2012 just might be remembered as the year of digital signage. Everywhere you turned, digital signage hit you squarely in the face. From multimedia displays hung from ceilings, flat-panel monitors attached to walls and video walls affixed to lobby entrances, digital displays and audio-video solutions caught people’s attention.
Now, monitors are moving from 2D to 3D content, on brightly lit LED and HD screens in corporate conference rooms, event venues, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, libraries, schools, casinos, entertainment outlets and more. And it’s expected that in the next few years, growth will be driven by new applications for public displays, digital signage, interactive white boards, video walls, electronic menu boards and other similar audio-visual solutions. 
Estimates vary, but growth of LCD and plasma screens has been strong in recent years. According to a Display Search report, “flat panel display manufacturers have emphasized revenue and profit over volume, thus lowering the overall unit shipment outlook for this category. As production of plasma displays continues to wind down, LCD-based commercial displays have yet to fully fill the void. Forecasts still show strong growth, with the market set to push near 12 million units sold in 2018, an increase from just under 3 million units in 2011.”
That’s a lot of digital displays. Where are they all being used? An Intel executive suggests that while retail is the biggest market for digital signage, there is growth and budget spending across other areas, including healthcare, banking, education, transportation, and restaurant chains, casinos and resorts.
Where can you see the most innovative uses of LCD monitors and flat-panel displays? The year’s hottest innovations in digital displays will best be experienced in person in late February in Las Vegas, when hundreds of digital electronic manufacturers bring their audio visual solutions to DSE 2013 trade show. DSE offers a new products pavilion which highlights the latest outdoor signage techniques, video wall explorations, video cubes, OLED monitors and more.
Attendees to the DES show will likely see larger size displays of digital monitors. LCD manufacturers for the business and education markets are using thinner bezels on larger size displays (40” and larger). This is effective for customers who are seeking to put in better video wall installations. Different backlight technologies, such as LED, also offer unique audio-visual solutions. There are also new products with thin displays and higher brightness, which is needed to be viewed properly in ambient light conditions.
Healthcare companies, leisure and hospitality resorts and casinos all look to grow digital signage applications for customers. Digital signage allows for content to be displayed quicker and more efficiently, while having richer (HD) colors and viewed in a clean, aesthetically pleasing manner. Industry experts point to growing uses of digital signage in 2013, with technology integration on various levels, like interactive kiosks, educational white boards, smart vending machines and other product areas.
