The future of the players in the digital signage market

The players have been positioning themselves little by little in the market, becoming more and more relevant., above all, in applications such as interactivity and audience measurement. Ivan Rodriguez, Business Developer Manager de TDMaverick, In this article, he reveals what the trends will be for next year and analyzes the elements he considers key to this business.: versatility, interactivity and security.

Daily, I hear comments in the sector such as, “the players will disappear” or “the Android players will be the only ones left”, and I think it is a good time to shed a little light on the future of such an important element as a player responsible for broadcasting content..

The player is a device capable of playing multimedia content connected to a display element., what can be a monitor, projector or LED screen. This would be the basic definition, but more and more, The players perform more functions such as audience measurement (by cameras, MACs por Bluetooth o Wifi, by interaction or identification by customer card); to execute processes in real time; for interaction through cameras, touch monitors, interactive sheets and keyboards; as augmented reality systems; in queue management applications and in the field of geopositioning.

Manufacturers offer a wide variety of these devices that we could classify as:

• Players based on x86 architecture that are, basically, PC platforms with special features focused on this market.
• Embedded players based on ARM architecture that are hardware and software bundles designed specifically to play content.
• Android ARM Players that are players with ARM processor and Android operating system.
• SoC integrated into monitors consisting of ARM processors under Android or Linux operating system. They are an evolution of SmartTVs and are accompanied by software and an SDK.

Trends for 2014

Without a doubt the trend for next year will be interactivity and audience measurement. And this means that the player will take on more relevance. Within these trends, We can see how each of the players that are marketed in the market are positioned..

Among the players based on x86 architecture, the big winner this year is, definitely, Intel NUC (Next Unit of Computing). The main advantages of this type of architecture are its versatility, security and process power. Versatility because they are capable of using any type of external device, any operating system and anything that is coming and we don't know. Security due to technologies like Intel VPRO, that secures communications. Y, on the other hand, the power of process to measure audiences, work with high resolutions (4K), augmented reality, execute complex processes in real time, etc.

Among the embedded players with ARM architecture are manufacturers such as Brightsign, Spinetix o Cayin, among many others. The sale of this type of players has been promoted by traditional AV wholesalers and the reason is clear, It is a product that fulfills a basic purpose, which is to reproduce content. Besides, Being a pack that includes hardware and software, it is easily sellable and it is not necessary to have much knowledge to put it to work..

The limitations are many. In most cases they are not capable of managing audience measurement, sensors, interaction, augmented reality, etc. The short term will make these types of solutions disappear, since the SoCs integrated into the monitors are capable of doing the same at a cost 10 times lower.

The group of Android ARM players includes two types of products, los sticks Android, that fall within the consumer market, and the professional players, like the Philips UPP.

At the end of 2012, many people in the sector commented that these sticks 50 euros were going to be the best-selling players during 2013 y, one year later, It has been seen that there are no projects working with this architecture.

The biggest test I have seen with this type of product was with a client who was evaluating a large deployment and the conclusions were clear. They tried 50 devices from different manufacturers and 50 solo 1 passed the first stability tests. The second test was performance and, of course, didn't measure up, so they had to scrap the product for mass deployment.

On the other hand, in September 2012 was presented UP the Philips and once again, It has been a failure in the market, There are no circuits working with this player and the reasons are clear: It is an expensive product, It is above the price of a PC and has important limitations.

Pay more for fewer benefits

SoCs integrated into monitors are, definitely, a product that has begun to be introduced strongly this year. Samsung has been the first to bet on this type of solutions with an ecosystem that perfectly meets the needs of a high percentage of users.

The main advantages are: Complete integration into the monitor since it does not require external elements and is low cost. Besides, offers a free software platform for basic functions, includes content (templates) and SDK for professional software platforms to integrate. Its limitations are those previously mentioned in other ARM players and its limitations affect interactivity and audience measurement..

Future forecasts

ARM SoCs will have great acceptance in 2014, with a market share close to 30% o 40% and they will be responsible for putting an end to ARM sticks and embedded players.

PC players will continue to be protagonists, with fees above 60%. Prices have fallen and will continue to do so, and the quality of the product has increased considerably. In the second quarter of 2014 We will see PC players for about €100 and this will eliminate all doubt regarding ARM sticks. years ago, with the birth of video game consoles, predicted the end of the PC to play and, nowadays, You can see how professional players live on PC platforms and no hard gamer uses the console professionally..

Versatility, Interactivity and security are and will be key in this business.

Ivan Rodriguez

Business Developer Manager de TDMaverick, Division of TechData.