Perhaps the number one thing that makes digital signage different is the exposure to sunlight. Anyone who has walked outside with their smartphone knows that to be able to read a digital display in the sun, you need to turn the brightness up quite a lot.
Should outdoor digital displays be as bright as possible all the time? Ideally no. Having a screen at full brightness all the time uses a lot of power. A sign that is on full brightness all the time will quickly run out of power. However, if the screen is not bright enough, potential viewers will not be able to read it.
To deal with the sunlight on your outdoor digital display, many signs use a light ambient sensor. This device adjusts the brightness of your sign based on the amount of light. This allows you to save as much energy as possible while also ensuring that your sign is always readable.
While getting a sign with a light ambient sensor is great, it also helps if you think about the amount of sunlight in the potential locations for your sign before you install it. Remember that LCDs especially are damaged by too much sun even if they are bright enough to read.
Picking shady areas that do not receive as much direct sunlight can help to both save you energy and extend the life of your digital signage, both of which will help you save money. Some signs may need to be placed in an area with a lot of direct sunlight. In these cases make sure to choose a sign that can withstand the sunlight such as an LED.
An outdoor digital sign has to be able to withstand more than just sunlight. Rain, humidity, freezing temperatures, and the excessive heat can all cause damage to a sign. While some geographic locations have harsher weather than others, all outdoor digital signs must be capable of withstanding some unfriendly weather.
To prevent equipment failure, your sign needs to be protected. Enclosures protect your sign’s electronics from water and can even help protect the screen from the sun’s rays. When deciding what type of enclosure you need, you must consider your local climate and where you plan to place the sign.
For digital signage produced through projection, the image does not need to be protected, but the projector does. This may result in a reduced cost for a protective enclosure.
One thing that is easily overlooked, but which should be considered for the best outdoor digital signage experience is the security risk. An outdoor sign is not only more exposed to the elements, but it is also in many cases more easily accessible by the public.
Make sure your sign’s hardware is not easily accessed physically. This may involve putting some sort of lock on your sign’s manual control area. In addition, you may also want to protect your sign from acts of vandalism. A strong enclosure can ensure that the more expensive components, such as the screen, are protected from damage.
Now that you know the types of outdoor digital signage and challenges to consider with one, what can you do with an outdoor digital sign? Will the technology be limited by its outdoor location?
To get the best out of your outdoor digital signage you need to look at both what this technology can do and what you need it to do. Different features work well with different sign purposes. Here are some of the options at your disposal when creating an outdoor digital signage solution.
Perhaps the single greatest advantage of digital signage is its non-permanence. You can easily change what your digital signage displays through the use of the software.
Through the use of periodic updates investing in a single piece of digital signage can offer multiple different opportunities. This can be great for retail places that want to use the sign to announce changing sales and organizations, such as churches and schools, that want to display a changing schedule of events.
A digital sign that needs to be updated regularly will need good software to do so. While a church may want to change its sign every week, a restaurant that uses its digital signage to display its menu or a city kiosk with a digital signage map may need to update very little.
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