With one of hot topics in outdoor digital signage being LED, we have to look at it and evaluate if this will change Outdoor Digital Signage as we know it to providing a far better audience experience.
Commercial grade LED (Light Emitting Diodes) displays are being introduced very rapidly to the dynamic advertising and signage market, compared to current LCD displays, LED’s are truly something special as you can see from the three points below, but they come at a price.
Longevity – This is one area an LED screen is excellent, as compared to existing display technology such as LCD and plasma, an LED is built to provide a reliable picture for a minimum of five to ten years – making it an ideal choice for the life of the project.
Compared to Commercial LCD screens, LED screens have the edge, because LCD’s tend to fail in 2-4 years to the due backlighting, with the new technology in an enclosure, this solution outdoors should last a minimum of 7 years at almost full brightness.
Sunlight readable – When deploying a screen in direct or bright sunlight, you have to consider the nits of the screen, as the light will wash out the images and the signage solution will look shabby. When choosing a screen you must look for one with nits of between 2 thousand and 4 thousand nits. Comparing this against an LCD screen with 600 nits, obviously the LED is a clear winner with darker blacks and sharper, clearer images.
Outdoor Operating Temperature – Another reason an LED screen is better is that the internal components and screen can handle extreme temperatures. If you read the manufacturers manual you will see that the ideal temperature is 77 degrees Fahrenheit as discussed in a previous article. An LED can cope with these extremes however they are hot screens and need either close monitoring or an outdoor enclosure that offers excellent climate control.
Now as always, there are drawbacks the main one being the price as all new technology has a higher price tag and drop over time. So we hope this information has been of interest and let us see if LED’s will be pushing digital outdoor signage in 2010.
LCD Enclosure Global are the worlds leading manufacturer of outdoor LED enclosures, that are supplied to digital signage integrators for deployment throughout the world.