Getting the Most out of Outdoor Digital Signage

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by: preyank4u
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Word Count: 612
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 Time: 9:55 AM

Using screens outside as part of an outdoor digital signage campaign is an effective method of advertising, promotion and branding, but ensuring your customers ';Get the Message'; requires a lot of aforethought and planning, and in particular, the screens, location and methods of protection from the elements are key factors that must be got right if you wish for the campaign to be a success.
Outdoor digital signage is an extension of the digital out of home industry that has become one of the fastest growing advertising sectors. It is now extremely common to screens installed in locations such as shopping malls, airports and even convenience stores and gas stations, and digital screens are now creeping into outdoor environments too.
There are several advantages to going outdoors with digital signage:
Firstly, outdoor locations have higher footfall numbers so the potential audiences for viewing the screen are far higher outdoors.
Secondly, as indoor screen are now a very familiar sight, it is harder for digital signage users to get their message to stand out. With outdoor digital signage, there is less competition so screens placed outdoors are more noticeable and eye-catching.
Nevertheless, embarking on an outdoor campaign has far more challenges than conventional indoor digital signage. Not only is protection essential-;standard LCD and plasma screens cannot operate outside without weatherization-;but also ensuring you have selected the right location and mounting option, is too.
Various solutions for outdoor screen use are available. The first and most obvious solution is to use an outdoor TV screen. Outdoor TVs are the same types of LCD and plasma used in indoor locations but are built to be waterproof and have higher than normal temperature ranges allowing the screens to be used outside.
The downsides with using outdoor TVs is the extremely high cost of the devices, with outdoor TVs costing many times more than that of standard and commercial grade screens used indoors. Secondly, while an outdoor screen is protected from the elements, some form of physical protection will still need to be included if the screen is going outdoors permanently, especially in an unsupervised location.
Another solution for using a screen outside for outdoor digital signage it to use standard equipment, either consumer or commercial grade, and house it in a protective outdoor digital signage enclosure.
These LCD enclosures allow almost any LCD (or plasma) screen to be taken outside and used safely and securely providing all the outdoor protection they need.
LCD enclosures are weatherproof, manufactured to NEMA 4 or IP65, ensure dust and other elements can';t get into the device, while also protecting against extreme temperature and physical impacts.
Outdoor digital signage enclosures commonly contain all sorts of climatic systems to ensure the enclosed screen is operating at the ideal temperature, with cooling fans, heaters and even air-conditioners fitted inside the enclosure.
Another common feature of these outdoor LCD enclosures is their ruggedness and toughness. Commonly, these protective housings are made from steel and fitted with shatterproof screens, temper-proof locks and other security measure to ensure the screens are protected from vandalism and attempts at theft.
As these outdoor LCD enclosures house standard consumer or commercial grade screens, even when you account for the combined cost of both screen and LCD enclosure the price is often still a lot lower than a TV designed for outdoor use. Furthermore, if anything ever goes wrong with the display (and most LCD screens have a limited shelf-life), replacing the enclosed screen takes minutes and the LCD enclosure can be used for years to come, housing generations of displays.

About the Author

Armagard have nearly two decades of experience manufacturing protective environments for computers, printers and displays. Using this knowledge and experience, Armagard have produced a range of protective outdoor lcd display designed for protecting standard LCD and CRT screens in outdoor or hazardous locations -ideal for outdoor digital signage or patio/backyard TV viewing. Our outdoor digital signage comes with world class warranty.

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