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May 2012

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New technology in digital signs, popular for businesses and public venues, is now lighting up around houses of worship

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Today’s technology helps churches to reach remote locations and gives the ability to instantly change content.  

From the massive jumbotron in New York City’s Times Square to the smallest LCD at the grocery store or gas pump, high-quality displays are delivering up-to-the-minute information, instructions, advertisements, and breaking news all around us. Rapidly replacing traditional billboards, point-of-sale displays, and other static signage, digital signs have emerged as a great new way to catch the attention of an audience constantly on the move.

Digital signs can attract far more attention than traditional signs since digital hardware can display all types of media and even integrate news feeds and live video. Combined with stunning new display technology and networkability for easy signal distribution, digital signage is looking more attractive than ever to houses of worship. If you are envisioning a more dynamic way to motivate and engage your congregation, eye-catching digital signage could be for you.

In its most basic setup, digital signage is simply distributing schedules or other content to strategically placed video screens. But with today’s technology, you can also build a wide-reaching and fully integrated system for multi-screen, multimedia presentations that are both dazzling to the viewer and easy to manage.

Can your church benefit from communication techniques with digital signs that have been so successful in retail environments, hotels, sports stadiums, corporate lobbies, and school campuses? Let’s take a look at the technology behind popular digital signage systems so you can see what it’s all about. You’ll want to understand the common architecture, software, and hardware components needed for an effective digital signage system.

Architecture
Most digital sign systems operate from a central location, which can be where the content is created and stored, and, most likely, where multimedia content and message updates are scheduled and sent out over a network to displays. These display endpoints can be hardwired at one location, connected via a local area network to the other side of a campus, or scattered at remote locations, connected by a wide area network or using the Internet.

Software
Signage is all about content, which can be as simple as a MS PowerPoint presentation, or as complex as a professionally produced commercial video “spot” combined with a live news feed. You can create content using one of the many popular media authoring tools, like PowerPoint, Corel, FinalCut, Pinnacle, or Vegas Video, then several types of programs can help you manage that content for broadcast on your digital signage system.

Essentially, signage software breaks down into three basic types: Content Management Software, to do basic content creation, as well as import, assemble, schedule, deliver, and playback content across your network using standard file formats and protocols; Device Management Software to manage remote devices across your network with scheduled functions and real-time status monitoring; and Data Management Software used to acquire and redistribute real-time data from multiple sources including subscription-based news, weather, financial data, and instant messages. Some distribution software even keeps logs to provide “proof-of-play” where necessary and to help measure effectiveness.

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Andy McDonough is a freelance writer, photographer, musician, educator and consulting engineer based in Middletown, New Jersey. Among his favorite topics are the application of technology and music in houses of worship. He welcomes email at andymcd@comcast.net.

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could you also please add Novisign Digital Signage Software as a service?  We offer the cheapest and most innovative digital signage solutions today.  http://www.novisign.com  Thank you.

Posted by Nancy Barr on 12/29/2011 report abuse