Digital Signage Glossary and Jargon Buster

When it comes to setting up digital signage or a network based AV system, the terminology can quickly become complex. Yes, you might know what a TV screen is, or even have a rough idea of what is a digital signage media player...

But do you know your LCD from your OLED?

Does the idea of dwell time, pixel pitch or System on Chip make you glaze over and start thinking about lunch?

Never fear - our comprehensive digital signage glossary is here to clarify popular and commonly used terms in the digital signage industry. Notepads at the ready...

A

App

In digital signage, apps can be installed within your CMS (eg. ScreenCloud) and connect to popular apps such as Canva, MS Teams, Unily, Google Workspace and more.

View all our app integrations.

Aspect Ratio

The proportional relationship between the width and height of a display screen or content (e.g., 16:9 for widescreen, 4:3 for standard).

Audience Analytics

Data collected to analyze audience demographics, behavior, and engagement (e.g., dwell time, gaze tracking) with the digital signage content.

Authentication

The process of verifying the identity of a user or device, ensuring only authorized entities can access or control the digital signage network.

B

Bandwidth

The rate at which data can be transferred over a network, usually measured in bits per second (bps). Important for distributing large video files.

Bezel

The border or frame around a display screen. Thin bezels are ideal for creating video walls with minimal visual gaps.

Billboard

A large format display typically used for advertising. Traditionally a billboard would be a static display in a high traffic location, however increasingly billboards are becoming digitized (see DOOH).

Brightness (Nits)

A measure of light intensity emitted by a display, often measured in nits (candelas per square meter, or cd/m2). Higher nits are needed for outdoor or high-ambient-light environments.

Read more: What is Nits vs cd/m²?

C

Cloud-Based Digital Signage

A system where the digital signage software (CMS) is hosted on the internet, allowing remote management and content updates from anywhere.

CMS (Content Management System)

The software platform used to create, upload, schedule, manage, and distribute content to all digital signage displays from a central location. ScreenCloud is a CMS which is used to manage your digital signage content across your entire network.

Content

Any multimedia file (images, videos, HTML, text, data feeds) that is displayed on the screens.

Contrast Ratio

The difference between the brightest white and the darkest black a display can produce. A higher ratio results in a more vivid image.

D

Digital Out of Home (DOOH)

A term for digital media used for advertising in public places outside the home (e.g., electronic billboards, screens in malls or transit stations). Often used to referred generally to billboard advertising, however a billboard is a type of display and DOOH can encompass various different delivery methods.

Read more: What is DOOH?

Digital Signage Network

A collection of interconnected digital displays that are centrally managed for the purpose of information delivery, advertising, or entertainment.

Display

The hardware screen (e.g., LCD, LED, OLED) used to visually present the digital content.

Dwell Time

The amount of time an audience member spends observing or in the vicinity of a digital sign, indicating potential exposure and engagement.

Dynamic Content

Content that changes or updates automatically based on automation, real-time data, time of day, location, or other factors (e.g., live weather, stock tickers).

E

Enclosure

A protective casing or housing used to protect a digital display and associated hardware, especially in outdoor or harsh environments.

Ethernet

A common method of connecting devices in a local area network (LAN) using cables, typically providing a more stable connection than Wi-Fi for media players.

F

Firmware

A specific class of software that provides the low-level control for a device's hardware, often residing in a media player or display.

Flight

The specific period or duration (expressed in days or weeks) during which a piece of content or an advertising campaign is scheduled to run.

G

Geofencing

A location-based service that uses GPS or RFID to define a virtual geographic boundary. Content can be triggered or customized when a device or audience enters this area.

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)

A specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images, primarily used in media players for demanding video content.

H

Hardware

The physical components of a digital signage system, including the screen, media player, mounting system, and cabling.

HTML5

The fifth revision of the Hypertext Markup Language, commonly used to create flexible, responsive, and interactive web-based content for digital signs.

I

Information Cascade

A style of communication used to share key information in larger organizations. Information is shared from the top and passes through tiers of a hierarchal structure to be shared with people/employees at different stages as relevant.

Read more: What is an information cascade?

Information Radiator

A passive source of information, radiating information in a similar way to a radiator with heat. A term often used in Agile programming, but can also be used to refer to digital signage.

Read more: What is an information radiator?

Interactive Content

Content that allows for viewer engagement, often through touchscreens, QR codes, or motion sensors (e.g., wayfinding kiosks, product selectors).

Internal Communication

Any method of communication within an organization. This can incorporate internal business announcements, team meetings, direct messaging, email and any other process whereby information is shared within the workforce.

Read more: The guide to internal communication strategy.

IP Rating (Ingress Protection)

A standard that rates the degree of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects (dust) and water into a piece of electronic equipment.

IPTV (Internet Protocol Television)

A system through which television or live streaming services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a network connection, often integrated as live content on digital signs.

Read more: Live TV for digital signage.

K

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Measurable metrics used to assess the success of a digital signage campaign or network (e.g., engagement rates, sales lift).

Kiosk

A standalone, often interactive, digital signage unit designed for public access, such as check-in, click and collect, or wayfinding. Usually fixed to a counter or enclosed for protection.

L

Layout

The visual arrangement of content zones on a single digital screen (e.g., a main video zone, a static image zone, and a ticker tape zone).

LED Display (Light-Emitting Diode)

A type of display that uses small LEDs as pixels for stronger illumination, often used for large format or outdoor screens.

LCD Display (Liquid Crystal Display)

A common type of flat-panel display technology, often used for indoor digital signage installations.

Loop

A repeating sequence of content or a playlist that continuously cycles on the screen.

M

Media Player

The dedicated hardware device (or integrated software like System-on-Chip) that receives, stores, and plays back the content on the digital display.

Menu Board

Digital signage specifically used in food service environments to display menus, pricing, and promotions.

Find out more: Digital menu boards.

Multizone

A feature of a screen layout that allows different types of content (e.g., video, text, clock) to be displayed simultaneously in separate, defined areas.

N

Narrowcasting

The practice of creating and distributing highly specific content to a small, targeted, and well-defined audience in a particular location (e.g., displaying specific safety instructions to only warehouse staff).

Read more: What is Narrowcasting?

NFC (Near Field Communication)

A short-range wireless technology that allows devices to communicate when held in close proximity, used for interactive tap-to-engage features.

Nits

See Brightness (Nits).

Network Health

The real-time status and operational condition of all devices (players, screens) within the digital signage network.

O

OLED Display (Organic Light-Emitting Diode)

A display technology known for perfect blacks and high contrast, where each pixel generates its own light.

On-Premise Signage

A system where the digital signage software and servers are installed and run locally on the client's own network, rather than in the cloud.

OOH (Out of Home)

Refers to any form of display advertising in public places. While Digital Out of Home refers to dynamic/video content on displays, traditional OOH is often print media on billboards, bus shelters and other visible locations.

P

Pixel

The smallest unit of a digital image or display, typically a tiny dot that contains a single color.

Pixel Pitch

The distance between the centers of two adjacent pixels on an LED display, which dictates the optimal viewing distance and clarity. A smaller pitch means a sharper image viewed up close. Read more: What is Pixel Pitch?

PIXI

Proprietary media player for digital signage by ScreenCloud. Powered by Android, PIXI is a plug and play media player designed to make it easy to connect to your CMS and control content remotely.

Playlist

A sequenced list of content items (images, videos) scheduled to play in a specific order on a digital screen.

PoP (Point of Purchase) Display

Digital signage screens located near where a customer can make a purchase, often used for promotional or cross-selling messages. These can be part of the checkout, eg. touchscreens with promotional content, or they can be standalone screens such as video walls.

Proof of Play (PoP)

Data generated by the media player that confirms exactly when and where a specific piece of content was displayed, essential for digital signage audits, especially when running advertising or DOOH campaigns.

Q

QR Code (Quick Response Code)

A type of matrix barcode that can be scanned by a smartphone to instantly direct the user to a website, video, or app, often used for interaction

QuickPost

An AI-powered digital signage content app from ScreenCloud, designed to create professional looking content from simple inputs. Try Quickpost.

R

Remote Device Management (RDM)

The ability to monitor, control, and update the digital signage network and its components from a central, off-site location using digital signage software.

Find out more about ScreenCloud's Remote Device Management.

Resolution

The total number of pixels on a display screen, expressed as (width x height) (e.g., $1920\times1080$ for Full HD or $3840\times2160$ for 4K).

S

Screen Burn-In (or Burnout)

Permanent discoloration or ghosting on a display caused by a static image being shown for too long.

ScreenCloud OS

Our proprietary operating system, designed specifically for digital signage. ScreenCloud OS is built into our digital signage media players, the Station P1 Pro and PIXI.

Scheduling

The feature within the CMS used to determine the exact time, date, and frequency that specific content or playlists will be displayed on designated screens.

Smart TV

A television with built in internet connectivity, designed to access internet TV such as Netflix, YouTube etc. Most Smart TVs also feature an app store where you can add digital signage apps such as ScreenCloud making them suitable for digital signage.

Popular brands include Samsung Tizen, Sony Bravia and LG webOS.

SoC (System-on-Chip)

A display screen that has an integrated media player and often basic CMS software built directly into the display panel, eliminating the need for an external player box.

Read more: When to use System on Chip (SoC)?

Solid State Drive (SSD)

A type of storage device that uses flash memory, offering faster speed and better durability than traditional spinning hard disk drives (HDDs), making them ideal for media players.

T

Ticker Tape

A horizontal band, usually at the bottom of the screen, used to display scrolling text-based content like news headlines, weather alerts, or stock prices.

Read more: How to setup a ticker tape display.

Touchscreen

A display that allows users to interact directly with the content by touching the screen, enabling features like wayfinding and interactive menus.

V

Video Wall

A multi-screen setup where several individual displays are tiled together and configured to act as one large, seamless screen to display a single, expansive piece of content.

Read more: How to setup video wall digital signage.

Viewer Engagement

A measure of how an audience is interacting with the content, often tracked by metrics like dwell time, click-through rates, or button presses.

W

Wayfinding

Digital signage used to provide navigational assistance and directions to people in large or complex indoor or outdoor spaces (e.g., hospitals, airports, campuses).

Read more: The guide to wayfinding digital signage.

Widget

A small software application or feature that displays a specific type of content, such as a weather forecast, a social media feed, or a clock.

Z

Zone

A defined area on a digital screen layout designated for a specific type of content. Multiple zones allow for the display of different content simultaneously (see Multizone).

What is digital signage?

Digital signage is screens that display anything you might have traditionally put on a sign.

A screen showing a menu in a restaurant? Digital signage. The TVs showing departure and arrival times at an airport? Digital signage. A computer monitor in a factory, showing the total number of widgets produced today, the factory equipment uptime, and a defect count? Yup, digital signage.

Some call them digital signs or local network screens. Others might refer to them by their use case, such as digital menu screens, or digital-out-of-home marketing when used for advertisements. Electronic signage could be digital signage—or it could also refer to auto-changing billboards and transit signage powered by paper, plastic, and motors instead.

No matter what you call it, the concept is the same. Instead of printing out a motivational poster or building a menu board, you hang a screen on the wall, connect it to digital signage software, and schedule content to automatically display when it’s needed.

You need screens, at least one. A media player that can run a digital signage software player. Digital signage software, to pair with that player. And media to display on your screens.

What are screens for digital signage?

When it comes to digital signage screens, there is a huge choice, depending on your use case.

You’ve got both the physical screen—the TV, monitor, or video wall to display content—and the screen in your digital signage software where you manage the hardware virtually. Let’s get the hardware out of the way first. 

First, what’s the difference between a TV vs a monitor—or between a display and a video wall?

A display’s any screen that shows your data. It’s the superset; every hardware you use as digital signage is a display or screen.

A monitor is, typically, a computer monitor, a screen 17”-32” or so in diagonal width, often either in HD or 4K resolution (with 5K and 8K resolution in high-end monitors). Monitors do nothing on their own and don’t include built-in software—and may not have built-in speakers. You can’t watch TV on a monitor, say, without adding a media player device.

TVs start where monitors leave off. They’re 32” to 92” in diagonal width, and also typically are HD or 4K resolution (which means a monitor will look clearer close-up than a larger TV). They can at least receive TV signals and play them without additional hardware, usually have built-in speakers, and today often include smart TV hardware and Google TV, webOS, or Roku software with support for streaming apps. Professional TVs pair similar features with more robust hardware, thinner bezels, and heat dissipation to support day-long operation.

Video walls are the next step up. They’re larger than TVs; they’re built from individual square LED panels and can be as large as your budget allows. But they’re also more similar to monitors, as video walls can only play a video signal, and require additional hardware to stream media or add audio.

Which one you use as digital signage depends on your budget and needs. But no matter which type of display you use, in your digital signage software, it’ll be called a screen, display, or monitor. Think of the screen-in-the-app as the avatar of your screen-on-the-wall. Need to manage the screen over your water cooler? Open your signage app, and click the water cooler screen.

What is a digital signage media player?

A media player could be many things (Windows Media Player is the classic app to play mp3s and videos on PCs, for instance) but with digital signage, a media player is a hardware device that runs digital signage player software and streams photos, slides, videos, app dashboards, and more to your screen.

A smart TV might come with one built-in, with an ARM chip inside your display running Google TV, for example. Your home TV might have a Chromecast, or Apple TV connected to it—that’s a media player, too.

Digital signage can be powered by consumer-grade media players. Or, you can purchase professional media players like ScreenCloud’s P1 device that includes the signage-ready ScreenCloud OS. Instead of suggesting popular new TV shows and games, professional media players are focused solely on signage.

Prefer DIY hardware? A Raspberry Pi computer can be repurposed for open-source digital signage. Or, you could use a spare PC or thin client to power digital signage as well—and a video wall will typically require a PC to power their larger resolutions. They’re more than just a media player—but in this case, they’d count as a media player, too.

What is digital signage software?

Now, time to get your displays to show more than your media player’s home screen. For that, you need two pieces of software that work together.

First, digital signage software—also called screen management systems or digital signage content management systems—is the platform that will power your digital signage. Most digital signage software today is web-based software-as-a-service. You’ll sign up online, add your screens, and manage everything in one place from the apps and slides that will show on your signage to the schedule for when content should be on your screens and when they should be asleep.

Then, to show those slides and content on your signage, you’ll need a digital signage player app on your media player (or installed directly on your Smart TV). To get ScreenCloud on your TV, for instance, you’ll need the ScreenCloud Player App from the Play Store on a Google or Android TV. Or, you can use a web player (called virtual screens in some apps) such as ScreenCloud Web Player to turn any browser or a Chromebook into a digital signage player.

Open the player app, and it’ll show a pairing code, authentication code, or pair code depending on your signage software. Jot down that code, then in your digital signage software add a new screen, and enter the pairing code. 

Voilà, your physical screen is now linked as a virtual screen in your digital signage software.

You can then organize Screens into Screen Groups (otherwise called Display Groups or local network screens) to, perhaps, put all of your Downtown Office screens in one group and your Retail Store screens in another. Or, go deeper and first make a Space for each location, and add screen groups to separate the front desk screens from the in-office signage, for example. You can also often tag screens to add details about how that display is used, to see all of your conference room signage together, say.

Since digital signage software typically charges per screen, your app might let you add a screen in preview mode to test it before enabling it as a licensed display. You also may need to deactivate a screen to remove it from your digital signage software, if it’s no longer being used, and free up that slot for a newer display.

Adding content to digital signage

Now for the fun part: Putting data on your signage.

Content is the catchphrase for everything you might put on your screens.

Media, or Assets in some software, are photos, videos, PDF documents, and potentially other files to display on digital signage. Media are static; upload them to digital signage software, then stream them directly to signage without any editing or live updates.

Apps, sometimes called modules or integrations, are to your signage what apps are from the App Store or Play Store are to your phone. They’re typically player versions of software your team already uses. A Google Sheets app on ScreenCloud, for example, shows an embedded spreadsheet, while the Slack app shows new messages from a specific channel. Just as you need a digital signage app account to use a digital signage player app on your TV, you’ll typically need an active account to use an app on digital signage. Many digital signage apps include a blank canvas to design slides or presentations as well.

Links and Embed options work like a mini web browser in digital signage, to display a live-updating website or an embedded graph or other widget from a web app. ScreenCloud additionally includes a Dashboards tool to scrape any section of a website or app, and show it live on digital signage, along with a Playgrounds tool to code digital signage slides in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Need to show a live video, or want to switch your displays’ content immediately to ensure everyone can see the same app? Cast an app or piece of media to do that. It’s the same idea as the Chromecast button in Netflix on your phone, only here you’re casting work slides or Zoom calls to digital signage.

Organizing content on digital signage

With media and apps ready to show on screens, it’s time to plan out your signage.

Start with Playlists. If media and apps are the individual slides in a PowerPoint presentation, Playlists on digital signage are the full presentation. They’re where you order media and slides, one after another, and tell the signage software how long to display them on signage.

Need to display more than one app or media, on a single screen, at the same time? Layouts let you build the work equivalent of a news channel, with multiple pieces of content playing simultaneously (perhaps a core slide in the center of the screen, the weather on a sidebar, and a scrolling ticker tape along the bottom of the screen). In ScreenCloud, first build a Channel, and choose the layout you want to show the apps, media, and playlists needed for your signage simultaneously. Then set your screens to show that channel, and they’ll show the same content simultaneously—what some platforms call sync play.

Then, Schedule your content to choose what shows when. A restaurant might have a breakfast menu shown until 11AM, before switching to the regular menu. An office might replace charts and data with transit arrival times when it’s time to leave the office. Depending on your digital signage software, you may set the content schedules inside playlists and channels, or in a dedicated Schedules tool. You also may be able to set wake and sleep times for each display in their individual screen’s settings.

Finally, think through what to show where. You could broadcast an announcement and show the same thing to everyone, company-wide. Or you could narrowcast, showing focused messages to specific teams (your dev team cares about the number of open bug reports; the finance team would be better served by a revenue dashboard, say).

Build better digital signage

Beyond that, most of the terms in digital signage platforms are fairly straightforward. Want to see how an app or playlist would look on signage? The Preview button does exactly what you’d expect. Ready to go live? Seems sensible to click the Publish or Save button.

Then start pushing the limits. What can you build with your signage? What new dashboard can you build that’d help your team? What number could you show on signage from your sales or accounting app could you show on signage to keep everyone motivated?

Grab a free 14-day trial of ScreenCloud, if you haven’t set up your signage yet, download the player app onto your TV’s media player, and build the signage that will keep your team productive and your customers coming back.