As a solution provider, you should always be looking at the next evolution in technology—for ways to save your customer money and for ways to make your job more efficient. Within the world of pro AV and digital signage, System on Chip (SoC) checks all those boxes and many more.
What is SoC?
SoC takes the components (GPU, CPU and RAM) of a standalone digital signage media player and combines them into a single chip that’s then built into, or integrated with, a digital display.
6 SoC benefits
SoC digital signage offers many benefits for both you and your customers. Here are just a few:
- All-in-one solution—SoC-based signage solutions require less space and fewer cables since the media player is built into the display itself. With SoC, you no longer have to worry about having space for and mounting a separate media player.
- Cost effective—While displays that include SoC are more expensive than those without, SoC can reduce overall costs since there are fewer components to install and manage. In fact, according to Samsung’s report “The Total Cost of Ownership of Smart Digital Signage,” digital signage costs can be reduced up to 41% by using SoC displays as opposed to separate media players.
- Energy efficient—Putting the media player onto a chip and combining it with the display itself means there’s less hardware consuming power. For a single display, the savings might be small, but for large-scale installs, the savings can add up.
- Saves time—By not having to install, mount and configure a media player, installation of SoC-based digital signage will occur much faster. Additionally, by integrating the media player with the display, some manufacturers have built in powerful remote control tools that allow you to remotely adjust settings and see real-time data on the display’s temperature, CPU usage and more.
- Reliability—SoC solutions remove the potential failure points of a dedicated media player and cables. Simply put, fewer components and parts mean there are fewer points of possible failure.
- Performance—The first generations of SoC displays lacked the capabilities of traditional media players. In the years since, much has improved. Today, there are SoC solutions that provide 4K resolution, quad-core processors and feature-rich capabilities.
SoC is on the rise
Providing a long list of benefits is fine, but doesn’t mean much if adoption rates are low. According to Tom Jones, Ingram Micro’s digital signage and pro AV expert, there’s been a marked increase in signage solutions built on SoC hardware, which makes it clear the technology is here to stay. “SoC solutions have increased in power and performance while reducing in cost,” he explains. “I expect to see an increase in SoC deployments going forward because it’s a great fit for a wide variety of applications.”