Blue Billboard, the largest independent DooH advertising provider in the South East of England, has chosen Xibo Digital Signage and Sony BRAVIA professional displays to deliver advertising signage across its wide network of displays in Surrey.
By working with Xibo and Sony, Blue Billboard has become the first global customer to implement the new Sony Cloud API and Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) with Xibo’s software solution, in order to scale and manage its signage network remotely.
Blue Billboard has been using Xibo’s digital signage software solutions since its business started in 2020. The company had also used Sony BRAVIA Professional Displays across its network. However, at that time, there was no native integration between the Sony System-on-Chip solution and Xibo.
In 2024, Blue Billboard was commissioned by a local council in Surrey to implement a 25-screen DooH advertising network. This installation, launched in October, acted as the perfect opportunity for Blue Billboard to implement the Sony BRAVIA 65BZ35L and 55BZ35L with system-on-a-chip using the new Xibo and Sony ZTP integration.
Blue Billboard worked with retail solutions provider, Theravada, to design and install the custom infrastructure required for the project, including surrounds and totems.
Moving to Sony Bravia SoC devices with ZTP integration through Xibo enabled Blue Billboard to deploy more screens faster than before, allowing the rapid scaling of the DooH network and delivering increased revenue. Blue Billboard says it has been easier to provision devices quickly and efficiently, manage them remotely and improve overall network uptime and reliability.
Blue Billboard began to think about how to increase control over displays after its digital signage network started growing at an exponential rate, the company says. Network maintenance was becoming expensive and time-consuming as it required onsite visits to carry out simple changes.
The company was using Android displays with standalone media player hardware, but with a growing network, easy installation and management became more of a key requirement. SLA uptime was also being affected as outages could not be resolved as quickly remotely. This is when Blue Billboard started looking into displays with not only system-on-a-chip capabilities, but also with remote device management and zero touch provisioning.
Yigit Erol, B2B partner development manager, Sony Europe, said: “We’re excited to introduce the first global deployments featuring our cutting-edge Cloud API and Zero-Touch Provisioning solutions. These tools not only enhance cloud-based device management, but also revolutionise large-scale screen deployments and partner application installations with a simple QR code scan. Our solutions are transforming the professional display industry, streamlining the workload for CMS partners and system integrators.”
Justin Howard, technical director, Blue Billboard, added: “I’m impressed at how simple the process to set up and deploy new displays has been. Zero touch provisioning removes several steps and the functionality is improving all the time. Sony and Xibo together deliver a high-quality digital signage and digital out of home solution which any business should consider when upgrading or scaling their network.”
