As businesses adapt to the challenges of the current market, digital signage has emerged as a popular solution to stand out and engage consumers. While it may be tempting to simply use a regular TV for digital signage needs, this approach often falls short.
In this blog post, we’ll explore 7 key reasons why a “digital signage TV” is not the answer. We want to save you time and money by guiding you away from this pitfall from the start and instead pointing you towards purpose-built digital signage solutions that can better meet your needs.
Diving into the nuances of digital signage, we’ll unpack the critical differences between consumer-grade TVs and specialised digital signage hardware. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of why investing in the right digital signage technology is crucial for businesses looking to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
So let’s get started and decode the world of digital signage!
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1. Display
A regular television is designed for consumer home entertainment, with a focus on providing an optimal viewing experience for a small group in a compact setting. They often have limited resolution, aspect ratios, and colour depth that are not optimised for digital signage applications.
Digital signage, on the other hand, requires high-resolution displays that can convey detailed content and imagery, often in non-standard aspect ratios like portrait orientation.
Put simply, regular TVs cannot match the display capabilities and versatility required for professional digital signage installations.
2. Format
When it comes to purchasing a consumer TV for your digital signage needs you are fairly limited to a typical landscape, rectangle shape. This means that your digital signage can only be created in this format and that the environment you are using to display your signage may not be fully utilised or in some cases cannot be used at all, for example, areas such as pillars within a cafe.
When it comes to purpose-built commercial displays there is a wide range of solutions to choose from such as; digital signage displays, window displays video walls, stretched bar displays, freestanding kiosks, outdoor displays and more!
Digital signage can also be interactive through the use of touchscreen technology. This allows you to go beyond typical digital signage advertising to create engaging interactive experiences that strengthen your brand presence, encourage active customer participation, and deliver tangible ROI.
3. Operating Hours
If you think about digital advertising in a town centre, it doesn’t typically power down at 5pm. Instead, it often runs 24 hours a day, ensuring maximum exposure for brands, messaging, and advertising campaigns. Many organisations are the same and require their digital signage to operate continuously, as they need their content to be visible and accessible to audiences at all times, not just during standard business hours.
Digital signage systems and displays are built to run around the clock, displaying content and information without interruption.
Regular TVs, however, are not designed for continuous, long-term operation. Should you use them in this way, you run the risk of overheating, experiencing display issues, or even failing prematurely when subjected to extended usage.
Digital signage screens, in contrast, are engineered to withstand the rigours of constant operation. They feature robust components, advanced cooling systems, and specialised parts to ensure reliable, uninterrupted performance. This is crucial for maintaining the integrity and consistency of the displayed content.
4. Content Management
Effective digital signage relies on the ability to easily manage, update, and schedule content across multiple displays. A “digital signage TV” would lack the necessary software and hardware features to facilitate this level of content control and distribution.
Digital signage solutions can run dedicated content management software and cloud-based platforms that allow users to upload, schedule, and remotely control the content shown on their displays from one place. This enables businesses to seamlessly update their signage with real-time information, promotions, or emergency alerts as needed.
To find out more about PeakSignage – our digital signage platform click here.
Consumer TVs, on the other hand, typically only allow for basic content playback, with limited or no options for centralised content management and scheduling. This severely limits the flexibility and effectiveness of using a regular TV for digital signage.
5. Durability
Consumer TVs are built for home use, they do not require vast protection to ensure their durability and security as their use is minor in comparison to the use of public-facing digital displays.
The usual places that brands like their digital signage to be placed are high-traffic, public areas where they may be exposed to various environmental factors, including dust, moisture, and potential vandalism.
Digital signage products are constructed with sturdy, tamper-resistant materials and feature advanced security measures to protect against unauthorised access or tampering.
Regular TVs lack the necessary durability and security features to reliably operate in the demanding environments typical of digital signage applications.
6. Warranty
By investing in digital signage solutions, as opposed to just a TV, you will further protect your devices as reputable providers will have an appropriate warranty package for commercial use and have comprehensive customer support. For example, LamasaTech displays have a 3-year warranty for peace of mind.
Regular TVs are designed for consumer use and come with standard, limited warranties that may not cover the extended operating hours, environmental stresses and the potential vandalism of a digital signage application. Additionally, customer support for regular TVs is often not tailored to the specific needs of commercial digital signage users.
7. Brightness
When it comes to public areas where digital signage is often used, such as shopping malls or business centres, the lighting conditions are typically a lot brighter than the average home. With that being said there is now a range of consumer TVs available where the brightness can reach quite high levels of 1,000-2,000 nits however that can tend to come with a quite large price tag. The average brightness for TVs tends to be around 450 nits. With this in mind, TVs used as digital signage are often overpowered by glare, making the content difficult to see.
By using tailored solutions you can choose the right digital signage for your location. For example, in our ‘How to Choose the Right Digital Window Display for Your Business’ blog post we recommend for outward-facing panels, that a 700 nits panel will be perfect for producing a clear display that stands out and will be bright enough to catch the eye of passersby. However, south-facing window fronts, which receive the most sunlight throughout the day, require high brightness levels to mitigate glare, therefore an outward-facing panel with 3,500 nits is recommended.
Good quality digital signage display solutions come in a range of brightness levels so you are sure to find the best fit for your project and ensure that your content captures attention.
The Importance of Investing in Professional-grade Digital Signage Displays
While the temptation to use a regular TV for digital signage may be strong, given the potential cost savings, it is ultimately not the best option for your business and can compromise the effectiveness and reliability of the digital signage system.
Digital signage displays are built to meet the unique requirements of commercial applications, offering superior display quality, appropriate brightness, continuous operation, content management capabilities, durability, format flexibility and dedicated support & protection.
Businesses looking to implement an effective and long-lasting digital signage solution should invest in professional-grade digital signage displays designed specifically for their needs. The upfront cost may be higher than using a regular TV, but the improved performance, flexibility, and peace of mind make it a worthwhile investment in the long run.
Ready to Start Your Digital Signage Display Project?
We’d love to hear about your project, so get in touch and we’ll help you find the best solution for your requirements.
LamasaTech has been a leader in digital display technology since 2009. We support customers across a range of industries including retail, military and defence, government and public sector, technology, hospitality and education.
