Today’s technology consumers are increasingly diverse, but everyone—from tech-skeptic Baby Boomers to savvy digital natives—recognizes the Sony brand. For nearly five decades, Sony has been a dominant force in consumer and industry rankings. It’s therefore no surprise that, in 2018, the company was ranked among the Best Global Brands by Interbrand, Top 100 Brands for Millennials by Moosylvania, US and UK RepTrak 100 by the Reputation Institute, and The World’s Most Valuable Brands by Forbes — to name a few.
Known for driving consumer video innovation, Sony launched its BRAVIA engine in 2005 and has made aggressive advancements each year since, delivering on the promise of the acronym "Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture."
Today, Sony BRAVIA displays are lauded for outstanding 4K HDR (High Dynamic Range) that consumers demand. Google’s Android TV operating system enables Smart TV functionality in the full line of BRAVIA’s.
Best of Breed Consumer Meets Professional Digital Signage Solution
It’s common knowledge that a display intended for home use is not rated for the rigors of commercial digital signage applications where 24/7 operation and flexible placement options are key.
Take a legacy of innovation, best-in-class imaging, and a brand name known for reliability, Sony now makes a professional digital signage solution. The performance and connectivity features that you would expect from Sony are incorporated into its BZ35F Series of BRAVIA Professional Displays designed for digital signage as well as corporate presentations. The 4K HDR Processor X1 reproduces the finest details, making text and graphics sharper and easier to read. TRILUMINOS Display technology reproduces a wider range of rich, vivid colors, and the 4K HDR and X-tended Dynamic Range PRO (available in Z9 series) produces high-contrast images with an extended range of brightness levels. The professional BZ35F Series displays are IP network-ready, equipped with RS-232C connectivity, and are available in six sizes from 43 to 85 inches.
Let’s assume that you would only choose a display that will deliver the best image quality for your digital signage content. That’s the easy part.
The biggest barriers to entry — complexity of the equipment, connectivity issues, and difficulty of creating content — are why end user digital signage programs fail. But Sony has a strategy.
“Sony developed the fully integrated BRAVIA BZ35F Series with three levels of digital signage to choose from to offer a robust all-in-one digital signage solution that provides flexibility and scalability for retail, education, corporate, and other markets,” says Anthony Cianfarano, product manager at Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Americas. “Customers can be comfortable knowing that if today they need a standalone signage display, they are covered. Down the road, if they want to add more networked displays, via a LAN or the cloud, each of the three signage solutions offered use the same all-in-one BZ35F Series chassis. This is next-level flexibility.”
All-in-One
“System-on-a-chip” (SoC) is not new in the world of computing, but in digital signage, it offers a streamlined approach. SoC is the integration of all the necessary electronic circuits and components for a particular system onto a single integrated circuit. SoC, commonly used for embedded systems, is now featured in Sony’s BRAVIA Signage display lineup.
For AV professionals looking to purchase an all-in-one, integrated digital signage platform, the benefits are many: SoC eliminates the need for external hardware such as a media player. It avoids potential interoperability issues from third-party hardware. Installation and connectivity are simplified, and there are fewer points of failure. The integrated design means that power consumption is lower, and the initial cost of the system has been estimated by some to be up to 40 percent lower.
Ensuring Compelling Content
Every organization has different messaging needs, as well as varying resources and creation expertise on staff. Creating and managing content can be the ultimate downfall of a digital signage program if the proper tools aren’t available. BRAVIA Signage has a flexible and scalable content layout solution that will help ensure success.
Furthermore, the BRAVIA BZ35F Digital Signage Series displays run on Google’s Android TV operating system. “Via the Google Play store, users have access to the entire library of apps and other TV-centric type of applications like video channels for streaming,” says Cianfarano.
Three Signage Solutions Offer Deployment Flexibility
Standalone – Simple Media Player2: For applications needing a standalone digital signage display, the Simple Media Player2 signage application supports slideshow, play list, and scheduling functions. It conveniently accesses content from a USB inserted into the display. The Simple Media Player2 signage application is a free download that is available to operate with the BRAVIA BZ35F Series.
Networked – BRAVIA Signage: Need up to 600 digital signage displays on a LAN? No problem. Just install BRAVIA Signage on the all the displays and the network server and start managing content distribution and operation instantly. “You control everything from a user interface on an HTML console,” says Cianfarano.
Cloud – iRevo: For those moving to the cloud, Sony BRAVIAs have enhanced flexibility and added value through the addition of an iRevo Digital Signage (iDS) software installation. iRevo supports enhanced 4K resolution, photos with animations, videos, music, documents, HTML5, websites, widgets, RSS Feeds and social media content. In addition, it supports content from sources that include network cameras, LAN services and live TV, making it easier to design, deploy and manage digital signage projects with ease and scale.
iRevo’s cloud-based signage solution works seamlessly with the BRAVIA’s Android operating system, allowing the iDS App to install directly — eliminating the need for an additional external media player device. It also provides BRAVIA users with intuitive templates, optional interactive touch support, richer customization and the ability to publish from anywhere.
“What’s more, all of the Sony BRAVIA BZ35F Series Digital Signage solutions support 4K video playback. “We're proud of being a leader in 4K technology,” says Cianfarano. “Sony is backing its commitment to this professional series with a three-year warranty.”
In our next blog, we take a deep dive into Sony BRAVIA pro-settings.
Additional Reading
What to Know to Deliver Better Projected Images
10 Key Elements for Choosing the Best Digital Signage Solution
How 4K displays can be the answer to a variety of visual needs
