The screens used for outdoor digital signage, housed in plasma/LCD enclosures, are pretty much the same devices used for home TV viewing. While they are commonly commercial grade, this just makes them slightly more proficient at being left on for 24 hour periods.
While the devices may be the same, the way they are used is not. At home, modern widescreen TVs allow films to be viewed without the annoying borders, and most TV shows are now shot in this widescreen format too.
With digital signage, screens can be placed both horizontally, the standard method of home TV’s, also known as landscape, and vertically – known as portrait.
For Dooh projects (Digital out of home) both these methods can be used for differing effects, especially with outdoor digital signage. But how do you decide which orientation is the best method.
There are two aspects that will determine which orientation is best for your project:
- The location of the sign, including its position and height
- The type of content that is being displayed
Portrait – is by far the most common orientation for digital signage and most of the indoor signs such as the digital posters we see around shopping malls and retail parks usually take this format.
This type of orientation is perfect for digital advertising as it is similar to the way static posters are designed and is more suited for placing images of people, a common content subject of advertisers. For this reason portrait screens are more noticeable and engaging.
Landscape screens are more commonly used for information as they are less eye-catching and noticeable. However, landscapes are also good for displaying large quantities of content, and because of this, most information screens are positioned in landscape mode. The screens seen in railway stations and other transport hubs are most commonly in landscape mode.
