The Digital Signage market represents a significant opportunity for many VARs. With a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 10% and sales revenue being dominated by hardware, the Digital Signage Market in the US grew to over $4.5 Billion and is expected to exceed $6.9 Billion by 2025.
The opportunity for VARs rests in their core competencies of hardware integration, networking connectivity, managed services, technical maintenance, service and support. With the continued evolution of the digital signage market, these skill sets are increasingly important to building a successful business model. In addition, VARs can leverage established partnerships with clients in markets such as health care, education, hospitality, retail, restaurants and more who can benefit from digital signage solutions. With trusted relationships and key expertise, VARs are well positioned to be able to introduce, implement, and support a wide range of digital signage applications.
At the foundation of the overall solution is the hardware. The Intel NUC is an ideal digital signage platform, featuring stellar performance housed in a 4 inch square form factor, which can be easily VESA mounted to a display or wall. The Intel NUC features crucial functionality to support the most demanding digital signage solutions, such as remote manageability, encryption, multiple displays, and 4K resolution.
Intel offers a full range on NUC products that can be utilized in digital signage applications as media players for small and medium size businesses. For more commercial and customizable applications, Intel offer the Ruggedized NUC Element that consists of the Austin Beach case and the Elk Bay compute module that utilizes the Intel 11th Generation Core Processor.
The Intel NUC11TNH (Tiger Canyon) is a powerful and flexible system that comes in a wide range of base configurations that utilize an Intel Core i3-1115G4, Intel Corei5-1135G7, or Intel Core i7-1165G7. With a wide range of ports including two HDMI, the Tiger Canyon family of NUCs can support up to 4 external displays, includes an Intel WiFi 6 AX210 wireless + blue tooth module, and can utilize both an M.2 PCIe SSD as well as a 2.5” SATA storage device. In addition, the Tiger Canyon NUC is available with two models that include an added backplane that provides an extra RJ45 port for dual LAN as well as two additional USB 2.0 ports. The most notable feature is that this family provides several Core i5 and Core i7 models that provide Intel vPro an essential technology that allows for remote management of the device including the ability to power on/off remotely giving the VAR the ability to offer additional services.
Intel NUC Elements
Intel NUC Elements are modular components designed for vertical markets including digital signage which includes the Rugged Element. The NUC Rugged Element family is made up of several modular parts which include the Chassis Element (Austin Beach), and the Compute Element (Elk Bay). Both the Chassis Element and Compute Element are available in several configurations to provide maximum flexibility in terms of the product design. The Chassis Element is a fan-less dust resistant design that is available in three different configurations with the only difference being the I/O configuration. The case includes overvoltage protection, external dipole antennas, and a unique VESA mount kit that has a side car to hold the AC Adapter. There are several different versions of the Compute Element which differ by processor and have fixed onboard memory, WiFi+BT, as well as a PCIe M.2 slot for storage. For Compute Elements, we recommend the two models with Intel vPro to allow for remote management, hardened security, and remote power on/off.
| Model | Product | SKU | Intel Part | HDMI | RJ45 | USB Front | USB Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Beach | Chassis – Expandable | 239733 | BKCMB1ABA | 2 | 1 | 1XUSB3.2,1XUSB2.0 | 2xUSB 3.2 |
| Austin Beach | Chassis – Dual LAN | 239735 | BKCMB1ABB | 2 | 2 | 1XUSB3.2,1XUSB2.0 | 2XUSB3.2,2XUSB2.0 |
| Austin Beach | Chassis – Multi HDMI | 242834 | BKCM81ABC | 6 | 1 | 1XUSB3.2,1XUSB2.0 | 2XUSB 3.2 |