How much does an LED Sign or Digital Signage cost?

- Deacon Wardlow

Many people ask how much a Digital Signage solution (LED Sign, interior or exterior LCD/Plasma/etc.) costs. While they mean well, many points are overlooked or not addressed up-front. The sweet smell of a low price is replaced by the lasting bitter taste of a system which underperforms and potentially costs both the dealer and the end user money and reputation. Let’s take a quick look at the basics of what you need to know when looking at the “cost” of a digital signage system.

Objective:
What does the end-user want from the system? Are they looking for a direct ROI (Return On Investment) or ROO (Return On Objective) or perhaps a blend of both? You need to know where you want to end up before you start the process.

Location:
Where is the system being placed? Is there appropriate power? Can communication be setup quickly or are there special site requirements (i.e. an outdoor LED Message Center requiring a hard-wired connection where there are currently no feeds available which will require trenching, a remote connection or wireless integration)?

Content Creation/Management:
Who is creating and managing the content? A Digital Signage solution (LED message Center, interior, etc.) is only as good as the content running on it. Digital signage which remains the same day-in and day-out for weeks on end will quickly lose any appeal for customers and badly created/managed content can negatively brand the business. Over-repetition of “THIS MONTH ONLY!” specials, poor color contrast choices (i.e. blue text on a red background which not only hurts the eyes but is difficult to read), and other poor content creation/management judgement can do more harm than good. Remember, customers are not sitting at that screen for a long time. You have (at most) 5-10 seconds to make an impression. Make it BIG, make it fast and keep it simple.

The Equipment:
These are professional commercial-grade systems. You can’t just go to a store and pick something off the shelf and expect it to perform for you. Just as businesses buy commercial-grade computers (servers) meant to run systems 24/7/365, your Digital Signage solution needs to be commercial grade. While there are many manufacturers who offer a cost-conscious model to meet end-user demand remember the caveat, you get what you pay for.

A ‘source’ vs a ‘RESOURCE’:
Make sure the source you purchase your digital signage from is also a resource (not just someone selling you a system, but actively working with you to ensure you have the right system to meet the site need, end-user requirements and has everything it will require to function properly before and AFTER the sale). While there are many people/businesses out there who will sell you a system to meet your basic needs, where will they be when/if there’s a problem? Will they be there to walk you through issues on setup/installation and if the system fails?

Overall, there are a lot of components to be aware of when figuring the cost of a system. To be truly successful, you need a partnership between the resource/manufacturer, the integrator/dealer and the end-user. Great achievements are rarely made by a single individual, there’s usually a team of people behind that achievement. When pricing a system, don’t go it alone. Work with an experienced dealer/manufacturer so when you get the price, neither you nor the end-user are surprised by the real costs down the road.




*Always feel free to comment here and/or email me directly with requests at deacon@vantageled.com. Vantage LED has white paper resources and more educational material on the website (http://www.vantageled.com), please check it out when you have a moment. Advertisements/promotion for your business and inappropriate comments will be deleted.. Thank you!

**Note all posts/thoughts/writings are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically stated.

Silent LED Message Center Killers: Heat

-Deacon Wardlow

Heat kills LEDs. The death knell of a typical Red-Green-Blue (RGB) full color LED display is seen in depreciated light quality, poor color quality and eventually a dim, dying sign. Typical lights dissipate heat by radiating the heat outward from the source. LEDs unfortunately hold the heat in and high temperature slowly breaks down the components causing a multitude of problems. Red LEDs burn out faster and this is usually seen on a message center when  “clean white” turns to a bluish hue because of the lack of strong Red LED components.

Thermal (heat) management is critical to the longevity and continued high-level of performance for a message center. Manufacturers tend to deal with thermal management in a variety of ways:

• Heat sinks (metal spread out and “finned” to allow for heat to draw away from the LED and let passive/active airflow over the fins dissipate heat buildup
• MCPCB (Metal Core Printed Circuit Board) – a rare option due to increased expense
• Separation – a popular method, LEDs are separated from the circuit board using longer “legs” which allows for air flow to draw heat from the LED through the extended legs, unfortunately proper placement/setting of LEDs is difficult and can result in bad contacts which leave “dead pixels” on a sign.

All the above methods serve to draw heat away from the LED source thus keeping the LED relatively cool and ensuring the highest performance and longest life possible. With this in mind, here are LED killers to watch for on an LED module (also known as a driver/board):

1.    ANY type of heavy/dark silicone coating on the back of an LED PCB (Printed Circuit Board: Silicone coatings have the benefit of reducing exposure to condensation which can oxidize metals, but it’s better to use a light conformal PCB coating. Heavy silicone coatings trap heat and don’t leave any place for the heat to be drawn away. Be wary of modules with “heat sinks” as the heat sinks often don’t have trace leads (metal pathways from the LED to the heat sink) and thus do not work to reduce heat on the overall module.

2.    LEDs which have no louvered (shaded) protection: the louvers on a face plate for an LED module act like an umbrella at the beach. They serve a dual purpose of allowing LEDs to shine their brightest in daylight conditions while also giving them some protection from direct overhead sun  exposure. If you see a face plate with exposed silicone, be especially wary. The silicone acts as a sealant to protect the LED module face from weather elements, but an exposed silicone coating is prone to UV (Ultra Violet) solar radiation which will crack the sealant and cause eventual exposure to the elements which will kill the module over time.

3.    LED modules which are “fully enclosed” from the rear: Picture a medieval knight in full armor standing in the summer sun, that knight is likely more than a little warm. While the rear seal plating looks great on an LED module and it sounds good to have a “waterproof” LED module, the plating doesn’t ultimately protect the LED, it harms the LEDs in a module because heat has no source to vent off to. If the manufacturer is using a rear-face module, have them show you a cutaway or internal view to see how they’re drawing heat to the back plate. If they aren’t drawing heat from the LEDs to the back plate, they’re slowly killing your sign.

Ask the manufacturer how they protect your investment. How do they deal with heat in the message center? If they do any of the three “killers,” be VERY wary of investing your name, brand and reputation with them…




*Always feel free to comment here and/or email me directly with requests at deacon@vantageled.com. Vantage LED has white paper resources and more educational material on the website (http://www.vantageled.com), please check it out when you have a moment. Advertisements/promotion for your business and inappropriate comments will be deleted.. Thank you!

**Note all posts/thoughts/writings are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically stated.

Why Digital Display systems fail: 'Creatives' and Content

-Deacon Wardlow

Digital Display systems have immense potential. People point to movies like ‘Minority Report’ and other distopian future films as examples of the potential nightmare of over-pervasive/intrusive advertising, but often fail to look at the benefits of well managed digital display systems. Advertising doesn’t need to be an annoyance; done well a 'creative' can amuse, entertain, educate and develop the brand all at the same time. Unfortunately, there are definite obstacles in the way of conveying your message effectively and these are a few of the many signs of a bad Digital Display system:

An advertising campaign can turn against you:
As Giselle Abramovich of Digiday.com points out on his tumblr account, advertising (print, digital, other) can seriously miss the mark. A bad ad can just as strongly enforce negative branding as much as it was meant to help grow/sell/educate a brand/product.

Get it right the first time:

Aside from spelling errors and misplaced pictures, make sure your content is properly uploaded and (if using templates) make sure the template is filled-in and previewed prior-to pushing it to your display. As you can see from the Fox News example (taken from a live feed), even “big businesses” slip up from time-to-time.

Does the message get to the point or miss it entirely?
I came across a great article on Entrepreur.com which very effectively explains some common mistakes people make with advertising. While getting eyes on the sign is important (using a witty quip/joke) you need to ensure the bigger point (drawing clients to your door) is not missed. Keep the focus on two things: what you’re selling and whom you’re selling to.

Keep track of what works and drop what doesn’t:
While most of us don’t have all the expensive toys/tools to check the success/failure of our advertising, there are some simple steps which can help you track the effectiveness of on-premise advertising. Your exterior LED message center can be used to track message effectiveness by dayparting messages. Dayparting means to push certain messages at certain times during the day. As Jim Meskauskas points out on imediaconnection.com, be sure the message has relevance to the time if you’re partitioning messages by dayparting.

In the morning, push out an ad for a timed special with a requirement the first 20 people to mention the ad get ‘X’ (discounts, a prize, etc.). This draws people in and allows you to track effectiveness of a certain campaign. Please keep in mind, your audience is mobile so you want to keep the message simple and straightforward and don’t have them TEXT/take a picture/or do anything which takes away from their attention to forward movement (walking/driving/cycling). That would be bad, very very bad.

Get the most from your medium:
Use the medium to the max. As some Japanese engineers have shown in Osaka, simple water can be presented in amazing ways to draw interest. A digital display (LED message center, LCD/Plasma/Smartphone/tablet/laptop/other) is limited only by your imagination. There are people doing amazing things with displays. Unleash the creativity, but be sure what’s presented achieves your goals.

Have fun, it’ll shine through:
Overall, engage your customers/clients/focus group in fun and entertaining ways when possible. Emotion is a HUGE driving force in advertising. Harness emotion where you can. Think of the overall impression you want to make with the digital signage and what goal you have in mind. See the system in your mind’s eye, go through how you want someone to view the system, what you want them to experience/feel and what you want to achieve; examples: more clients coming in the door, people calling that phone number, customers sending SMS texts to the display and interacting with your business using the display as the medium. What you can visualize can be actualized.

Keep your objective in mind:
Often too many people focus on the ROI (return on investment) and fail to focus on the ROO (return on objective). ROI gives you financial gain (a good thing) and ROO gives you a gain (i.e. educating your customer base as to why they should use you over the competition) which may not have a direct measurable monetary effect, but will get you farther towards building a relationship with your customer base. The trick is fitting it all into a spot which may only receive 5-10 seconds of attention.

Don't hesitate to reach out for advice if you're feeling stuck. There are loads of people (myself included) who are happy to point you to excellent resources if they can't help you directly. Don't be afraid to stumble a bit on the path to success, but avoid the big mistakes where possible!

*Always feel free to comment here and/or email me directly with requests at deacon@vantageled.com. Vantage LED has white paper resources and more educational material on the website (http://www.vantageled.com), please check it out when you have a moment. Advertisements/promotion for your business and inappropriate comments will be deleted.. Thank you!

**Note all posts/thoughts/writings are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically stated.