A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z ----- A ----- Go to Top ABN (Ad-based Network) - revenue from third party advertising is not necessarily the primary objective of a Digital Signage network. Digital signage networks that do support third party advertising is normally referred to as ad-based networks, and rely on the ad-revenue to sustain the network and generate an extra revenue stream to enhance return on investment (ROI) for the system owner/s. In order for an ABN to be viable it is required to have the right balance of relevant content to advertising, as well as sufficient dwell-time in order to engage the viewer.
Activation - buying decision motivated at the point-of-purchase by such factors as buying convenience, price, promotion, impulse selection, etc.
ActiveMovie - a streaming media technology now known as DirectShow, developed by Microsoft to display the video on screen. ActiveMovie allows users to view media streams, whether from local hard drive or distributed via the Internet.
ActiveX - an open integration platform that provides web developers a fast and easy way to create integrated programs and content for the Internet and Intranets. Using ActiveX, you can easily insert multimedia effects, interactive objects, and sophisticated programs into a Web page.
A/V Distribution System - refers to the distribution of multimedia content from the media player to the display device.
Advertising Network - system of digital displays connected and controlled through a network such as the Internet.
Advertising Displays - any location-based display that carries advertising. Air - an option that helps keep underlined text legible. An outline that is the color of the background ("air"), is applied to the letters of underlined text. When the color of the text and the underline is the same, the air keeps the text and underline from blending together.
Alert - from a digital signage operator's viewpoint, an alert could be a status message that is sent to report an error or some other unexpected system condition. On the message side of a digital display system, an alert could be either locally or regionally generated then transmitted via a digital signage network as a warning message.
Animation - a sequence of frames that, when played in order at sufficient speed, presents a smoothly moving image like a film or video. An animation can be digitized video, computer-generated graphics, or a combination.
Animated GIF - an animation in the GIF format, capable of automatic looping playback. See also GIF.
Assets - audio, video, static photography, logo type, etc used to create finished advertising spots.
ATM toppers - video screens built into ATMs (automatic teller machines) that run advertising and other information independent of the ATM.
ATSC - off the air digital TV channels using a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission that replaced much of the analog NTSC television system.
Audience - in relation to digital signage, the possible viewers of an ad. This is sometimes used loosely with the word "target" to suggest possible catchments of future buying consumers.
Authoring Station - a machine running software, used for authoring and publishing the playlists and schedules that are sent to media players.
Authoring System - Software for digital signage content programming.
AVI - AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave and was introduced by Microsoft in 1992 as a video file format. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback. Like the DVD video format, AVI files support multiple streaming audio and video, although these features are seldom used.
----- B ----- Go to Top Back channel - a data communication from which a media player exchanges information with a network management server. The back channel communications include content and playlist download, playback and system log upload, remote system control, etc.
Background - a graphic image, animation or plain color used as the basis for a screen page on which elements are placed.
Bandwidth - The amount of data that is able to be sent over a network, measured in Kilobytes and Megabytes per second (Kbps and Mbps). Modern low bandwidth communications include dialup modems and ISDN, ranging from 56Kbps to 128Kbps, but actual downloading times are closer to 1/10th of this speed. High-speed cable modems, DSL, T-1, FIO, 3G data service and Satellite are much faster, by factors of as little as 10 or even higher than 100.
Baud rate - a measure of the speed of serial communication using a modem or null-modem, roughly equivalent to bits per second.
Bevel - a three-dimensional effect that can be applied to text elements and clips in the application.
Bitmap - a type of font or graphics file that is stored in the form of a pattern of memory bits, each of which specifies the color of a pixel of the stored image. Bitmap file formats include BMP, PCX, PCD, JPG, TIFF, GIF, and IFF.
Bitrate – video compression sampling rate. For digital signage application, 3 to 5 megabit bitrate is a good balance for video file size and video display quality.
BlueRay Disc - an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the standard DVD format. Its main uses are for storing high-definition video, PlayStation 3 games, and other data, with up to 25 GB per single layered, and 50 GB per dual layered disc. The disc has the same physical dimensions as standard DVDs and CDs.
BMP - BMP is a bitmap file format widely used in Windows PCs that stands for Basic Multilingual Plane.
BPM - beats per minute, the unit of measure that defines the tempo of music.
Broadband - high bandwidth, fast speed Internet connection.
Broadcast - a type of connection in which a host system sends information to many media players all at once, rather than making a separate connection to each player one at a time.
Browser - software for viewing web sites, HTML files, and related content, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and FireFox.
Button - an area on the screen that responds when selected. Interactive digital signage screens consist primarily of buttons for navigation applications such as wayfinding, product look up, etc.
Byte - the basic unit of computer storage, comprising eight bits. Typically, a byte can store one character of text, or one pixel.
----- C ----- Go to Top Cabling - the data lines run to connect computer, display, or power sources.
Call center - a business service center staffed by telemarketing, telesales, or technical support staff.
Captive audience networks - A captive audience network is a digital advertising media network installed where your target audience is assured to remain in place for a period of time. Typical captive audience networks are installed in waiting rooms, supermarket queues, gas station pumps, banks, and wherever people gather and wait.
CAT5, CAT6 - A data and communications cable adopted by the Telecommunications Industry Association and ISO (International Standards Organization). Category 5 or 6 uses all four pairs of wires to both send and receive. While CAT5 is adequate to run 10 Megabit Ethernet, CAT6 cable is capable of running Gigabit Ethernet.
CD - See compact disc.
CD-ROM - (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) a compact disc containing up to 650 megabytes of information that can be read only from a CD-ROM drive. Audio CDs can be played on both CD players and many CD-ROM drives, but a CD-ROM cannot be used on a CD player.
CD-ROM drive - a device that uses laser optics to read software and file information from a compact disc.
Channel - a script that has been published in such a way that when its contents change, the updated material is forwarded to machines running the viewer that have subscribed to the channel.
Character generator - a device for creating text on video. Character generators (CG) are often used to make information channels and electronic bulletin boards for TV and Cable and more recently have been adapted to digital signage systems.
Clear QAM – unscrambled digital cable TV channel.
Closed circuit television - Traditionally, a private television network broadcasted internally via coax (RG59 or RG6) cable network within an organization. Also known as CCTV.
Codec - a software module responsible for compressing and/or decompressing an encoded media format such as AVI digital video.
Color depth - the number of possible colors in a graphic image, stored as a given number of bits per pixel. A color depth of 8 bits provides 256 colors; 16 bits (also known as "High Color") provides about 65,000 colors; 24 bits (also known as "True Color") provides about 16,000,000 colors.
Color palette - a set of colors that make up an image or animation, or the set of colors available to be applied to elements on a page.
Compact disc - a high-fidelity digital audio recording medium. A standard CD is 12 centimeters (approximately 5 inches) in diameter, with an identifying label on one side.
Composite video - a standard analog video signal containing color, brightness, and sync information. Composite video usually interconnects using RCA-style connectors.
Compression - the process of condensing a computer file, such as graphic, video, or animation, using special hardware, software, or both so that it requires less storage space.
Confirmed broadcasting - broadcasting in which there is a back channel through which media players can respond to transmissions with confirmation or error messages. See also back channel.
Content - any media files that are played back for communication purposes, including graphic files, sound files, video files, XML/RSS data files and script files.
Content Distribution Server - a computer server, or device that stores the contents that are distributed to the media player in a digital sign network.
CPM - (Cost-Per-Thousand) the cost to generate 1,000 impressions.
Crawling text – moving text usually at the bottom of a digital signage screen that displays short headlines, RSS feeds, or other messages which can be read quickly. Also known as text “ticker”.
Crop – to cover up portions of a graphic image that are not needed by adjusting its top, bottom, and side borders.
CRT - (Cathode Ray Tube) CRTs are the glass vacuum picture tubes inside televisions and computer monitors. They are based on the emission of a magnetically targeted stream of electrons from the back of the picture tube on to phosphors located on at the front. The electron hitting the phosphors causes the emission of light with a vibrancy still unrivalled by competing technologies, such as gas plasma displays and liquid crystal displays. The big draw-back of CRTs is their large depth of the glass picture tube required for the projection of the stream of electrons. The CRT is being replaced by the modern plasma, LCD and LED screens.
----- D ----- Go to Top Database - the collection of data on accounts, players, schedules, etc. that collectively define an information network installation and its settings.
Datacasting - Broadcast of digital information over networks to receivers and players. Datacasting is sometimes used as an alternative to traditional video broadcasting, because the receivers and player units can have the "intelligence" to customize their playback programming for the location and intended audience. The system of receivers set up to receive messages from a particular datacast are known as Datacasting Networks, which are a venue for advertisers.
Day-parting – refers to a content programming schedule that allows for displaying content during specific hours of the day on specific days of week.
Default – a value or option that system uses if you do not specify anything.
Dial-up - access to the Internet that involves the computer using a modem to dial the phone number for another computer or ISP that provides the Internet access. See also ISP.
Digital TV - the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by discrete (digital) signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV.
Digital Dynamic Signage (Signs) - Digital dynamic signage is a term used to describe the growing trend where flat panel devices such as plasma, LCD, and LED displays are used as moving posters, electronic bulletin boards, and the like.
Digital in-store merchandising - Digital in-store merchandising refers the use of digital audio/visual equipment and digital tags such as RFID in retail environments to help compete for consumer attention. Increasingly, flat panel display devices, such as plasma screens, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and LED (light emitting diodes) signs are being used to fill all available merchandising "real estate".
Digital Media - media in digital format such as MPEG, AVI, QuickTime, JPEG, Bitmap.
Digital media network - The term digital media network can refer to anything from multiple websites, to multiple television stations being centrally owned and operated. With the reduction in cost of custom controllable player devices, a new breed of digital media network is emerging, known under many different terms. The industry appears to be settling on the term digital signage to describe these new digital media networks, where custom images are digitally delivered to sign-like devices located throughout retail environments, or the enterprise.
Digital media networks - Digital Media Networks consist of output devices such as televisions, computer monitors, plasma display panels, LED and liquid crystal displays that are networked together and remotely controlled a network operator. A digital media network may be used for advertising, merchandising, delivering news or emergency information, or corporate and community events -- depending on the venue. Such networks are appearing in venues such as retail outlets, shopping malls, franchises, office buildings, outdoor billboards, stadiums and sporting arenas.
Digital Media Platform - the infrastructure (hardware, software, connectivity and various resources) that is purposefully designed to host, support and broadcast various media file types with the objective to entertain, inform, and educate a targeted audience. Interactive layers and peripheral devices can be added atop this base to create an interactive media platform.
Digital multimedia broadcast - the process of broadcasting multimedia over a broadcasting antenna, satellite or Internet, to be tuned in by multimedia receivers, or players, capable of playing back the multimedia program. Through a process called multicast, a single broadcast can send programming to thousands of receivers, which can play back the content individualized to the location. This is one of the advantages of multimedia broadcasting over traditional video broadcasting.
Digital Out Of Home (DOOH) – See out-of home media network.
Digital Signage (Signs) - The combination of a display device, computer (aka media player) and application specific software used to present information, advertising and other messages. Digital signs (such as LCD, LED, plasma displays, or projected images) can be found in public and private environments, such as retail stores and corporate buildings.
Digital Signage Network - A network of digital signage displays that are programmed and controlled remotely by the operators. The advantages of digital signage network include the rapid ability to update content in real-time, and the ability to deliver specific messages to specific audiences in specific locations at a specific time.
Digital Signage Networks - a grouping and/or network of digital signage.
Digital video - a video that has been digitally encoded so that it can be transferred and controlled from a PC and displayed directly on a computer monitor.
DirectShow - a media-streaming architecture for Microsoft Windows. Using DirectShow, your applications can perform high-quality video and audio playback or capture. DirectShow is formally called ActiveMovie.
DirectX - a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft Windows platforms.
Display Device - a CRT, flat-panel LCD, plasma, projector or other device that is the end-point of a digital signage system.
Dithering - an image-processing technique that makes a digitized or rendered image appear smoother and more natural by simulating additional colors.
DPI - dots per square inch.
Draw object - a box, oval, line, or arrow element added to a screen page using a Design Draw menu.
Drawing program - an application, often called a structured or vector drawing program, used to create and manipulate two-dimensional images and shapes as independent objects, as opposed to bitmap images.
Drop-down Icon - a toolbar icon with the symbol that displays a list of options; choosing one of the options enables you to access other functions or menus.
Dwell-time - the amount of time a customer remains in a venue, or a specific area within the venue. Dwell-time is an important variable in determining display placement, advertisement size (seconds), content loop duration, advertising-to-content ratio, and advertisement cost. One of the primary objectives of Digital Signage is to increase dwell-time, and therefore often forms part of the Return on Investment (ROI) metrics and cost justification value proposition.
Dynamic Digital Signage - See digital signage.
Dynamic Signage - See digital signage.
Dynamic Signs - See digital signage.
Dynamic visual messaging - The process of using animated graphic design to communicate to target audiences through signs and public displays.
----- E ----- Go to Top Electronic billboards - billboards that can be updated electronically. This term covers a wide array of products. Sometimes it is used to refer to television channels run by computers, and sometimes it refers to very large screen video displays actually being used outdoors as billboards. Both are growing trends in advertising.
Electronic kiosks - terminals that disseminate information and services to the public through touch-screens and video displays. Electronic kiosks come in all shapes and sizes. They are often built by display companies and customized to individual needs by multimedia developers and value added resellers. They often incorporate card readers, coupon printers, and other devices specific to their application. The use of electronic kiosks as Internet Access Terminals is a growing trend.
Electronic Signage - See digital signage
Emergency Alert Systems - systems allowing for the rapid dissemination of late-breaking news and information which may or may not be connected to the FCC broadcast requirement known as EAS. EAS is an acronym for the federally mandated Emergency Alert System used by all broadcasters in the United States.
Emergency Notification Systems - See emergency alert systems
Emergency Response Networks - See emergency alert systems
Enclosure - A piece of equipment which houses the components, such as a monitor or display, and in some cases a computing device and/or other option peripherals devices such as printers, keyboards, etc.
ERP - (enterprise resource planning) business software for running every aspect of a company including managing orders, inventory, accounting, and logistics. Well known ERP software providers include BAAN, Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP.
Event - an action in a script; virtually everything that happens in a script is an event, including text, sounds, wipes, animations, etc.
Expression - a mathematical or logical statement that a software program can evaluate to arrive at a variable value or TRUE/FALSE condition.
Expression-based Media & Social Media Applications - invites people to engage with beneficial and entertaining content that encourages users to HAVE FUN. It also encourages people to share information and talk to each other in a user-controlled media environment.
Extension - See file-type extension.
----- F ----- Go to Top
Fade - a gradual change in a setting (such as volume) that takes place over a specified period of time. See also fade-in; fade-out.
Fade-in - a gradual increase in a setting (such as volume) that begins at a zero point and reaches a specified value in a certain length of time.
Fade-out - a gradual decrease in a setting (such as volume) that begins at a specified value and reaches zero in a certain length of time.
File - a named and saved collection of computer data, such as a script, background, sound effect, animation, or clip.
File format - the structure of a file, which defines the way it is stored and used. Generally, a file-type extension to the file name identifies the format. For example, some common bitmap graphics file formats are BMP, GIF, TIF, PCX, and JPG. Common video formats are AVI, MOV, MPG and WMV. A common audio file format is WAV and MP3.
File name - a unique name used to identify a file.
File-type Extension - a suffix of a dot (.) followed by three characters, added to a file name to identify the type of file. It is not required by Windows naming standards, but files saved from a given software program are generally given an extension.
Flat Panel Signage - See digital signage
Flight - the display of an ad or other content message on the display.
Flow - the sequence of pages shown when you run a script. This can be different from the sequence of the pages in the script itself.
Fly-on - a type of wipe in which an image or text moves onto the screen from a position outside the screen borders.
Font - a set of characters that has the same typeface, style (italic, bold, etc.) and size (10,12, 24, etc.). See also font size.
Font Size - the height of a character together with the amount of space between lines of text. Size is measured in points for printed text and in pixels for text that is displayed on screen in the program. See also point.
Fps - See frames per second.
Frame - In an animation or video, one of the individual images displayed in sequence with others to create the illusion of movement.
Frames per second - the speed at which an animation, film or video is displayed. The frames per second setting for an animation should be at least 12 to create the illusion of movement. Full motion video is usually displayed at 24 to 30 frames per second.
FTP - (File Transfer Protocol) a standard protocol for transferring data over the Internet. To use FTP, FTP software must be set up on both sending and receiving ends of an FTP transmission, and the client (initiator) must have a username, password and a valid target address on the server.
FTP Server - a computer that can receive requests for an FTP link from a client machine, or the software on that machine that allows it to do so.
----- G ----- Go to Top Genlock - a video device that synchronizes two video signals and enables them to be mixed; for example, to overlay a subtitle produced on the computer onto live video.
GIF - See bitmap; file format.
Graphic Handle - a small, solid square placed along the edge of a clip, used to adjust the size or shape of the element.
Graphical User Interface - (GUI) a computer working environment, such as Windows, that represents files and operations visually, using icons, buttons, windows, and other imagery that you can manipulate with a mouse.
Graphics - images such as symbols, drawings, diagrams, photographs and clip art.
Group - A collection of pages or elements represented by a single line in the Main menu.
----- H ----- Go to Top HDTV - (high definition television) The new generation of digital video content, capable of almost three times the clarity of legacy analog NTSC video. The standard HDTV formats are 720P, 1080i and 1080P.
HDTV signage - See digital signage
Head-end - an installation that is the final point from which video feeds for multiple channels are sent to broadcast or cable television customers. In addition to transmitting equipment, a head-end can contain feeds for various channels.
Health Monitoring - In information technology and multimedia terms, health monitoring refers to checking on the status of computers to see if they are still running.
High Color - a setting describing graphics that have 16-bit color, providing up to approximately 65,000 colors in the image.
Hit Area - (hot spot) the area of an interactive button that responds when the mouse pointer passes over it or clicks on it. This can be a rectangular area surrounding the button, or an irregular area defined by pixels in the button image.
Horizontal scan rate - a figure that describes the speed of the electron beam that creates the scan lines of a video or computer display. The horizontal scan rate for standard NTSC/PAL video is approximately 15 kHz. For VGA displays and above, scan rates of 31.5 kHz or more are used.
Host, FTP - See FTP server
HTML - (Hypertext Markup Language) HTML is the language used to create Web pages for display in Web Browsers. HTML can be created directly with text editors or Web publishing programs, such as DreamWeaver, or it can be the output of other programs that make dynamic webpages on the fly. When you select "view source" from your Web browser, the code that you are viewing is HTML.
Hz - the abbreviation for hertz, or cycles per second. This is a measurement for frequency. You often hear Hz referred to in a computer's CPU speed, or a monitor's refresh rate. The CPUs in Personal Computers just passed from commonly being measured in MHz to being measured in GHz. Monitor refresh rates are most frequently measured in KHz. Khz means kilo-hertz. Kilo means 1,000. So 2 KHz is 2000 hertz. MHz means maga-hertz or 1,000,000 Hz. GHz means giga-hertz or 1,000,000,000 Hz. THz mean Tera-Hertz or 1,000,000,000,000 hertz.
----- I ----- Go to Top IFF - See bitmap; file format
IIS - (Internet Information Services) Microsoft's suite of Internet-related software included with the Windows 2000 and above operating system software. IIS provides both FTP server and web server capability.
Image Processing - enhancing and manipulating an image, such as by adjusting its size, resolution, or color palette.
Infinite Loop - See loop, infinite.
Information Display Systems - See digital signage
In-Store Digital Media - See digital signage
Interactive - where man meets machine and interacts, the most common form of interactive system is a touch screen or buttons on a kiosk type display device.
Interactive Digital Signage - An interactive layer is added to a digital signage system, allowing the targeted audience and users to engage with the on-screen content in real-time by means of a specialized devices, touch screen, or mobile phone.
Interactive Kiosks - usually free-standing information displays that allow users to retrieve information through touch-screens, buttons, and video displays. Interactive kiosks are frequently controlled by computers running software written with multimedia authoring software.
Interactive Script - a script in which the viewer controls the direction of the production.
Interlace - a process used to refresh video displays and some computer displays that alternately scans every other horizontal scan line in the display. Interlaced displays often flicker, especially when showing static images containing narrow horizontal lines.
Internal communications - a term referring to communication within a company or supply chain. Also used to refer to the policies, departments, and specific technologies. Telephones, faxes, computers, bulletin boards, memos, newsletters, and email are all part of a company's internal communications.
Interrupt scheduling - a type of scheduling for pages that causes a scheduled page to play at a precise time, interrupting any other script activity currently occurring.
IP address - an address in four-part numerical format that uniquely identifies a computer accessible over a TCP/IP-based network or the Internet. For example, 127.0.0.10.
IP Multicast - (Internet Protocol Multicast) IP Multicast is a networking transmission protocol allowing multiple computers to simultaneously receive the same transmission. This is faster than sending packet to each individual computer, and is an efficient way to update many remote locations simultaneously. Each player site is "tuned in" for the packets being sent by the broadcast server. The question then arises, how can each remote site deliver customized content to its localized audience? The answer is in the fact that each player knows where it is, and makes intelligent choices about what parts of the broadcast it needs, if any. IP Multicast is not limited to the Internet and terrestrial connections, but can also be broadcast over Satellite to be received by inexpensive VSAT dishes -- often already part of a company's infrastructure for their WAN. In this way, multimedia networks of unlimited sizes can be created.
ISA - (Industry Standard Architecture) a standard expansion bus for internal devices on the PC platform.
ISP - (Internet service provider) a company that provides web hosting, FTP hosting, email and other Internet services.
IT - (Information Technology) IT is used to apply to everything having to do with computers, networking, and information systems. The "IT field" means the jobs and industry that surrounds configuring, installing, and keeping computers running. The term MIS (Management and Information Systems) is also frequently used. Most medium to large size companies have an IT or MIS department.
----- K ----- Go to Top Kerning - an adjustment of the normal space between certain combinations of characters, to eliminate excess space.
kHz - the abbreviation for kilohertz, or thousands of cycles per second.
Kiosk - an electronic device the provides information (via a display), is interactive in nature (a multimedia combination), and allows for input (via an input device such as a touchscreen or a keyboard). The kiosk is unique from a standard pc as it is created for a specfic user and specific purpose and is owned, controlled, and operated by the deployer.
----- L ----- Go to Top
LAN - (local area network) a network of computers sharing a single server or servers in a single location, typically in an office or building. See also WAN.
Laserdisc - a video storage medium that can play back high-quality video images and sound from a laser-read optical disc.
Layout, screen – referring to segmentation of digital signage screens. Also see Zoning.
LCD - (Liquid Crystal Display) LCDs are thin displays used for digital signage, TV, computer monitors, wristwatches, digital thermometers, microwaves and countless other technologies -- possibly the most common and diverse electronic flat screen technology in use today. LCDs contain two thin transparent surfaces (usually glass), with grooves full of a liquid crystal substance. Thin film transistors (TFTs) on the surface material apply an electric current to the liquid crystals. This current will polarize the crystals, making them twist. This twisting blocks light. When off, the liquid crystals go into random alignment and let light pass through.
LCD projection panel - a portable display unit that is placed on top of an overhead projector and connected to a computer so that the computer's display can be projected onto a large screen.
LED - (light emitting diode) diodes are electronic components that let electricity pass in only one direction. Light emitting diodes are diodes that emit visible light when electricity is applied, similar to a light bulb. When many LEDs are side-by-side, they can create pictures, such as the scrolling red LED signs found everywhere. LED displays are often confused with LCDs (liquid crystal displays), but they are different technologies. Most outdoor digital billboards use LED technology.
Linked content - content that is referenced by a script, but is not sent as part of the script when that script is sent to media players. Linked content can be updated at a separate time from normal script content or from an independent source.
Local affiliate - Local television and radio affiliates broadcast national content while retaining regional control. For instance, major metropolitan areas may have CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, UPN, and WB networks each represented by local channels.
Location based advertising - the placement of advertisements near an actionable location. In other words, location based advertising deals with strategically placing messaging near where buyer behavior can be most immediately influenced, and converted into a sale. This most often applies in retail settings, such as shopping malls.
Location based media - refers to any public display media, such as signs, billboards and posters located out of home, usually near where the audience is near the point of purchase decision.
Log file - a text file consisting of timestamped status and error messages, detailing the operational history of a given piece of software.
Login - a name or account under which someone gains a certain level of access to a computer.
Loop - a setting determining the number of times a sound, media clip or animation should repeat when it runs.
----- M ----- Go to Top Marquee - the term marquee is often used to describe scrolling text effects for displaying headline news or short messages. Also see crawling text.
MCI - (Media Control Interface) The standard method of controlling multimedia devices before DirectShow for Windows platform. It is a standard for communicating with devices that support VCR-like operations like play, pause, stop, etc., such as MPEG playback cards. A given device might offer both MCI and DirectShow drivers.
Media Player - a media player, sometimes referred to as “player,” is a PC specifically designed to stand up to the rigors of a digital signage network. High-end graphics cards, small form factors, good processing speed and great cooling are what make a Media Player.
Media Processor - See media player
MHz - the abbreviation for megahertz, or millions of cycles per second.
MID - the file-type extension used for MIDI compositions. See also MIDI; file format.
MIDI - (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) a hardware and software standard for electronic musical instruments and related equipment. MIDI also defines the standard file format (.MID) used for MIDI compositions.
Mixer - in the Sound menu, a set of control panels that allow you to adjust the volume and pan settings of all sound sources in a script.
Mobile Click - the user’s phone number is treated much like a web “cookie”, adding a layer of measurability to track user statistics across digital signage networks. It enables the dynamic digital signage system to recognize a unique user engaging with a social media application via a mobile phone.
Motion Displays - any signs or displays with moving elements.
MOV - the file-type extension for digital video files in the QuickTime format. See file format.
MPEG - (Motion Picture Experts Group) a universal standard used for the compression of digital video and audio sequences. MPEG sacrifices some image quality to achieve very high compression.
MPEG-4 - MPEG-4 is the latest compression standard developed by MPEG, the same group that brought us MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. MPEG-4 brings higher levels of interaction with content, controlled by the content developers. It also brings multimedia to new types of networks, including those employing relatively low bitrates, and mobile ones.
MSF - (minutes, seconds, frames) a way of measuring time on a compact disc (CD), expressed in the format mm:ss:ff, where mm is minutes, ss is seconds and ff is frames.
Multichannel Player - a player that outputs multiple streams of unique content to multiple display devices.
Multi-tile - a multi-tile divides the source image into several "slices", which are tiled together to produce a final image of the desired size. See also tiling
Multimedia - the combination of various presentation media such as text, sound, graphics, animation, and video. Multimedia displays - TVs, plasma display panels, LCDs or other video display devices delivering multimedia content, often connected to a computer. A touch screen is also a type of multimedia display but with interactive capability.
Multimedia Signs - See digital signage
Multi-style button - a selector-like button in the Text and Clips menus, used to access a variety of styles that can be applied to text or graphics. See also selector.
----- N ----- Go to Top Narrowcasting - Narrowcasting describes the technology that is capable of delivering the multimedia programs to specifically targeted group of digital signage screens, including plasma, LCD and LED displays, placed in public places for advertising or information dissemination. Usually the screens are controlled by a central management system. The receivers or media players for each display are more intelligent in receiving the up-to-minute content from multiple sources and dynamically displaying the rich-media contents according to the designate programs. In contrast to traditional broadcasting, the programs for the targeted group of displays are far more timely, relevant and effective which opens a new dimension for advertising companies to offer enhanced sponsorship programs or businesses to reach their employees without geographic boundary.
Narrowcasting Networks - Narrowcasting networks are a new type of digital media designed to reach targeted portions of the public. They employ selective broadcasts of media-rich content to a variety of types of "receivers". These receivers are typically some form of television, computer monitor, or flat screen display such as plasma display panels (PDPs) or liquid crystal displays (LCDs) with a multimedia player attached. They emulate the appearance of signs, billboards, and kiosks, located in prime locations for exposure to your desired demographics. These players can then be selectively updated with scheduled, rapidly produced, and rapidly adapted programming. Narrowcasting networks may display targeted messaging to bus terminals, retail outlets, sports arenas, theaters, outdoor billboards, office buildings, and other public venues. More narrowcast networks are springing up around the world as the cost of deployment decreases, and the ease of maintenance increases.
Network administrator - an information technology professional responsible for setting up, maintaining, and securing a computer network. Network administrators often work in, or run, the IT department of a company.
Network operator - a company that manages and maintains a large computer network. Media network operator often refers to an advertising network operator, which is a company owning and operating a large number of remote location-based multimedia players delivering targeted messaging to high traffic locales.
Newscasting - sending news out over the Internet, either point-to-point, or with multicast for client computers to receive and display.
New Media Triad - the media distribution model by which brands and advertisers can engage with consumers using various digital media, all within an integrated campaign.
NTSC - (National Television Standards Committee) the color video and broadcasting standard used mainly in North America and Japan. NTSC screen resolution is 525 lines and its refresh rate is 60 Hz. The NTSC broadcast system was replaced with the all-digital ATSC broadcast system in the United States on June 12, 2009.
Null-modem - a cable used to connect the serial ports of two computers that are physically close together. The connection simulates a modem connection, but can usually run at a higher baud rate because there is no telephone line noise.
----- O ----- Go to Top OTS - (Opportunity To See) the probability a screen has to be viewed by consumers. It is unlikely that a screen will be seen if it is hidden away or placed in a low dwell-time area. OTS is expressed as a percentage ratio comparing the amount of people who actually see the screen to the amount of people that entered the venue where the screen is installed. OTS is a useful variable for brands and advertisers.
Out-of-home advertising - refers to advertising delivered in locations other than the home. Primary examples include billboards, movie theaters, and gas stations.
Out wipe - the way in which an element moves off a page. See also element wipe; page wipe.
Out-of-Home Media Networks - - Out-of-Home Media Networks are like private television channels run by companies, organizations, and advertisers without having to have a complete television studio. For example, a growing number of companies are finding it viable to install small pilot programs where they push rapidly produced content, such as news, weather, and stock quotes, mixing in advertising. As the pilots prove successful in driving consumer behavior, the network can be expanded from dozens of screens, to hundreds or thousands, located throughout a country or region. Such out-of-home media networks are sometimes referred to as location-based media, or location-based advertising, because they appeal to the target audience at or close to the point of purchase, such as shopping malls, retail chains, or franchise operations.
Outernet - a term used to describe out-of-home electronic display networks. See Out-of-Home Media Networks.
OVAB - (Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau) the official resource for information on out-of-home video advertising, marketing and metrics.
Overlay - a feature of most video cards that allows particularly smooth digital video playback without overloading the computer's CPU.
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Passive Interactivity - where a consumer interacts with a media systems device without doing so consciously, for example triggering a motion sensor.
P.O.P. - (point of purchase) the term usually refers to the industry concerned with customer behavior at the location of the purchase decision. POP is considered one of the most important aspects of advertising and merchandising. It is believed that the most critical time to influence buyer behavior is when they have money in hand.
PAL - (Phase Alternating Line) the color video and broadcasting standard used mainly in western Europe and South America. PAL screen resolution is 625 lines and its refresh rate is 50 Hz. The PAL broadcast standard has been largely replaced in respective countries with the all-digital DVT-T standard.
PCI - (Peripheral Connect Interface) an advanced expansion-bus standard for internal peripheral devices, used most commonly by high performance graphics adapters.
PDP - (Plasma Display Panels) PDPs, also known as gas plasma displays or plasma screens, are flat screen display devices that are used for television, computer monitors, and dynamic signage. They consist of two layers of glass surrounding cells of xenon and neon glass. Surrounding electrodes switch the cells on and off, causing them to emit light and create the picture. This emitted light makes PDPs have an appealing vibrancy that competes with Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs), the technology of traditional televisions.
PEG channel - (Public, Education, or Government Channel) PEG is a commonly used acronym by the local television industry to describe publicly funded access stations. These may be run by municipalities, school districts, or volunteers.
Periodic scheduling - a type of scheduling that defines ranges of time within which events are allowed to play.
Permissions - attributes that may be associated with a folder to restrict the types of access that different users have to it.
Pipe - a software/hardware construct that moves data from one location to another.
Pixel Resolution - resolution measurement in terms of discernable pixels on a given digital display. Usually expressed in horizontal then vertical pixels, such as 1366 x 720.
Plasma - Just as solids, liquids and gases are states of matter, plasma is a state of matter. Specifically, plasma is ionized gas. That is, gas that has been given an electrical charge by being stripped of electrons. Such ionized gas is the most abundant observable form of matter in the universe, being a main ingredient in stars and nebulas. And as if we're not already seeing enough of the stuff, it's also what goes inside those flat panel displays called "plasmas" that are popping up all around us. Why? Because when you apply an electromagnetic field to plasma, it glows, making for a nice, vibrant TV screen, computer monitor, or digital signage.
Plasma display panels - Plasma display panels are components in the current generation of flat panel televisions, computer monitors, and digital signage. They consist of a material called "plasma", which is an electrically charged noble gas (usually argon, xenon, or neon) sandwiched in millions of compartments between 2 panes of transistor-covered glass. An electrical charge is applied to the gas to make it glow red, green, or blue. This is similar both to how neon signs work (the application of an electrical charge to a noble gas), and how cathode ray tube (CRT) works, in illuminating cells red, green or blue to create an image.
Playlist – refers to the list of media clips and their play order by time or other heuristics to be displayed on the digital signage screen.
Playlog – a record of information created from the digital signage system reflecting the content played, system performance, and other data. Synonyms are billing log, performance log, and audit Log.
PNG - the file-type extension for images in the PNG (pronounced "ping") format. PNG is a relatively new and advanced format, featuring both compression and extensibility.
Polling interval - the length of time that may elapse before a media player checks for a certain condition, such as whether a job has been delivered to its job folder, or whether its script has been updated.
Port, IP - a numerically designated access point for messages of a particular type in TCP/IP network communications.
Point of Purchase Advertising - any form of advertising, signage or communication within a retail environment that is designed to influence or assist the consumer in locating and purchasing a product or service. POP Advertising includes shelf edge marketing, aisle end gondolas and other forms of promotional retail fixture.
Proof of Play - proof of play is a built-in feature of proper digital network management software. It is a secure document where advertisement flight details are logged every single time an advertisement is sent to the screen. It records the date, time of day, and for how long the advertisement was displayed. Technically the proof of play only states that the advertisement was sent to the screen. Additional network features (playlog) and technology is required to tell if the screen was actually switched on and working at that specific time. Proof of play, combined with other measurable variables, is important in calculating how many people actually looked at your advertisement in order to determine ROI.
Public IP Multicast Displays - a device capable of receiving an IP multicast transmission and displaying the contents, often used to update large numbers of visual display devices including digital signage.
Push Software - software that pushes news and information from a broadcast server to a media player client. Push technology can be used to deliver vital information to screens without the player asking.
----- Q ----- Go to Top Quick-access Button - in the File menu, a button that leads directly to a specific folder, eliminating the need to navigate step-by-step to the folder.
----- R ----- Go to Top RAS - (remote access service) a service provided by Windows Dial-Up Networking to establish a network connection with another computer via modem.
Remapping - automatically rearranging and/or adjusting the color palettes of images so that they share colors, with the least possible distortion of the images' intended appearance.
Return value - the value that results as the output of a function or the evaluation of an expression.
Root - a particular folder chosen as the base reference point, relative to which all other paths within a web server or FTP server are defined.
----- S ----- Go to Top Sampling precision - the degree of accuracy of the scale used to measure the fluctuations in amplitude of a sound that is being digitized. Measured in bits, an 8-bit sample can store one of 256 different amplitude levels, while a 16-bit sample has 256 times greater accuracy.
Sampling rate - the number of samples taken per second when digitizing an analog signal. The quality of the digital reproduction improves as the number of samples taken per second increases. Scaling – refers to the scale of the resolution of video or image content to fit the screen or zone resolution.
Scheduling - creating scripts or playlists that handle particular content over a period of time based on time and date.
SECAM - (Séential Couleur avec Memoire) the video and broadcasting standard used in France, eastern Europe, Russia, and most of Asia and Africa. SECAM has the same screen resolution of 625 lines and 50-Hz refresh rate as PAL.
Self-running script - also referred to as a continuous script; a script designed to run continuously; for example, to demonstrate a product or service, or provide information without interruption.
Sequencer - a hardware device or computer software that is used to compose a musical score, transcribe it into a MIDI file and play or record the result using MIDI instruments.
Squeeze back – referring to a technique that reduces the size of a full screen TV broadcast channel to fit in a multi-zone screen.
Special event - an event that is not associated with a file. Special events can be added like pages in the Main menu, or like elements in the List menu. They are used to control a device or an element, for example, changing the volume of a sound.
Store and forward - a networking term referring to when information is stored at routing points before its ultimate destination. Store and forward can be used to reduce the load on the original server. Players can retrieve their data from other players instead of the original broadcast site.
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TAPI - a standard for PCs that allows applications to easily use serial devices (such as modems) that have already been configured in Windows.
TCP/IP - a networking protocol designed for flexible, high-speed communications, used for LANs and the Internet.
Template – refers to a reusable visual presentation styles with swappable assets such as image and text overlay. Templates are commonly used in digital signage content publishing system for displaying weather, news, live feeds or data on screen dynamically.
Through-Glass - this technology is a projected moving image. It is considered passive signage because users cannot interact with the window using this specific technology.
Ticker - a ticker or crawler is a small screen space dedicated to presenting headlines, promotions and other vital pieces of information.
Timeout - a time limit for an operation. If the timeout period expires before the operation completes successfully, some default or alternative action is taken.
Topology - physical and logical layout of a networked system.
Touch-Enabled Glass - just as with the “through-glass” technology, touch-enabled glass is a projected moving image. However, this glass display will change and update based on interaction from a user, touching the window.
Touchscreen - also called a touch-sensitive screen, a computer monitor or flat-panel display attachment that can sense the location at which a viewer touches the screen to respond to a question or prompt in a program. This device is commonly used in interactive digital sign applications. See interactive digital signage.
Traffic - data being transferred over a network. Downloading text and graphics represent low-bandwidth traffic while streaming video is higher.
Triggered Content - media that can over-ride planned content when certain pre-determined conditions are realized such as the proximity of a shopper, removal of an item from display for examination or the reading of various inputs such as bar code, loyalty card, biometrics, etc.
TWAIN - a standard developed to allow imaging devices such as scanners and digital cameras to communicate with PCs.
----- U ----- Go to Top UNC - (Universal Naming Convention) a standard format for paths referring to locations directly accessible on a local area network. For example, a video at servershared_filesapnews.wmv.
URL - (Universal Resource Locator) a string of text that specifies the location of objects accessible through the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), typically a web address such as a home page. A Web URL begins with "http://".
----- V ----- Go to Top VAR - (value-added reseller) a person or company that sells, services, configures, and/or trains clients to use an advanced product. Application software installations are often set up and maintained for their customers by VARs.
Versionation - the process of inserting a serial number into a file name or folder name to indicate the order in which successively newer versions of a file with the same base name have been received on the media player.
VPN - (Virtual Private Network) a VPN is used in Digital Signage networks to provide secure, reliable connectivity as a private network but at much lower cost. Using a VPN the Digital Signage network can operate outside of the Internet or other organizational connectivity infrastructure to assure cost-effective, secure and reliable network operations at required levels.
VSAT - (Very Small Aperture Terminal) VSATs are small satellite dishes used for PrimeStar and DirecTV among other things. In addition to tuning in satellite TV, they can be used to receive data such as IP multicasting. VSAT can be used to create a wide area computer network (WAN) infrastructure.
----- W ----- Go to Top WAN - (wide area network) a network of computers sharing servers in multiple locations, such as the different offices of a large company. See also LAN.
Wi-Fi - (Wireless Fidelity) a local area network (LAN) that communicates via radio waves on the 802.11 standard instead of wires.
Wildcard - a special character that can be used for pattern-matching in specifying the names of files to work with.
WinScript - WinScript, also known as WSH Script, is uncompiled program code written to be executed by the Windows Script Host.
Wipe - an transitional visual effect that defines the way one or more elements (text and/or graphics) of a screen page moves onto and/or off the page.
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XML - (Extensible Markup Language) XML is a standard data format used for text files and information in computer memory that allows easy data processing and exchange between different applications. XML is commonly used for feeding live data to digital signage screens.
XSL - (Extensible Stylesheet Language) XSL was the original proposal to allow formatting of XML files for display. It has since diverged into XSL FO and XSLT. They each derrive from XSL, but use different parser programs and acheive slightly different goals. XSL FO, which stands for XSL formatting objects, is most often used for outputting PDF files with extreme formatting and pagination control. XSLT, which stands for XSL transformations, is most often used to convert one XML data structure into another.
XSLT - (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) XSLT is a standard subset language of XML designed to allow one XML data structure to be transformed into another. For example, XML files can be transformed into HTML pages (the way this website is made), or into WML for display on Web-enabled mobile phones.
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Zoning, Screen – refers to the technique of dividing digital signage screens into multiple content zones. Also see Layout.
