Our digital signage news picked up something, which was not entirely new, but certainly interesting this morning. It was an article about Barco teaming with American Eagle Outfitters for an LED display in Times Square.

For the opening of their new flagship store in New York City’s Times Square, American Eagle Outfitters contracted Barco and the Barnycz Group to create a remarkable, multi-tiered LED display. Concepts for the exterior display took the form of a stunning 12-faceted assemblage of LED panels, almost 15,000 square feet in size, including a soaring 25-story LED tower. When AEO and the Barnycz Group were ready to turn a dream into reality—they selected Barco.

There are literally hundreds of options for utilizing specific digital signage players when performing a deployment. Hardware alone in this industry can be a time-consuming aspect of any implementation. For the simplest of installations there are a few options which can be very simple and helpful, especially as you try to weave through maze of digital signage players.

The first player I would like to talk about briefly is the ASUS EEE Box. This tiny little bugger (sorry to our U.K. friends who may be offended) is currently used as a digital signage player in hundreds of installs worldwide. I know of several 100 displays + networks here in the U.S. using these simple units. The ASUS player is ideal for installations which do not require a great deal of fast moving, high definition content. While the product spec sheet will tell you it can handle high definition--which is technically true--it poops out a bit as you get into really intense HD graphics. However, there are some newer EEE boxes which have been released which contain updated graphics cards as well as higher, better integrated processors above the based 1.6 GHz. The more robust players can work with a greater amount of HD content.

This unit will run you around $300 and up, depending on the specs you wish to have installed.

The Acer Aspire Revo is another, albeit less expensive digital signage player whose hardware components include the following. This nifty little unit touts the following:

My third and final unit I would like to discuss is Apple's Mac Mini. Of the three discussed in this post, the Mac Mini is certainly the most robust--giving it the ability to handle just about any type of HD content you throw its direction. Each Mini comes complete with NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor and a minimum of 2.26 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. Upgrade your cost a C-note and you can enjoy nearly double that capacity. In addition, each player can tap into an 802.11 wireless for simple connectivity which eliminates the need to run Cat5 cabling to each signage display. This bad boy is used by both Helius and Nanonation as a standard for installing professional digital signage. This hardware is great for just about any installation.

This rockin' machine retails for about $600, although you can get it with a slight discount (Apple is almost always a stickler about their reseller rates) as a reseller.

2010 is the year of a completely new age. It represents the year digital advertising will outpace print. Both Media Week and Wired had specifics to say about the prediction that digital would overtake print. The following is a quote from the Wired piece on the subject:

Out of their collective $368 billion budget for 2010, Outsell expects advertisers to spend 32.5 percent on digital advertisements, and only 30.3 percent on print — the first time digital would outsell print, and likely the last time the two sectors would cross paths unless some sort of cataclysmic event intervenes.

The $1,295 Outsell study (press release via Forbes) examined spending habits of 1,008 advertisers in December 2009, finding that online-ad spending will increase 9.6 percent in 2010. while overall marketing and advertising will increase too — but only by 1.2 percent. The news is also somewhat good for print magazines, which the study says will see ad spending increase 1.9 percent.

Digital is beginning to become innumerable as mobile phones, PDAs, digital out-of-home screens, and Internet devices like the PC and Apple's new iPad infiltrate the worlds in which we all live. Of course, I have to put a plug in here for digital sigange and place-based media. The growth of digital ads will be fueled--at least in part--by digital sign technologies. Ad revenues will also see an upswing as new developments like NEC's VUKUNET become more of a household name for OOH advertising and promotion.

I can see at least three reasons why signage will have a huge impact on digital eclipsing print. First, companies are looking for new ways of promotion that have a more measurable ROI. Web analytics has spoiled everyone. Secondly, they'll want more control over who, what where and when content is pushed to a potential buyer/customer. Finally, digital signage is becoming more affordable. Costs for digital signs have decreased substantially. This is due in part to the financial collapse and health competition between sign vendors.

According to the study, the whole pie advertising pie is only set to grow by a measly 1.2 percent. However, I am certain that as 2010 is the year of digital's takeover in advertising, digital signage and OOH will certainly play a role in the expansion.