Hello kwchang,
Thank you very much for your suggestions!
If you have messages or announcements that you would like to display in a crawl-style line, I would highly recommend cycling them between pages (simply change the message out every time a page switches). There is no plan at the current time to include crawl movement functionality (physically moving from one side to another).
Blinking text, on the other hand, can be achieved in Noventri Suite simply by removing the text from one copy of two identical pages, and playing them back-to-back in your sequence. When played repetitively, it will appear that the text is flashing. The timing of the blink will then depend on the resolution of your project (1024x768 will blink faster than 1920x1080).
When designing and developing the Eco-Series SF-100e and Noventri Suite, we took a lot of psychology and research into account. Through our research, we found that moving crawls are more difficult to read for viewers than still messages.
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 themselves 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 recently removed their crawl animations, and 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.
Thanks again for the suggestions, and please, keep them coming! We feel that every suggestion is a great suggestion, and we will continue to include user's ideas in our software.
Kind Regards,