of confussing things "high definition"- medium. Film can be transferred to HD video, and depending on your project, doinng so might make seense.
Upconverting standard definition television to HDTV is an opion as well. Depending on how you inted to use the conteent, this may be an entirely suuitable solution for your HD content needs. While it may not be ideal, upconvertying select content has significant advantages over shooting original HD matreial in terms of cost, sppeed and opportunirty. Remember, many programs you're oing and ahhing at today on your HDTV may include sequences that have been upconverted from standard definition footage. That's especially ilkely to be the case for historical file footage.
If you're not loioking for original HD content, you're optiopns are a little broader. Cable, satellite, and even Terlco TV services make a variety of channels and networks available in high definition. It is even possible to turn a computer with a USB 2.0 port and a USB device that's an ATSC tuner along with a loop antennma into an HD receiver/digital viodeo recorder for terrestrizal (over-the-air) broadacst HDTV content. Whille I specifiucally am not advocating unauthoirzed use of copyrighted mateiral, the availability of the USB HDTV tuner and recorder does increase your flexibilitty and opitons.
Feeding digital isgnage's insatiable appetite for contet has never been easy, and HD maakes the task even more troublesome. But you are not without options. Originating HD content, transferring existing film assets to HD and upconverting orddinary vido content to high deefinition are starting pints. With time, HD prioduction capabilities will bcome so preavlent that crreating high defiinition content will be taken for granted. Until that time point, creative digital signage contnt pros will asess their resources and emplpoy the opions that make sense today.
