The European digital signage software market is currently fragmented with numerous local heroes and industry specialists. There are however around 10 digital signage system providers who lead the market for AV supply and development. The display market on the other hand is dominated by Samsung, NEC and LG. Media players which are sometimes PCs or bespoke units are used to control and play the individual screen. It is important to remember that digital signage is a "viewer engagement tool" and is therefore a media marketing channel first and a technology platform second. Digital Signage offers the end user a system which represents the largest commercial opportunity for systems integrators. A much overlooked but critical development is content strategy. In order to ensure the network engages viewers and delivers a message effectively. The right content is the most important factor of a successful digital signage network and specialised digital signage agencies have a great know-how and experience. The most important factor for digital signage content is that it is neither TV nor web and that a specific type of content is required to match viewer's ability to view content quickly and retrieve messages effectively. In addition digital signage uses templates which are produced only once into which live data from the customers' own website or from external sources can be injected. The costs depend on the scale and depth of the installation and the type of infrastructure deployed and content required. However in broad terms, a total cost of ownership of around ?4,000 per display over a five year period is a good rule of thumb. The rest is content, services, network operations, telecommunications and power consumption. Modern professional screens are quite green compared to the past but do consider approximately ?400 for electricity for five years. Total cost of ownership calculations for display networks show that only 30-50 per cent of the costs are hardware and installation. The major cost component relates to content creation and management for the four to five year life span expected of a network before it requires upgrading.
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