Digital signage has become an integral part of our daily lives. From airport arrival/departure boards to menu boards in quick service restaurants, digital signage is ubiquitous. As the technology and capabilities of digital displays have advanced rapidly in recent years, digital signage design and implementation has also evolved. Standards developed by AVIXA (Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association) have played a key role in this evolution by helping ensure consistency, quality and interoperability across different systems and use cases. This blog will discuss the role of AVIXA standards in enhancing digital signage designs over time and driving the industry forward.
The Role of AV Design in Enhancing AVIXA Standards
AVIXA is the leading trade association for the audiovisual and integration industry. It develops several standards focused on digital signage and other professional AV applications through its standards development committees. Early AVIXA standards laid the groundwork for digital signage but had limitations as the technology advanced. As digital signage designs became more sophisticated, standards needed to support new features like bezel compensation, interactive elements, and integration with other systems. The AV design community played a vital role in enhancing AVIXA standards by providing feedback from real-world implementations. Designers’ experiences with different client needs, content types, display technologies and other factors helped identify gaps in existing standards and requirements for new capabilities. This ensured AVIXA standards continued evolving hand in hand with innovations in digital signage design. standards development process.
Evolution of Digital Signage Hardware Standards
One of the earliest AVIXA standards was DXi, launched in 2006 to define interoperability for digital signage endpoints. However, DXi only covered basic video streaming and lacked support for newer display technologies and interactive features. In 2016, AVIXA released the AVIXA DS-SD standard which defined a more comprehensive and flexible framework for digital signage hardware and communication protocols. Key aspects covered included:
Support for 4K/Ultra HD resolutions and High Dynamic Range (HDR) content. As displays advanced, standards needed to support higher resolutions and wider color gamuts.
Flexible content layouts and bezel compensation schemes. Variations in display sizes/aspect ratios required accounting for bezels in blended canvas designs.
Bi-directional communication. Standards enabled interactions like tapping screens for more information.
Integration with other systems. Interfaces were defined to connect digital signage to external information sources like building management systems.
Open networking and security. Standards ensured different vendors’ equipment could communicate securely over Ethernet.
These enhancements in AVIXA’s DS-SD standard aligned with evolving digital signage designs demanding more robust, integrated and interactive experiences. The new framework future-proofed hardware standards as technologies continued marching forward.
Evolution of Digital Signage Content Standards
In parallel to hardware standards, AVIXA also developed requirements for digital signage content delivery and formatting through its DSF standards. Early versions like DSF 1.0 from 2006 focused on basic slide-based content transport. Newer content-related challenges prompted enhancements like:
Support for responsive layouts and adaptive content. Standards accommodated a variety of screen sizes and portrait/landscape orientations.
Scripting and interactivity. Enhanced content could include buttons, animations and other programmed behaviors.
Data insertion from external sources. Integrating live information like schedules or pricing allowed dynamic, real-time content.
Better audio/video capabilities. Embedding rich media enabled more engaging digital posters and menus.
Content security and distribution automation. Managing permissions and scheduling improvements supported large distributed networks.
DSF standards thus provided an evolving framework for digital signage content design and delivery. Their expanded capabilities aligned with advanced interactive, real-time and multi-screen signage concepts envisioned by AV professionals.
Evolution of Digital Signage System Design Thinking
As hardware and content standards progressed, digital signage system design thinking also evolved:
Early designs centered around basic video streaming to individual displays. Standards facilitated simple one-way distribution.
Bezel- blended multi-screen video walls became common, requiring standardized layout/calibration methods.
Motion-activated interactive kiosks emerged, prompting bi-directional protocols for interactivity.
Integrating signage with peripheral devices like payment terminals or sensors created demand for unified system controls.
Data-driven dynamic content incorporated real-time schedule updates, inventories and more.
Management of vast distributed networks across organizations involved remote monitoring, analytics and maintenance capabilities.
Immersive experience design utilized advanced displays, audio, lighting and other integrated media.
AVIXA supported this evolution by continually expanding standards to address novel technical, operational and experience-based challenges. Its process nurtured collaboration between manufacturers, designers, integrators and end users to mutually develop specifications aligning with the latest signage thinking. Standards thus served as highways guiding innovation in system architecture and implementation.
Future Directions for AVIXA Digital Signage Standards
Looking ahead, some emerging areas AVIXA standards may aim to address include:
Incorporation of AI/machine learning for personalized, location-aware content and predictive maintenance.
Support for flexible content authoring tools enabling non-technical users to build experiences.
Expanded integration covering IoT protocols, green building systems, mobile apps and more.
Accommodation of cutting-edge display innovations like micro-LED, Mini-LED and holography.
Enhanced content security provisions as threats evolve alongside smarter digital signage.
Specifications enabling experiential design factors like spatial audio, scent and haptics.
Open-source, cloud-based content management capabilities for agility.
Data analytics standards for extracting valuable insights from networks.
By embracing new directions driven by the imaginations of AV professionals, AVIXA standards can help propel digital signage firmly into the future. The relationship between standards bodies and early-adopting design networks will remain crucial to progressing this technology’s impact and experience potential.
Conclusion
Standards developed by AVIXA have played an instrumental role in advancing digital signage designs and driving the industry forward. Early specifications laid foundations while later enhancements consistently aligned with novel technical demands and evolving best practices envisioned by innovative AV designers. This mutually-beneficial standards development process can support further exciting innovations by continuing to integrate cutting-edge thinking. Digital signage promises even richer experiences ahead as technologies improve and standards empower new frontiers of AV-driven storytelling, information sharing and designing integrated media experiences.