Digital Signage – Essential Differences of Going Outdoors

While digital signage is one of the fastest growing new media industries, outdoor digital signage is trailing behind compared to indoor. While still a growing industry, with more and more outdoor digital signage springing up all the time, there are still far less outdoor signs than those indoors.

Part of the reasons for fewer outdoor screens is the differences and difficulties in both setup and content that are required; however, as outdoor digital signage can reach far more people than any indoor sign, these challenges are worth overcoming.

With the initial digital signage installation, there are some fundamental differences to installing an outdoor digital sign compared to one going indoors. Protection is perhaps the most obvious difference, especially from the weather. Any outdoor display needs comprehensive protection from all weather elements. This can provide additional challenges as most LCD or plasma screens require some form or airflow to permit heat build-up to disperse. Air vents, therefore, need clever designs to allow air to escape whilst also preventing moisture from getting inside.

Temperature too, needs controlling for any screen to function in an outdoor environment. Ambient temperatures outside can swing from one extreme to another during the different seasons. Depending on how low, or how high, the seasonal variations go, climatic systems need to maintain a steady internal temperature inside whatever outdoor digital signage enclosure is housing the screen.

Additional protection to prevent damage through impacts is another consideration for an outdoor screen. All digital signs need to be tough; however, outdoor digital signs tend to be more vulnerable to incidents of vandalism.

Networking and power are also more difficult outdoors, which is why many outdoor digital signs being sued for adverts are installed by large advertising companies; however, more and more front of stores displays are being installed which is far easier to do for small businesses.

Content can differ for an outdoor sign too. Dwell time tends to briefer outdoors for advertising content, as few outdoor locations enable a captive audience, so simple bold imagery and messages are the way to go. Another possibility to ensure viewing of an outdoor advert is to provide some form of interactivity—giving people a reason to look at the sign. This can be anything from quirky games or content, to providing weather, news or other information.

One advantage has over indoor signs is that they tend to be viewed from farther away, so size can make more of a difference outdoors. Small displays will have far less impact than large, bold screens.

Outdoot content needs to be big and bold