• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My TechDecisions

  • Best of Tech Decisions
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Mobility
    • Unified Communications
    • IT Infrastructure
    • Network Security
    • Physical Security
    • Facility
    • Compliance
  • RFP Resources
  • Resources
  • Podcasts
  • Project of the Week
  • About Us
    SEARCH
News

Watch These 6 Digital Signage Trends in 2019

Keep your organization’s digital signage and electronic display communication ahead of the curve by following these digital signage trends.

February 27, 2019 Alan Brawn 1 Comment

digital-signage-market-trends-2019

It has become important for IT directors and tech managers to become educated about digital signage – and that’s sort of a new thing.

It wasn’t that long ago that digital signage (maybe you call them digital signs or electronics displays or digital communication) was a retail thing – a cool way to advertise. That has changed with corporate and education customers, by far, the most likely candidates to purchase digital signage, according to a survey of integration firms by sister site Commercial Integrator.

Now, if you’re in the tech-decision-making business for any company, enterprise or education facility, you’re most likely considering digital signage to communicate messages to employees or students.

To help you make decisions around digital signage in 2019, we’ve rounded up some trends as determined by digital signage guru Alan C. Brawn of Brawn Consulting and a columnist for Commercial Integrator. Brawn’s piece, “Digital Signage Market Trends: The State of Signage in 2019,” runs down how digital signage is evolving and tech managers should take note.

— Tom LeBlanc, Editorial Director, MyTechDecisions

Digital Signage 1

2019 Digital Signage Market Trends

Demand for Digital Signage Is Explosive

While retail and advertising applications still dominate, information-based applications for digital signage are growing at an increasingly rapid rate. The digital signage market size is predicted to grow from where it was in 2017, at $21 billion USD, to $32 billion USD in 2023 (an estimated CAGR of just under 8 percent).

Onset of Omnichannel Marketing

New trends in advertising will include multimedia ads, native advertising, and influencer advertising. There is also a trend for companies to focus more and more on the brand rather than specific products. The most pervasive trend we see is not about the ad itself but the business model of how it is delivered. This is commonly referred to as omnichannel marketing.

With the advent of the Internet and smartphones bolstered by other media venues,as well as brick-and-mortar businesses,customers interact with a given business in a multitude of ways.

Related: Best Digital Signage Brands, According to Integrators

Omnichannel marketing focuses on providing a seamless experience across all channels from website to smartphone to brick-and-mortar store.

According to AdWeek, 62 percent of companies have, or plan to have, an omnichannel marketing strategy. Additionally, 70 percent of businesses say that omnichannel strategies are important, very important, or critical to their success.

The seamless transition between desktop, mobile, and in-store experience is a model that many brands will increasingly try to emulate.

Data-center-istock-resized

Big Data and Digital Signage

In this era of Big Data, the concepts of privacy and security have come to the forefront. Who “owns” the data, how should it be used, and how do we protect it, are but a few of the questions to keep in mind.

In May 2018 in the EU the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and went into effect.

Quiz: How Well Do You Understand Digital Signage Tech? 

The GDPR sets out data security principles including:

  • fairness
  • lawfulness and transparency
  • purpose limitation
  • data minimization
  • data quality
  • security, integrity and confidentiality

Businesses must ensure that customers’ personal data is processed in a manner that ensures its security, including protection against unauthorized or unlawful processing, and against accidental loss, destruction or damage.

The regulation says a number of measures can be used to achieve data protection, including encryption.

Expectation of Interactivity, Personalization

The following predictions are based on conversations with digital signage experts and will contribute to how digital signage solutions are deployed in 2019:

  • When it comes to digital signage, analytics will dominate ROI considerations and become the bedrockof any content strategies.
  • Predictability of behavior applications will increase.
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning will considerably accelerate personalization of content.
  • Virtual assistants will expand and become a differentiator.
  • In all applications, interactivity will increase.

Hardware and the Shape of Digital Signs

From the hardware perspective, we are in an evolutionary phase. Think in terms of how displays, mounts, media players and signal distribution amplify and accentuate the content on screen and support the objectives of a digital signage network. What work do they do and how well do they do it?

  • LCD flat panels will continue to dominate as the displays of choice.
  • Yes, we will see more 4K screens above 32 inches and no, 4K content will not become the defacto standard.
  • Thin bezels will get thinner to “near” zero and video walls will experience double-digit growth.

Related: How to Use Digital Signage to Motivate Employees

While on the topic of video walls, direct view LED (dvLED) both indoor and outdoor will continue to grow as prices lower in response to what seems like overwhelming onslaught of competition, with so many jumping on the bandwagon. Time will tell.

Electronic paper, or e-ink technology, will become more of a “player” in certain applications such as informational signs and transit applications that don’t require full-motion video but do require low power, high contrast and good visibility in high ambient light. We will finally see full color versions make their way onto the scene to help drive this use.

Augmented-Climbing-resized-1200x650
‘Power of Holographic Augmented Reality in Marketing/Advertising’ was a topic of discussion at the most recent Digital Signage Expo.

Use of Projection and Holographic Images

Projection will remain relevant in some applications. Four factors keep it in play:

  • First is the ability to edge blend displaysfor a massive video wall effect
  • Second is pixel mapping with special effectsthat can’t be accomplished any other way
  • Next are ambient light rejection(ALR) screens that will continue to make it possible for projection to be used in brighter environments
  • Finally, solid-state illumination eliminates brightnessdecay of lamps and the need to frequently replace them

In what can best be described as a non-traditional display, holographic images will become more popular.

They look like a thin bladed fan with embedded LEDs. These then spin at a very rapid rate to create the image,which will appear as a floating display that can mimic 3D if done correctly.

You can add more devices to the matrix to do multiple images or make the images larger. File this under an experience enhancer!

One thing is certain as we look backward at lessons learned and look forward to new developments and opportunities in 2019: digital signage is alive, well, and expanding its influence.

If you are not there yet, you soon will be. The water is warm so jump in and join the ever-expanding digital signage market this year.

If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!

Alan Brawn
Alan Brawn

Alan C. Brawn CTS, ISF, ISF-C, DSCE, DSDE. DCME, is the principal of Brawn Consulting.

Tagged With: Data Security, Digital Signage, Digital Signage Expo, Projection

Related Content:

  • Cloud, SASE, Aryaka How the Cloud is Redefining Media Production and…
  • Singlewire Software mass notification interview Singlewire Software on Mass Notification Solutions
  • URI catchbox 1 Catchbox Plus: The Mic Solution That Finally Gave…
  • Engaging virtual meeting with diverse participants discussing creative ideas in a bright office space during daylight hours Diversified Survey: Workplace AV Tech is Falling Short,…

Free downloadable guide you may like:

  • ChatGPT, generative AI, enterprise, workplaceBlueprint Series: ChatGPT and Generative AI in the Workplace

    This latest release of the TechDecisions Blueprint Series explores the new phenomenon of tools such as ChatGPT and how IT leaders should go about deploying generative AI in their organizations.

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. 5 Tips for Your Marketing Department’s Digital Transformation - My TechDecisions says:
    April 8, 2019 at 2:00 pm

    […] The days of traditional advertising are long gone. Consumers no longer rely solely on newspaper and radio ads to discover and purchase products. Today, the most powerful promotions come in the form of digital media. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Downloads

Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces
Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces

Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-fa...

New Camera Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow
New Camera System Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow

Sony's HXC-FZ90 studio camera system combines flexibility and exceptional image quality with entry-level pricing.

Creating Great User Experience and Ultimate Flexibility with Clickshare

Working and collaborating in any office environment today should be meaningful, as workers today go to office for very specific reasons. When desig...

View All Downloads

Would you like your latest project featured on TechDecisions as Project of the Week?

Apply Today!

More from Our Sister Publications

Get the latest news about AV integrators and Security installers from our sister publications:

Commercial IntegratorSecurity Sales

AV-iQ

Footer

TechDecisions

  • Home
  • Welcome to TechDecisions
  • Contact Us
  • Comment Guidelines
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Free Technology Guides

FREE Downloadable resources from TechDecisions provide timely insight into the issues that IT, A/V, and Security end-users, managers, and decision makers are facing in commercial, corporate, education, institutional, and other vertical markets

View all Guides
TD Project of the Week

Get your latest project featured on TechDecisions Project of the Week. Submit your work once and it will be eligible for all upcoming weeks.

Enter Today!
Emerald Logo
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All rights reserved.