Understanding Digital Display Technology

Digital displays are panel screens that present a variety of multimedia formats to an audience. The advantages of digital displays are its ability to show a wide range of these multimedia formats, like images and video, which catapult it to become a superior mode of communication.
Over the years, technological advancements have caused digital displays to grow in output quality and reduce in price – a key factor for the growth in their adoption.

Intelisa’s digital signage technology is not the display itself, but the technology that drives these displays. Hence, we have always pursued to be display agnostic or universally compatible to any digital display.

Even though Intelisa’s technology currently focusses around connected displays, it is important to give an overview on display technology trends, which is a closely related subject.

Simple television screens are a low-cost method to adopt digital displays

The large screens at Times Square, New York are a great example of customized outdoor LED screens

Television screens too can be designed and fabricated creatively to enhance the impact of the communication

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Types of Display Technology

The key types of display technology can be summarized as follows:

01

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD’s): These make up the vast majority of HDTVs, desktop and laptop monitors, as well as tablets and cellular phones. The basic technology was around for a long time and has greatly improved over the years. Given their display quality, small size, and cost, they have been most widely adopted among other displays. Please note that the term LED TVs is actually ‘LED-backlit LCD monitors.

02

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs): These use a panel of LEDs as the light source. Their brightness is substantially more than that of other display technologies, which enables them to be used outdoors where they are visible even in daylight. Additionally, their modular design allows for seamless screens of any size, offering both incredible energy efficiency and a lifespan exceeding 100,000 hours.

03

Plasma Displays: The technology was typically seen on very large HDTVs since LCDs were costly at those sizes. However, today, the price gap has disappeared, and hence, the technology is replacing plasma even for larger sizes. Plasma displays have great sharp colour accuracy and good viewing angles. They are, however, thick, heavy, and power-hungry.

04

E-Ink: A relatively new technology, which is most famously known from the Kindle devices, is a display technology that uses ink to display images. Recently, the technology has also introduced colour as a part of its output. The advantages of this technology include the low power used (only to refresh images) and the ability to view an output without eye strain. Its disadvantages are size and colour constraints, and the fact that showing videos is not possible.

Static Versus Digital Displays

When we think of digital displays, we consider the television as a mode of everyday entertainment. However, an equal number of televisions and display devices have also been adopted by various businesses across sectors to efficiently communicate with customers, employees and various stakeholders

However, majority of the businesses still use static communication. Whether be it the communication of ‘New Arrivals’ in a retail store or ‘Targets versus Actuals’ in a manufacturing facility, or the expert panel of doctors in a hospital – most of these are yet done through static posters or notice boards.

There are several disadvantage to static communication, illustrated as following:

  • A single offering show for a long time

  • Requires manual effort and costs

  • Return on investment is a blind spot

  • Communication is not real-time or dynamic

  • Communication is not personalized

Take a moment to look at your own business, and reflect on the following questions:

What are the key points of information I would like to convey to my customers or employees?

You may want to showcase the latest offerings to customers, share best practices, communicate important updates, improve employee engagement, and deliver relevant information in a timely and effective manner.

Is the current form of communication I employ effective to percolate this communication?

Communication that is digital is generally sent through emails or social media platforms, which may not always be read or noticed by the intended audience, reducing overall communication effectiveness.

Can digital displays at the point of purchase, or at the shop floor, help drive efficiency for my communication?

Yes. Digital displays placed at points of purchase, reception areas, shop floors, and common spaces help deliver targeted messages directly to viewers, improving visibility, engagement, and communication efficiency.

How can I evaluate whether my current communication methods are effective?

Assess whether your audience consistently receives, understands, and acts upon your messages. Low engagement, missed updates, or repetitive communication often indicate the need for more visible channels.

Why should businesses replace static communication with digital displays?

Digital displays allow businesses to update content instantly, improve message visibility, reduce printing costs, and create more engaging communication experiences compared to traditional static signage.

Which industries benefit most from digital display communication?

Retail stores, restaurants, hospitals, manufacturing facilities, educational institutions, corporate offices, hotels, and public spaces can all benefit from digital display-based communication systems.

We have seen that across sectors, digital signage technology helps build an efficient communication mechanism.
With their reduced costs and advanced technology, the digital signage technology helps drive real-time, personalized and lightning-fast communication.

In the next section, we will explain what constitutes a digital signage technology solution from both a technical and business standpoint.

Introduction to Digital Signage Technology