Digital signage delivers on campus: affordable wide-screen digital signs are finding multiple uses on campuses, and may even generate revenue

University Business, Oct, 2004 by Jean Marie Angelo

The millennial generation was raised on the moving image. HDTV, MTV, flat-screen PCs, and other electronics have created a generation with high expectations of media and its messages. No wonder digital signage--a new presentation technology--is making its way onto campus.

If there's a sale in the bookstore, a new cell phone plan for students, or a concert on campus, a digital sign can deliver the message. Even better, that message can be punched up with animated logos, photos, video clips, and text messages that change every few seconds. No print poster can do that.

"Digital sign" is another name for an electronic, flat-panel screen. Although some Large and costly models have been around for a decade or more, the first flat-panel plasma screens were introduced only six years ago. Since then, plasma screens, and newer LCD screens, have become staples in sports and entertainment arenas, interweaving advertising with pictures of celebrities, or sports trivia fun facts. They are also appearing in more retail outlets to inspire impulse purchases, and in restaurants, hotels and conference centers. Now they are making their way onto campuses, where they are being used for promotional, and even academic, uses.

Some digital signs are only several inches wide, allowing for flush wall mounting. The sleek design of a digital sign, or flat screen, makes it easier to mount than a bulky TV monitor.

And notably, digital signs are becoming more affordable. When plasma screens were first introduced their prices were out of the reach of the education market. A 42-inch home plasma screen made for home theater use cost $8,000 three years ago, says Gary Kayye, principal of Kayye Consulting, an audio-visual advisory firm. That same model would cost $3,000 today. The price for a professional grade plasma screen--one that has special covering to protect it from oil residue left by finger and handprints, and that resists image burn-in--has dropped from $10,000 to $4,500.

Their LCD counterparts, newer to the market, and generally more costly, are also coming down in price. When 42-inch LCD screens were introduced just 18 months ago, they cost $10,000 or more, says Kayye. Today, the same screen can be purchased for $6,000.

Increased inventory has driven the prices down, he explains. "More manufacturers are making digital signage. Where there was one plasma screen manufacturer 10 years ago, today there are six offering 30 brands," notes Kayye. LCD manufacturers have lowered their margins to make their models competitive with plasma products.

Affordable prices are what convinced administrators at Bellevue Community College (WA), to install three plasma screens in March. The college's student government drove the project, asking the media professionals on campus to create a new messaging system with a modest budget. BCC paid $3,000 for each of its 42-inch Gateway screens. The digital signs are placed in strategic campus locations--the cafeteria, the student programs office and the campus coffee shop. "The intention is to have a digital newsletter that keeps students posted about events," explains Roger Ewald, BCC media engineer. Case in point, the signs kept students abreast of building closings and schedule changes after a rash of flooding in the Bellevue area in late summer.

Ewald helped research and purchase the necessary software and network connections needed to make the system work. In alt, BCC invested $25,000 in hardware, software and peripherals.

Student groups create their own slide presentations to promote their events or groups. These, in turn, are submitted to administrators in the Student Programs Office for review. Once accepted, the text and images of each presentation are uploaded into software and broadcast on the screens. Administrators also maintain the broadcast schedules, selecting when the messages will be displayed. Scheduling software feeds data to digital signs, and ensures that messages are "looped" to replay as often as desired. Information is dynamic and colorful, and created with the goal of cutting through visual clutter and attracting viewers.

So impressed were students and administrators that they have opted to add a fourth screen this month to the area that includes the campus business center and satellite bookstore, a locale used largely by working professionals who take classes.

Considering the newness of the application, Cornell University (NY) can be labeled a higher ed pioneer. Managers installed digital signs in the campus bookstore during 2001 and 2002, according to Margie Whiteleather, project manager for Cornell Business Services. The "virtual display windows," as Whiteleather calls them, were purchased when the bookstore was remodeled and several internal walls were taken down.

The plasma screens provide details about campus activities to passersby--a key point considering the Cornell bookstore is located in a basement. Two screens on the lowest level, which are placed in close proximity to each other and to the store's entrance, usually run identical content promoting campus programs and student activities. These screens might also inform students about textbook buy-back programs and other store promotions.