As communicators on digital signage networks or private TV channels, you have the power to make a difference when an emergency situation arises.

There can hardly be a driver in America who hasn't been cruising down the highway when the regular programming on the radio is interrupted for a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. A brief warning that a test is about to occur is followed by a burst of tones that sounds like it's coming from a dial-up computer modem followed by a reminder that what was just aired was a test.

Or, perhaps you live a tornado-prone section of the country like I do. If so, we probably share this similar experience. Absorbed in the work at hand, you hear a whine in the distance that at first startles you and then makes you look at a clock and a calendar to confirm it's 11 a.m. on the first Tuesday of the month --the time local government authorities test the city's emergency warning sirens. If it isn't, you know your next step is to grab a portable radio and flashlight and head for the basement.

I'm not sure exactly when this loose network of government officials, broadcasters and local sirens coalesced into an organized system for alerting the public of an impending emergency - although it probably was the same time the USA entered into a protracted Cold War with the Soviet Union. However, I am certain the original planners of the system did not envision the existence of thousands of private TV channels and digital signage networks.

Yet, that's exactly where technology has taken us today. The existence of these networks gives corporations, universities, colleges, secondary and even primary educators, government agencies, the military and other institutions the opportunity to inform people within the reach of their private TV and digital signage networks of an unfolding emergency situation.

I would argue that in some situations the ability of these networks to deliver highly targeted messaging to a select audience makes them even more valuable than a blaring siren or even a broadcaster. It's a sad fact of life that we live in a time when a lone person or a small group can perpetrate an act of evil so deplorable that tens, hundreds or even thousands of innocent people can come face to face with peril and possibly death. In those situations, knowing where to go and what to do can mean the difference between life and death.

In a school, at an airport, in a post office, at a shopping mall, around the campus of a large corporation or even the confines of a small business, a digital signage network or private TV network can be used as a closed-circuit Emergency Alert System. "Terror Alert: Evacuate Terminal A," "Emergency: Gunman in North Wing of Building," or "Warning: Fire On Third Floor -Use West Stairway to Evacuate." These are all vital, yet simple messages that these networks of flat panels and TVs can display to stack the odds in favor of saving lives.

Additionally, with the right software, hardware and interface, the media servers used to schedule and playback digital signage networks and private TV channels can be tied directly into the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to playback warnings of larger dangers, like tornados, flash floods and civil emergencies.

In the next couple of columns, I will lay out some of the technical details of setting up a digital signage network or private TV channel to support the EAS system. (Don't worry. You won't need to be an engineer or computer programmer to understand what's required and how to employ it.) I'll also offer a few tips you might find valuable in preparing for emergencies.

Often in our professional lives we get so focused on our core task -be it selling more widgets, posting our school's social activities, class schedules and menus or welcoming visitors to our companies- that it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. We are professional communicators first. We have a powerful medium at our disposal, and we can help to make a difference and possibly save lives when an emergency situation presents itself.   

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A recent article in The Los Angeles Times says out-of-home advertising is offering an important alternative to traditional TV commercials.

The concept of advertising with media outside of the home gained a good degree of notoriety Sunday in The Los Angeles Times with a major article by staff writer Alana Semuels.

The 1,000-word article, "Now showing very near you...",  makes a strong case for digital signage networks and advertising as well as other out-of-home media. In the article, Semuels identifies digital video recorders as a major culprit in diluting the frequency with which traditional television commercials are viewed. As a result, advertisers are hungry for an effective substitute, and out-of-home ads appear to be the solution.

Semuels elaborates on a major theme of several of my recent columns, namely every day more TV viewers are skipping past commercials with their DVRs, making in-store, out-of-home advertising all the more appealing. (Two of my earlier columns discussing the impact of DVRs on TV viewing, include: "Digital Signage Payoff: What Is A Challenge For TV May Be A Boon For Digital Signage Networks" and "Digital Signage Market Poised to Skyrocket.")

According to the LA Times story, about 20 percent of U.S. households now have digital video recorders. The ease with which viewers in these homes can skip past the commercials has a growing number of advertisers interested in out-of-home ads on flat panel displays near the point of sale where they can influence shoppers making purchasing decisions. And, if they can't influence a particular buying decision, at least they can elevate brand awareness.

Quoting San Francisco-based Premier Retail Networks, which has 200,000 screens in 6,500 stores nationwide, the article points out 42 percent of shoppers remember a brand they see on in-store screens, twice number for television commercials.

It's no wonder then that a recent forecast from PQ Media Research indicates that spending on out-of-home advertising will grow 27.7 percent this year. The statistics, part of the company's "PQ Media Alternative Out-of-Home Media Forecast 2007-2011" report show the category to be among the fastest growing segments in the media industry.

Last year, media spending on out-of-home advertising reached $1.69 billion, up 27 percent from the 2005. In fact, spending on out-of-home advertising has grown at double-digit rates every year from 2001-2006 with a compounded annual growth rate of 22.6 percent, according to the PQ Media report.

In discussing the reasons for the growth, Patrick Quinn, president and CEO of PQ Media said: "Unlike its mass media peers, alternative out-of-home advertising is impervious to channel or web surfing and is immune to audience fragmentation."

PQ Media identified several factors driving the growth of out-of-home advertising, including:

• advertiser perception that out-of-home ads provide high engagement, targeting options, proximity to point-of-sale, measurable impact and cost effectiveness;
• data indicating exposure to and recall of these media are growing;
• research suggesting the vast majority of consumers view alternative out-of-home media as favorable and educational;
• new technology enabling companies to launch digital advertising platforms that generate higher revenues than the conventional formats they replace.

PQ Media divides out-of-home advertising into three categories: video advertising networks and screens; digital billboards and displays; and ambient advertising. The research firm has found video advertising networks is the largest category, accounting for 60 percent of all out-of-home ad spending. Spending on this category grew 28 percent in 2006 to $1.01 billion with double-digit growth in four markets: in-theater, in-office, in-store and in-transit, according to the company.

High-profile news articles, like the one from the LA Times, draw the public's attention to this market. More importantly, this sort of coverage helps busy ad professionals focused on traditional media segments to notice the out-of-home advertising market. As these ad pros have their own "Ah-Hah" moments thanks to these sorts of articles, it won't take too much effort to back up the perception that out-of-home advertising is a growing, important new segment. Research, such as that from PQ Media, makes it easy for out-of-home advertising to be taken seriously -and more importantly for ad buyers to consider it as a new part of their media mix. As they do, out-of-home advertising and digital signage are likely to enjoy even wider acceptance and use.

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The increasing use of HD display panels in digital signage networks means content creators must find sources for high-def material.

When I think about digital signage, I'm sometimes reminded of the perpetually hungry, ever-growing plant from the musical "Little Shop of Horrors." You might remember that unusual flora. It's the talking, singing Venus Flytrap on steroids that constantly demands "Feed Me!" I can't help but think of that giant man-eating plant, because its appetite for flesh was as large and insatiable as that of digital signage for content.

Content is the currency of digital signage. Without it, digital signage would be about as appealing as looking at a dimly lit mirror. So, it's imperative that digital signage users source, create and schedule enough of the right kinds of content to attract and hold the interest of their audiences till they've delivered their intended message.

Not an easy task under normal conditions, the job is even harder when high definition is added to the equation. The appeal of HD content on a digital sign is straightforward. High definition television's ability to reproduce enough picture detail to convey a previously unattainable sense of realism is powerful. Sports fans who watch their favorite teams in HD never want to go back to their ordinary TVs, and nature buffs who tune into Discovery HD Theater can feel overwhelmed at times by the Mother Nature's majesty.

Transplant that HD realism to a retail digital signage network, for example, where marketers want to create a specific mood or portray their merchandise in the best possible light. Under those circumstances, understanding the allure of high definition to digital signage marketers is as clear as an HD image itself.

However, the issue of sourcing HD content -particularly video originated in high definition- is significantly less clear. While it seems that every week another press announcement trumpets the arrival of a new TV channel or cable network in HD, the reality is the video production industry is still in a transition period between conventional television and HDTV. HD content can be shot for your digital 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 content have a broad selection of relatively affordable camcorders from which to choose.

Another source of HD content is your company's film library. Remember continuous-tone film is a high-resolution -or at the risk of confusing things "high definition"- medium. Film can be transferred to HD video, and depending on your project, doing so might make sense.

Upconverting standard definition television to HDTV is an option as well. Depending on how you intend to use the content, this may be an entirely suitable solution for your HD content needs. While it may not be ideal, upconverting select content has significant advantages over shooting original HD material in terms of cost, speed and opportunity. Remember, many programs you're ooing and ahhing at today on your HDTV may include sequences that have been upconverted from standard definition footage. That's especially likely to be the case for historical file footage.

If you're not looking for original HD content, you're options are a little broader. Cable, satellite, and even Telco 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 antenna into an HD receiver/digital video recorder for terrestrial (over-the-air) broadcast HDTV content. While I specifically am not advocating unauthorized use of copyrighted material, the availability of the USB HDTV tuner and recorder does increase your flexibility and options.

Feeding digital signage's insatiable appetite for content has never been easy, and HD makes the task even more troublesome. But you are not without options. Originating HD content, transferring existing film assets to HD and upconverting ordinary video content to high definition are starting points. With time, HD production capabilities will become so prevalent that creating high definition content will be taken for granted. Until that time point, creative digital signage content pros will assess their resources and employ the options that make sense today.

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When it comes to HD, it's not one size fits all.

Last week, I made a simple point in this space, namely that just because a display device, such as a plasma or LCD panel, is flat doesn't mean that it's capable of displaying high definition content as part of digital signage messaging.

By way of review of last week's column, a display panel can be SD, or standard definition, ED, or enhanced definition, or HD, high definition. Displays are made up of individual picture elements, called pixels. Basically, the idea is the more pixels, the higher the resolution of an image. Thus, an SD display with a pixel count of 704 (horizontal) x 480 (vertical) has less resolution than an ED display with 852 x 480 pixels. HD displays, which have even more pixels and are at the top of the resolution food chain for displays, come in three flavors: 720p, 1080i and 1080p. (More on the "i" and the "p" in a moment.)

A 720p HD display has 1280 pixels (horizontal) by 720 (vertical); 1080i and 1080p displays have 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels, or more than 2 million individual picture elements. The letters "i" and "p" stand for interlaced and progressive, respectively. Interlaced displays, like ordinary TV sets and 1080i HDTVs, paint individual lines of pixels back and forth top to bottom across the display on the odd numbered lines (in HDTVs those are 1, 3, 5...1079) first and then the evens (2, 4, 6...1080) before beginning the process over and over. Taken together the odd numbered line "field" and the even numbered line field create one "frame," or complete still image. There are 30 such frames displayed per second.

Progressive displays, like computer monitors and 1080p HDTVs, display lines sequentially (1, 2, 3... 1080) before beginning the process again. These 1080p HD displays paint 60 new still images on the screen every second. With twice the frame rate (60 versus 30), 1080p demands twice the amount of data as 1080i.

That difference in frame rates means different things to different parties interested in high definition. To marketers using an HD as the display technology in a digital signage network, 1080p is the top-of-the-line image quality they can expect to achieve for the foreseeable future. If the message they are communicating requires the utmost resolution, 1080p may be the right choice. However, 1080p displays are more expensive and there will be a price to pay in terms of content storage required to drive that messaging.

To broadcasters who must work within the law administered by the FCC for transmission of HD, 1080p is too much. Simply given what they must work with, 1080p is beyond their capacity to deliver. Thus, 1080i and 720p are the broadcast HD formats.

To movie studios wishing to distribute their films in the highest display format available in the home, 1080p is the answer. Much of the buzz over Blu-ray and HD-DVD optical discs is in part about the ability of the competing formats to deliver superb image quality. Those formats -and their use of a blue frequency laser with a shorter wavelength that can write more data per area of storage- were designed to be able to write the all of the 1080p data to disk that's needed to playback a full-length movie plus bonus material.

But here's the most important party in the 1080p HD resolution equation: the audience. Whether you're a digital signage marketer, a broadcaster or a movie studio, you are faced with same question: How do I affordably deliver the level of quality to my audience that satisfies my desired communications goal? In other words, how much resolution is enough for the communications task at hand?

Only you can answer that question. To illustrate how subjective the answer is, consider this: ABC, ESPN, Fox and My Network TV rely on 720p, or 720 progressive lines, for HD service while NBC, CBS and PBS rely on 1080i. Perhaps before you decide which level of HD resolution is most appropriate for your high definition digital signage network, you should flip between ESPN's "Sportscenter HD" (720p), "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1080i) and "March of the Penguins" (1080p) playing back from an HD-DVD player or "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (1080p) from a Blu-ray player on your 1080p display. You may be surprised by what you observe.

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Just because a digital signage monitor is flat does not mean that it's high definition.

The most obvious thing about digital signage is the display panel. It's the first thing you see, and probably the last thing you think about once it's hung and showing the content you want others to see.

But did you know that just because your digital signage messaging is playing back on a flat panel plasma or LCD that it's not necessarily being shown in HD quality? While they're somewhat less common today, for the past few years display makers have marketed -right next to the HD panels- something known as ED panels or TVs. EDTV stands for "Enhanced Definition Television" -something that's better, to be sure, than the ordinary television in most homes across America, but nowhere near as good as HDTVs and HD monitors. So, what makes one panel "enhanced" and another "high-def"? Basically, its pixels, scanning and terminology.

Pixels first
If your interest in digital signage is more about what it can do for you than how it does it, you might not be very familiar with some of the basics. First, a pixel is a picture element. Many say it's the smallest picture element in a display, but maybe a better way to think of it is as the smallest whole picture element in a display. That's because just like Gaul, all pixels are divided into three parts -red, green and blue. Those parts are often referred to as sub-pixels. But for the sake of this discussion, let's stick with pixels.

In plasmas and LCDs, pixel count is pretty cut-and-dry. These displays are made up of rows and columns of picture elements or pixels. An SD panel -or standard definition panel, the closest thing to your ordinary home TV- will have 480 rows and 720 pixels across. EDTVs have the same number of rows, 480, and 853 pixels across.

Besides having about 20 percent more pixels across, another important distinction between the two is the type of scanning used. An SD display is interlaced just like your fingers are when you do "Here's the church, and here's the steeple...." Drawing one complete picture, or frame, in an interlaced display requires the monitor to scan the odd number rows in an image sequentially first, i.e. 1, 3, 5 etc. and then the even numbered rows 2, 4, 6 etc. Together those two interlaced "fields" make up a frame. There are about 60 fields per second, or about 30 frames per second in SD video. (I won't trouble you with the why regarding the term "about.")

These interlaced fields are displayed so quickly that the scanned odds are still aglow, although decaying, while the evens are being scanned. However, that decay in the glow and constant refresh account for a flicker that's visible to some.

ED monitors are progress scan displays. Like computer monitors, they scan lines, 1, 2, 3, etc. all the way to line 480. It's the greater number of pixels and this progressive scanning that makes them better than SD, or in other words, enhanced.

Enter HD
HD or high definition can produce a view of the world that's lifelike. If you doubt that, flip on the Discovery Channel and then flip over to Discovery HD on an HDTV. You will be amazed.

There are many different types of high definition standards, but you only have to be concerned about a few things when it comes to digital signage. First and foremost, HD is pixel count. If it's got at least 1280 x 720 pixels, it qualifies as HD. However, here's where things get a little confusing. HDTV and monitors also come with 1920 pixels across and 1080 pixels vertically, and they come with lots of different pixel counts in between. Those "tweeners" have more to do with the manufacturing capabilities and priorities of the company making the panel than they do with the actual HD standard.

Like the difference between SD and ED, there are scanning type differences among HDTVs as well. First, there is progressive scan called 720p (row 1, 2, 3... 720). Then there is 1080i, or 1080 interlaced (1, 3, 5...1079 followed by 2, 4, 6...1080). Finally there is 1080p, which some HD marketers call Full HD (implying that the rest aren't quite HD, which is misleading and self-serving in my opinion).

Not quite as they seem
Without a doubt, HDTVs are burgeoning in the home and HD panels are becoming popular displays for digital signage. Their ability to reproduce lifelike images is breathtaking. That's powerful clay in the hands of digital signage sculptors.

But don't be confused. Just because a panel is flat, it's not necessarily HD. Look for the panel's resolution in pixels. Find out what type of scanning it uses. Together, those two pieces of information can tell you what you're looking at, even if your eyeballs aren't sure. It can also save you the headache of mistakenly acquiring the ED monitors that seemed like a steal when you thought you were buying HD.

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Clear Channel Outdoor Holding's networked digital billboard push sheds light on strengths of indoor digital signage networks.

Out-of-home advertising -the nice-sounding term for all types of advertising consumed away from home, including digital signage- is likely to become an even more important component of the advertising landscape with this week's announcement that Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings will roll out digital billboards in four more cities: Akron, OH, Columbus, OH, Memphis, TN, and Wichita, KS.

Making up the digital billboard network in each city are:

• Memphis: five 14-foot-by-48-foot digital displays;
• Akron: six 14-foot-by-48-foot digital displays;
• Wichita: six 12-foot-by-24-foot digital displays;
• Columbus: six 12-foot-by-24-foot digital displays.

While the size of Clear Channel Outdoor's displays and its ongoing commitment to building digital billboards networks are impressive, what's more impressive is the flexibility the new medium brings to the advertising community. The company plans to rotate advertising copy on each network display in an eight-second loop, totaling a minimum of 1,250 advertising spots every day!

Compare that staggering number to the paltry 23 advertising messages the signs would have carried for weeks or even months if they had been made of paper and ink.

What's clear from the Clear Channel Outdoors example is the dramatic impact technology is having on the way advertisers can communicate their unique marketing messages to people away from home.

The same is true of indoor digital signage networks. They combine the appeal of television -graphics, text, animation, sound and video- with a growing presence in retail stores, malls and other venues where consumers go to shop. Perhaps even more important, just like the Clear Channel digital billboards, the messaging on digital signage networks can change frequently -even more than a thousand times per day if required.

The flexibility to update messaging easily throughout the day is huge in retail. Consider only a few examples. First, many large retail stores spend seemingly countless hours changing thousands of printed signs in various departments to keep their promotional and marketing messages in line with their retail goals. Digital signage can slash the time spent on this activity. Second, updating or replacing signs at different times of the day to match the changing demographics and desires of patrons is at best difficult. Imagine a café in a mall that must post its specials on a placard outside its entrance three times per day -once for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now extend that concept to other retailers in the same mall that would like to target their messaging to seniors in the morning, students after school and families in the evening.  With printed signs, such day parting is nearly impossible. But with digital signage, day parting marketing messages is simple and fast. Third, consider ROI. Traditional signs do not lend themselves to advertising support in a retail setting. Digital signs do, and best of all because they're easy to change, advertising messages can be sold again and again.

There's one other important component of Clear Channel Outdoor's announcement that relates to indoor digital signage networks. The four newly announced cities join deployments in Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In total, the company intends to roll out networked digital billboards in at least 100 markets by the end of this year.

How long will it be before Clear Channel Outdoor's parent company, which owns or operates 40 TV stations throughout the country, begins combining the sale of commercial TV time with the sale of networked digital billboard ads? What sorts of economies of scale and sales synergies would that type of approach bring?

In the indoor digital signage areas, how long will it be before competing, fractured digital signage networks coalesce into a unified market that can be sold in the same way? Just forward this column to Google. Given what they've been up to in the online, radio and television ad markets, they might just be the ones to pull it off.

Whether you’re new to digital signage or an experienced digital signage user, there’s always something to learn.

Whenever I write these columns, I share a common predicament with those who create content for digital signs: How do I communicate my message to a mixed audience, some of whom have a detailed knowledge about my subject and others who at best have a passing familiarity?

I'll do my best in this column to serve up some information that old hands and newcomers alike can take away that I hope will make the next few moments of your time well spent.

If you're brand new to digital signage, struggling to understand where it fits into the communications landscape, here are five basic principles that will help you put digital signage into context -whether you're thinking about using it to greet visitors in your company's lobby or influence shoppers to make a purchase.

• Dynamic messaging: Digital signage transforms dull, static signs into a dynamic mix of video, graphics, text and animation that can communicate and influence viewers in ways more akin to television than a printed placard.
  
  
• Easily changed: Unlike signs that have to be reprinted to update messaging, digital signage text and graphics can be changed in a matter of moments to reflect the exact messaging that's needed at any given moment.
  
  
• Scheduled to maximize impact: Because it's easy to update digital signs, they can playback messaging needed to address an audience that changes throughout the day. For example, a digital sign outside a hotel restaurant can entice early risers to visit for breakfast in the morning, transition to lunch fare in the afternoon, display an elegantly appointed table with dinner specials in the late afternoon, and promote featured music acts that will appear in the lounge after dinner.
  
  
• Comfort and credibility: The very fact that digital signage relies on LCD and plasma panels and even CRTs for display -just like the one's in the living rooms of most U.S. households- and that it can present messaging every bit as appealing as anything on television, imparts a degree of credibility to the medium that's easy to take for granted but difficult for other new media to attain.
  
  
• Linear and interactive playback: Digital signage can be used to playback a series of pieces of linear content -that with a beginning, middle and end- as well as stand in for digital kiosks that give users access to branching interactive content to meet their needs. The same digital sign can do double duty in a hybrid application to attract an audience with linear content and deliver specific content in interactive mode at the touch of a screen.

For the old hands, here are five factoids about digital signage that are worth considering:

• Fine Art: With so much attention focused on the commercial aspect of digital signage, it would be easy to miss the fact that large flat panel plasma displays are currently being used as a digital canvass for the a series of 30 high definition video portraits at New York's Phillips de Pury and Paula Cooper galleries and at the Ace Gallery in Los Angeles. The exhibit, VOOM PORTRAITS by ROBERT WILSON, underscores how the technology at the heart of digital signs is becoming increasingly common.
  
  
• Changing media markets: On their own, digital signage networks are becoming a significant advertising medium. Well-positioned to complement the skyrocketing online advertising market, which is expected to grow 35 percent this year, digital signage networks are coming into their own as a viable advertising medium.
  
  
• Proximity sensing: As hybrid interactive digital signs increasingly stand in for digital kiosks, the need to recognize the presence of viewers grows. Not only can such knowledge automatically launch a presentation, it also can control audio volume to prevent audio from closely spaced signs from competing with one another and creating an audio mess. Proximity sensors that easily interface with interactive digital signs can take control and create order from what otherwise would be chaos.
  
  
• Projector alternative: New technologies that allow projected images to be clearly seen on screens mounted in full daylight are emerging. Coupled with new technology that corrects for geometric distortion of projected images from oddly placed projectors, the new screen technology opens new opportunities for projectors to be used in digital signage applications.
  
  
• Flatter all the time: For the first time, flat panel displays have surpassed CRT-based televisions in consumer sales. Not only does that mean economies of scale will continue to make digital signage displays less expensive, it also means digital signage will continue to blend easily into the media landscape.

There you have it, five things you need to know about digital signage and five things you may not have known. Whether you're an old hand or newcomer, I hope it was time well spent. If you have a digital signage topic that you would like me to research and write on, please provide feedback.

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With the help of a little technology troublesome audio sources can be tamed on the digital signage beast.

This article could just as easily have been entitled "Everybody's talkin' at me, I don't hear a word they're sayin'," but that was already taken. So I'll stick with "Cutting Out the Cacophony."

As digital signage technology enters its next phase as a hybrid, interactive medium combining the power of linear content with branching interactive functionality, volume is likely to rise, literally. Hybrid systems increasingly will find their way into places like retail stores and museums where multiple displays are spaced in close proximity to one another and the sound from competing signs becomes bothersome.

Imagine a natural history museum with multiple interactive digital signs spaced a few feet apart. One focuses on carnivorous dinosaurs, another on herbivores and a third on pre-historic fish. If all of these digital signs have accompanying audio playback that loops during their presentations or plays back specific clips when accessed interactively, the result will be a cacophony of competing sound that actually drive visitors away rather than accomplishing the goal of imparting knowledge.

Imagine a similar scenario in a retail store, where audio from a cosmetic counter digital sign is competing with audio from the fragrance counter digital sign and the handbag counter digital sign across the aisle. Shoppers would quickly give up on watching the promotional video or finding their desired information they're seeking if they were immersed in this distasteful audio soup. Who could blame them for walking away in disgust without making their purchase? Not exactly the goal of digital signage technology.

Fortunately, technology exists in the form of proximity sensors that can be interfaced with digital signage playback servers to determine when someone is near a digital sign. Upon receiving notification from the sensor, the digital signage player can ramp up the audio level. Similarly, when visitors leave, it can inform the player to turn down the sound level so that device's audio source does not compete with audio from adjacent digital signage displays.

Based on infrared detection, sonar or radar technology, these sensors typically use standard RS-232 or RS-422 serial communications ports to interface to the digital playback server. If the playback server recognizes input from the sensors, competing audio problems can evaporate.

One example of where these sensors came in handy is the new University of Tennessee Football Hall of Fame. The university recently replaced several DVD-based kiosks that looped video and audio content continuously. Creating a cacophony of kiosk audio, the stations became such a distraction that the school's coaches finally turned them off to escape the audio mess.

However, the university recently replaced the hall of fame's old kiosks with new interactive digital signage stations that recognize input from strategically placed proximity sensors. With that source of data, the digital signage playback servers can increase volume or shut off audio depending on whether or not someone is standing within range.

Not only did the new approach create a pleasing audio experience, it more importantly allowed the school's football coaching staff to once again use the hall of fame as a useful tool in recruiting new athletes and soliciting contributions from program boosters

Certainly, competing audio sources won't affect all digital signs, but when they do it's good to know there's a technology that can come to the rescue. Without proximity sensors, it would be easy to feel like "everybody's talkin' at me, I don't hear a word they're sayin'."

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A variety of forces, including technology, interactivity and demographics are buffeting the king of all media.

I had dinner the other evening with some friends from New England. The couple splits its time between a home in the southern part of New Hampshire during the winter and a scenic farm in northern Vermont during the summer. In the past, I've had opportunities to visit both places and travel with them between their homes.

As dinner progressed, the conversation turned to the Old Man of the Mountain, a natural rock formation on the New Hampshire landscape that serves as a symbol adorning state highway signs and license plates. I'd stopped on several occasions at Franconia Notch State Park to view the Old Man from a distance.

In May 2003, erosion, wind and weather finally took their toll on the Old Man, when in an instant the rocks gave way and the landmark slid down the mountain and into history. At dinner, I asked in passing about the event and my friends told me a few things I had never known about the landmark.

The Old Man of the Mountain had existed in a tenuous state for years, my friends said. In an effort to preserve the landmark, the state had wrapped chains and cables around portions of the face to keep it in place. Plastic was strategically placed in an effort to prevent rain from penetrating crevices, freezing, expanding and making the face more unstable. Volunteer quarryman even regularly inspected the landmark and did their best to maintain its integrity. However, despite everyone's best efforts, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in a heap May 3, 2003.

As my friends discussed the Old Man and the efforts to preserve it, I couldn't help but think about the similarities between the fallen-away landmark and TV, commercials and digital signage.

As a mass medium television is the undisputed champion, but I see signs of erosion, unstable features and steps at preservation that ultimately are likely to prove futile. TV is in a state of transition, and the medium as it's been known for the past 60 years or so is undergoing radical changes.

Sure there's the transition from analog to digital that the government has mandated for February 2009, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to a transition being forced upon the medium that's about as welcome as the rain and snow were to the Old Man.

Since it's inception as a commercial medium, television in this country has been linear. Programs have a set starting time and known finish -for the most part. In between show segments are commercial breaks; and in between shows are more commercials. Networks and stations have relied on this structure to build program lineups, audiences and desired demographics that advertisers wish to reach.

However, with the roll out of digital video recorders over the past few years, viewers -not network programmers- are in charge of when a show gets watched. Worst of all for the marketers and the networks, viewers can use the same recorder to "zap" or zip by commercials. Each time a viewer does so, it's like another drop of rainwater penetrating a crack in the Old Man's face, wearing away the underlying soil and rock holding the structure in place.

Add to that the growing availability of video-on-demand from cable and satellite TV operators, TV network Web sites that make popular shows like "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" available on-demand via streaming broadband connection, and the countless shows, movies and events available for download via file sharing, and it's easy to see the cracks are growing and the edifice is nearing a shift. 

To be sure, the networks rolling out the chains, wrapping up their franchise tight to hold the status quo. Shows like "American Idol" garner huge ratings and encourage viewers to buck the VOD trend by asking them to call in and vote for their favorite performers live. But that strategy raises some interesting questions, like how broadly can it be applied, and doesn't it just feed the desire of viewers for interactive control over the content they view? 

Technology and interactivity are only two of the elements eroding the status quo. The other is demographics. Closely tied to technology and interactivity to be sure, the highly sought after younger demographic is fluent in technology. From text messaging to gaming, on-line chats to music downloads, younger audiences are immersed in the stuff. Unfortunately for television networks and their advertisers, this group also appears to be less interested in television than older viewers.

All of these shifts, as gradual as they may be, are good news for digital signage networks. On one level, digital signage gives marketers who may grow uncertain about the stability of the Old Man of Television a refuge for targeted advertising. On another, digital signage bears a close resemblance to television and can easily take advantage of the cache of the medium without falling prey to the elements eroding its stature. On yet another, digital signage displays can be configured to work in hybrid mode, offering the benefits of linear program playback, which can be interrupted with something as simple as a touch of the screen and sent into an interactive, digital kiosk mode. This in particular, positions digital signage to capitalize on the propensity of younger viewers to feel at home with interactive technology, and thus offer marketers direct access to a highly desired demographic.

Will television slide down the media mountain just as the Old Man did in New Hampshire? Perhaps, but I can't say when with any more reliability than the surveyors 100 years ago who predicted the demise of the Old Man. What I can say is this: The forces buffeting the edifice of television are growing in strength. Whether or not that media landmark can withstand them in the long run, television and its traditional business model are likely to continue changing. As they do, the prospect of digital signage networks to offer marketers an attractive alternative will only grow.

While they've long been relegated to niche applications for digital signage, media server-driven video projectors may be ready to emerge from the digital signage backwater thanks to some exciting new technology.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of digital signage? If it's a flat panel LCD or plasma display hanging in some public place like a retail store, corporate lobby or museum, you wouldn't be alone. For most indoor digital signage networks, these two display technologies dominate the landscape.

However, they aren't the only solution, and in some cases they might not even be the best or most affordable solution. Equally appropriate in some circumstances are projected images played back from the same sort of media server as those used to drive LCD and plasma panels.

Video projectors offer some advantages over flat panel displays. For instance, in terms of price per square inch of display, LCD and plasma panels can't compete. In other words, projectors, which can produce much bigger images than LCDs and plasmas, can be significantly less expensive than the largest flat panels per square inch of displayed image.

Additionally, projectors can create images in unexpected places or ways that are sure to grab the attention of those nearby. For example, some projectors can be used to project onto fog to create an ethereal look that just can't be recreated with flat panels.

Traditionally, projectors haven't been used widely in digital signage applications for at least a couple of important reasons. First, there's the problem with high ambient light. In full daylight conditions, the relatively dim projected light withers, creating a washed- out look at best, and at worst a completely unviewable picture. That's why you're far more likely to find them being used in settings where there's a high degree of control over ambient light, such as in museums.

Another traditional objection to using projectors for digital signage is the relatively narrow range from which they can work to create plumb and square images. In a retail setting, where a store owner doesn't want the public accidentally coming into contact with the projector, working in that useable projection range can often be nearly impossible. That's not to say that projectors aren't built with circuitry to correct keystoned images, but rather that the only placement option in a retail setting may be well out of the area where keystone correction will work.

Fortunately for those who wish to consider projection as a realistic alternative to flat panel displays, the traditional limitations of projectors -high ambient light and projector placement limitations- are vanishing.

Making practical their use in high ambient light environments is a whole new generation of projection screen technology that intelligently accepts the projected light for reflection to the eyes of viewers but rejects ambient light reflection. So successful is this technology that demonstrations of the new screens have been done in the atriums of large retail centers with light streaming in from glass ceilings and at hotel hospitality suites during trade shows where the curtains are thrown wide open during the day.

Correcting for extreme geometric distortions is now possible and affordable thanks to new computer software applications that can be used to determine the severity of distortion and automatically correct the geometry This is no small feat, given where projectors in retail stores must be placed to remain safe from the public. Still, such geometric distortion engines can make the necessary compensation, and in some cases give their users such a high degree of control that images can actually be wrapped around cylinders or onto globes.

Will video projectors replace LCD and plasma panels as the dominant display technology in digital signage networks? Probably not. That said, given the rapid advancements in technology needed to overcome their limitations for digital signage networks, it is a smart idea for anyone planning a digital signage network to consider how projectors might make sense.

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