David Colas, one of Panasonic Connect's product managers of Digital Signage Solutions Professional Imaging and Visual Systems, is well-acquainted with displays and how people use them in their personal and professional lives. In this article, he offers insight into the latest trends and applications of display technology.

AVT Question: Please share insight into display technology trends, new form factors, and applications.

Thought Leader: David Colas, Product Manager, Digital Signage Solutions Professional Imaging and Visual Systems at Panasonic Connect

Where was the last place you saw a digital sign? It’s likely we all have a different answer, as digital signs reach 135 million people each week. That means retailers, universities, museums, and other venues leveraging digital signage will need to work harder to captivate their audiences’ attention.

What’s the secret to making sure content stands out amongst the noise? Here are two key trends that will come to dominate the industry: 

First, more organizations will need to implement a cohesive audiovisual ecosystem to create captivating signage. The average consumer digests visuals 60,000 times faster than text, so when stores, museums, restaurants, and universities incorporate unique visual elements, such as real-time video feeds, they can more easily capture the attention of their audiences and effectively share messages. Displays that connect with other audiovisual equipment, such as PTZ cameras, let operators overlay live streams and video feeds via their digital signs for more interactive content.

Second, organizations will turn to touch-enabled displays for better engagement and productivity. For example, touch-enabled signage speeds up the checkout process and reduces wait times by more than 35 percent. There are similar benefits in industries like education, where 73 percent of institutions believe digital signage is critical to operations. In the classroom, touch-enabled displays act as a smart whiteboard, allowing instructors to seamlessly change slides or alter content without having to move back and forth between the board and their computer. Educators will also leverage displays more frequently to better engage students in person, as they can more easily draw, highlight, and collaborate with content in real-time. Plus, they don’t need to worry about losing whiteboard notes to an eraser. Instead, the content drawn on the display can be saved and sent to students after class.