Consequences of Poor Outdoor Digital Signage Protection…Part One

The rise of digital out of home (Dooh) has been an expeditious one. From the first screens installed in shopping malls and transport hubs, to today, where the high streets are becoming filled with outdoor digital signage screens, kiosks and digital posters.

This move to outdoors was an obvious step, especially in an industry where footfall is so important and as audiences for advertising media like digital signage are far larger in outdoor locations, then it’s no wonder that outdoor digital signage is so ubiquitous.

With this rush to place screens outside, there have been many incidents of failure and problems with some of the first outdoor digital signage screens, a consequence of poor protection.

When using an LCD or plasma screen in outdoor location there is a lot to consider with regards to protection; missing out on one aspect of LCD protection could lead to failure of the screen and a loss of the initial investment, or at least a heady repair bill.

There are four elements that a screen in an outdoor location needs to be protected from:

Sun damage

The sun is one of the most challenging aspects to protecting outdoor digital signage. It causes three problems, all of which need to be overcome otherwise the screen will either fail or be not be working effectively.

Brightness is the first problem caused by the sun and any screen hat has to operate in high ambient areas will need a high brightness backlight otherwise the screen will appear washed-out and be hardly noticeable.

The sun make a screen difficult to read

The sun can also cause glare that will also make the screen unreadable, but with direct sunlight beating on the screen it can lead to other issues too. Burn-in of images or permanent discolouration of the screen can be caused by continuous direct sunshine too so this heat needs to be carried away from the screen – or the screen needs to be shrouded or defended against.

To be continued…