Digital Signage, Need to Know: Physical Factors for Effective LED Sign Use and Installation.

-Scott Hofheins

Outdoor LED signs are one of the most effective ways to advertise your organization to the public. They help you stand out, be seen and issue a call to action to potential patrons in a dynamic and colorful way. However, there are important factors that determine how much you stand out, and how clearly your call to action can be.

In addition to quality content, quality manufacturing, and a solid support team, their are basic physical factors that play a significant role in the success of your potential or existing LED sign program. Here are some of the factors to take into account.

Location

There are some very important things to consider about the physical location of your sign. Some things will benefit you, others will not. Take some time to really think about where your sign is, or will be located and ways to minimize the negatives, and maximize the positives. Some examples include:

• Stop lights and intersections: Do you have an intersection nearby? Where do the cars stop, and what is the best angle for them to see the sign? How long is the average driver stopped and how can you maximize the readability of your messages? While a nice busy intersection, with long stop lights is a dream spot for an LED sign, not everyone has this. The most important thing is really to use what you DO have.

• Trees, Poles and Structures: This seems like an obvious factor to consider, but you don’t want to be installing a new sign in the winter only to realize in the spring that the bare branches are now full of sign blocking leaves. Trees and other plant life will grow over time, sometimes pretty quickly, keep this in mind when choosing a location around new trees or bushes. Poles and other structures don’t grow naturally, but they can be built and modified manually. Additionally, you’ll want to make sure you know the local code to avoid your prime spot being illegal due to setback requirements.

• Street Speed and Occupation: How fast are the cars going? How many cars drive past per day? What type of people can you focus your marketing on in those cars, bikes or tennis shoes? The answers to these questions will help you maximize the effectiveness of your current content and help determine the right size, resolution and height of your future LED sign.

• Wall Sign, Street Sign or Both: Make sure you are maximizing the available signage allowed on your property. Remember, an LED sign can change dynamically so it makes more sense to go with a bigger LED sign and a smaller static sign. Price is always a factor in these decisions, but try to think of LED signs as an investment. By maximizing its effectiveness, you will increase the return on that investment.

Size

This plays a key role in the readability of your sign and the types of messages you can utilize. Smaller signs will provide less room for text, so you’ll want to increase your text size and decrease your word count. Just because you can technically fit 8 lines of text on your sign, doesn't mean you should. Bigger text and simpler messages will always be more effective for any sign, but the difference is much more noticeable on smaller units.

You can get away with more on a larger sign, especially a billboard, but you still want to make your message large, and bold. You can fit more readable text on the display at one time, but the readability is still affected by how close the viewers are, how fast they are moving, and how high the sign is.

Height and Viewing Distance

How close will your viewers be to the sign? It’s important to get a really good handle on this, so you can create appropriate content for an existing sign, and make sure you purchase the right resolution for a new sign.

The higher you go, the bigger you want the sign to be, and the lower your pitch can be (the millimeters between the LED pixels) and still be effective. Big digital billboards high up the air may look like an 8mm high resolution board, but most of them will fall in the 16-25mm range. They are physically large, viewers are further away, and they have a large amount of pixels because of the physical size; distance between the pixels doesn’t factor in as much. However, a sign lower to the ground is going to be smaller, viewed closer, and have less pixels to work with so you want to fit as many into the physical size as possible to maintain a quality image.

Brightness

During the day your sign is fighting against the sun. It must be as bright as possible, within reason (avoid outlandish brightness specifications) and hold it’s own for as many years as possible.

Additionally, managing your brightness at night is so important. Set your brightness settings, and trust your own eyes. Drive by the sign at night and make sure it’s readable. You do not want a spot light, you want a readable sign just a bit brighter than static lighted signage. If your sign is too bright at night, viewers will see the sign, but not the message you are trying to deliver.

LED Quality and Module Design

LEDs will dim over time, so make sure your manufacturer is using a high quality brand. Working with a US based manufacturer will increase your odds that the LEDs are sourced and binned correctly, from a trusted supplier.

The module design will also affect the life of the LEDs and the viewability of your sign in general. Using a flat black finish on the face of the LED modules (the panels of LEDs that make up the entire sign) is ideal. This helps absorb the sunlight and gives the sign a higher contrast ratio. The louver design is also important. These mini sun-shades block the sun from hitting the LEDs head on to avoid a “washed out” image. Poor louver designs can cause problems with viewing the display at an angle.

In summary, remember that there are many factors to take into account when operating an existing LED sign, or purchasing a new one. Look for partners who are experts in the business, and can provide you exactly what you need, not what they want to sell you. Take the time to write down all the factors at play for your specific location and put yourself in the shoes of your viewers. Announce your message loud and clear: We are here, We can help you, Come in Now!

-SH

I hope this post has been informative and helpful. As usual, I welcome ALL constructive comments. Please feel free to comment and add anything I’ve missed, or additional tips you may have regarding this topic. Please visit www.vantageled.com for many other resources, white papers, and of course: Great looking LED Signs!

**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.

Digital Signage Need to Know: CMYK vs RGB and Other Design Factors for Digital Content on LED Signs.

-Scott Hofheins

There is a reason why we talk about content so much on this blog. Content is the driving force behind your viewers ability to notice your sign, retain the information, and act. You want them to do this quickly and without confusion or delay. This is why investing in a content creation service who specializes in LED signs, or training your own in-house designers on outdoor content is worthwhile. The days of text only signs are going away, making way for full color advertising machines, ready to take whatever you can throw their way.

What is CMYK and why won’t it work on an outdoor LED sign? Why do some signs look great and others look blurry and hard to read? Content for print media is different in many ways than content for digital media. Additionally, content on an outdoor LED sign is different than content on an indoor Digital Sign (LCD Monitor). Knowing how to handle these differences is key to providing a dynamic readable message on an outdoor LED sign.

CMYK vs RGB

This is a common difference that comes up a lot when designers familiar with print media are working on digital media. The bottom line is this: CMYK is for print media, and RGB is for digital media.

• CMYK: Stands for “Cyan (blue) Magenta (red) Yellow and Kent (black)” These are the colors of the ink that printers mix together to created printed media.

• RGB: stands for “Red, Green, and Blue”. These are the colors of light, that mixed together can create all the different colors we see on TV Screens, HD Projectors, and of course outdoor LED signs.

Any content made for digital displays of any type is being converted to RGB in one way or another. CMYK works for print media because you are ‘coloring’ the paper with ink. This ink will reflect light to produce a certain color. However, displays are physically producing this light to create colors, so they work in terms of Red Green and Blue. When mixed together in equal values they create white light. When they are all off, they create black.

In most cases you need to physically change the ‘color pallet’ of any files you send to a digital device from CMYK to RGB. This embeds the correct color information into the file so there is a direct translation value for the colors in the file, and the corresponding Red, Green and Blue light values.

DPI Value

This is another common term used in print media. It stands for Dots Per Inch and measures the amount of data the file contains “per inch” of the printed page. This is an important value in print media because a print with 300 dots per inch is going to be higher resolution than a print with 72 dots per inch.

However, it means absolutely nothing for digital media. Digital media is being displayed directly on a display with a set number of pixels that will not change regardless of how large the display is in inches. Saving content used for digital media with a high DPI only increases the file size, not the quality of the file.

Content Pixel Resolution

Monitors are typically 1024x768 or higher. This means 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high. However, outdoor LED signs are much larger and viewed from a distance, so they don’t need that many pixels. They range from 16x48 pixels all the way up to digital billboards that push 200x400 pixels.

Designers who feel comfortable with web design, or print media won’t usually have a hard time with billboard content. However, most outdoor LED signs are not billboards and have a lot less space to work with. Knowing how to use this space effectively can mean the difference between a viewer saying “Wow, that’s a great deal!” or “What did that sign say? I couldn’t read it.”

Font Size and Style

Font’s take up a certain number of pixels depending on their size. Sizing these fonts correctly according to the size and pitch of the sign is important. Fonts that are too small won’t be readable, or appear blurry.

Font style is important as well. The quick readability of a font is important and there are some that are good for LED signs (thick and bold) and other that are not (fancy and thin). Knowing how to use a variety of font styles while maintaining readability is extremely important for LED sign content.

These are just a few of the factors that designers need to take into account when creating content for outdoor LED signs. There are many others including pixel pitch, road speed, color matching, viewer distance, and a host of others that must be taken into account. This is why I feel the investment in a content service or an in-house designer is worth the cost. It’s not enough to just have funny quotes and smart text on an LED display anymore. Viewers expect dynamic, colorful content that is readable and memorable. Let a pro handle it, and give yourself a little more time to focus on what you do best, operating, building and expanding your business.

-SH

I hope this post has been informative and helpful. As usual, I welcome ALL constructive comments. Please feel free to comment and add anything I’ve missed, or additional tips you may have regarding this topic. Please visit www.vantageled.com for many other resources, white papers, and of course: Great looking LED Signs!

**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.

Digital Signage Need to Know: What is Pixel Pitch and How Does it Relate to LED Signs?

-Scott Hofheins

Pixel Pitch (or dot pitch) is a term used on a daily basis in our industry. It is a core specification that will determine the clarity, effectiveness, and cost of an LED sign. Although Pixel Pitch is also used in any type of digital display (computer monitor, LCD TV, etc...) it is still not a common term for the general public and can sometimes be difficult to understand it’s role.

I’ve listed some common questions about LED signs below. You may feel like they move off the subject, but I promise it will make sense at the end.  

What is Pixel Pitch?

At it’s core, it is a measurement of how close each pixel is to another on a display, typically measured in millimeters. The lower the Pixel Pitch, the more pixels you can fit together on a display.

Great...so what is a pixel?

A pixel is a single point of light on display, consisting of (3) individual colors: Red, Green and Blue. When each is lit at the same full intensity, the pixel produces white light. When they are at different intensities, shades of colors are produced.  

A display contains thousands of pixels, laid out on a grid. The actual number of pixels high, and the number of pixels wide is call the “Native Resolution” of a display. The computer monitor I am using to write this post is 1600 pixels wide, by 900 pixels high, or 1600x900. An HD, LCD Television would be 1920x1080. Notice the “1080”? This is where the HD 1080p classification comes from. It designates that the display is 1080 pixels high.

What does that have to do with LED signs?

They use pixels just like LCD TVs and Monitors. However, LED signs are outdoors, large, and fighting sunlight so they must use physical Red, Green, and Blue LED’s instead of liquid crystals. Additionally, they use significantly less pixels than monitors or LCD TV’s (unless you're in Las Vegas) because they are viewed from a distance.

We call the “Native Resolution” of an LED display it’s Pixel Matrix. Typical digital billboards will have matrixes like 168x584 or 216x763, while typical commercial displays would include smaller matrixes like 32x128 or 48x96. The larger the matrix, the more information you will be able to fit on the sign.

What does the Matrix have to do with Pixel Pitch?

The more pixels you can fit into a sign (higher matrix) the higher the resolution will be, and the closer you can be to the display and still clearly see the image or text. Believe it or not you may be more familiar with Pixel Pitch than you realize. Do you know why Apple’s “Retina” displays are so crisp? Because they have been able to squeeze more pixels into the same amount of space. This is done by decreasing the Pixel Pitch. In fact, pixels are so close to each other these days that they are now measuring them in PPI (pixels per inch).

How does Pixel Pitch affect an LED sign?

The same way it affects a computer monitor, but on a larger and more noticeable scale. Pixel pitches on LED signs may include 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12.5mm, 16mm, 20mm, 25mm. Most commercial outdoor LED signs will stay in the 16mm - 25mm range.

16mm and lower pitches are typically used for smaller signs to fit more pixels into a smaller area and maintain a quality image. However, they can be used for larger systems where the intended viewers will be close to the sign.

The 20mm pitch is a good middle ground for many sign owners who need to have a little of both worlds. A larger sign, but with the viewers a little further away.

25mm and sometimes 32mm pitches are commonly used for digital billboards. You may see a 20mm or 16mm on smaller billboards, or where the sign is closer to the viewers.

How does “Virtual Resolution/Pixel Sharing” relate to Pixel Pitch?

The simple answer is: it doesn't really. It’s like comparing ounces to inches. They both work together in the real world, but are not directly related. However, I am a big fan of Virtual Resolution technology when done correctly. Deacon Wardlow posted a great article about it awhile back.

Virtual Resolution technology allows a sign to share the other pixels around it to smooth out lines and graphics providing a higher quality image and increased clarity at closer distances. When this is done correctly, the actual video signal size will be double the pixel matrix of the sign. For example, a 64x144 sign would use video data sized at 128x288.

This will make a 20mm sign using virtual resolution look better than a standard 20mm sign. However, a 10mm sign of the same physical size will always look better than a 20mm sign (even with Virtual Resolution). This is because a 10mm sign physically has more LED’s, they are physically closer together, and it has a higher “Native Resolution” than the same sized 20mm.

Remember, Pixel Pitch determines how many pixels you can fit onto a display. The more pixels you have, the higher resolution the display will be when viewed close up. However, larger signs viewed further away do not require a low pixel pitch. Keep in mind that Virtual Resolution technology is great, but is not directly related to pixel pitch so make sure you compare apples to apples. I hope this post has been helpful, and for those looking into buying an LED sign I encourage you to educate yourself as much as possible; I promise it’s worth the effort.

-SH

I hope this post has been informative and helpful. As usual, I welcome ALL constructive comments. Please feel free to comment and add anything I’ve missed, or additional tips you may have regarding this topic. Please visit www.vantageled.com for many other resources, white papers, and of course: Great looking LED Signs!

**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.