I would highly recommend cycling ODBC records between pages (simply change the message / formatter out every time a page switches). This would ideally be achieved with
Dynamic Pages. Essentially, a different news story could appear on each page until no new news remains.
There is no plan at the current time to include scrolling movement functionality (physically moving from one side to another).
Through our research when designing and developing the Eco-Series SF-100e and Noventri Suite, we found that scrolling text is more difficult to read for viewers than still text.
We broke digital signage viewers into two main categories - viewers that are moving, and viewers that are still. Moving users are generally busy, or in a hurry- they want to find the important information on the digital signage and then move on about their business. Animation and even crawl motion appears to detract people from finding what they need. Still users- ones waiting in a line or sitting in a waiting room- can track motion much better because they are not moving.
While yes, movement does draw attention, we have found that it generally leaves the screen feeling busy and detracts from the message. Most of the time, it isn't necessary at all because the viewer is already looking at the screen.
Even with stationary users, crawls and motion are not always the answer to get viewer's attention. For example, in a line outside of a food stand, we have to remember that patrons plan to order food from the digital menu. We don't want to put anything on the screen that prevents them or distracts them from doing so because this can slow the line down. If they are ordering food or planning on ordering food, we already have their attention.
More and more digital signs and even TV stations continue to remove moving crawls and replace them with still messages. Even CNN and Headline News have removed their crawl animations, and now opt instead for a minimal transition that does not feel busy.
We have a blog post entitled "
3 Reasons Why Your Digital Signage Doesn't Need Video, Flash, and Animation" if you're interested in reading up a bit more on our motion research.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
