It matters not if we are using signage to spread specific information; advertise products or services or simply to provide directional assistance; they work best when they are eye catching and both easy to see and assimilate. Go back in time, and people would paint their messages on just about anything that the public could see. Wooden road signs, tarpaulins and banners, the glass windows of their shops, the shingles of their business premises, walls or fences, etc, etc. This worked reasonably well for a couple of reasons; there were less people about back then and nothing else was available.
Perhaps the first improvement was when posters were printed and placed into display cabinets or panels outside the premises and, then, along came movie houses. Advertisements could be put on the movie screen and the outside of the building festooned with light bulbs arranged to proclaim a message.
Flashing Lights And Messages That Change And Move
With the arrival of television in the majority of households, everyone got to experience the power of advertising that incorporated moving images. However, all the time that TV’s ran on bulky electrical components and relied on the cathode ray tube to present their images, this form of advertising was difficult to take out onto the street as it were.
Now, We Are In The Computerized Digital Era
The early computers were huge machines and, even when they evolved down to the size of the PC (personal computer), they were still somewhat bulky and reliant on cathode ray technology to show their pictures. Even the space and size reduction first represented by laptop computers with flat screens had only limited use as signage (maybe a laptop sitting on a desk at the front of a trade show booth).
The Flat Screen Display Unit
To those with information to disseminate; the people’s addiction to gaining information from their TV’s and PC screens was a definite attraction and many varied attempts were made to use this technology as a means of signage. Banks of linked screens, masses of LED’s and projection devices has some success but these were not really suitable for use anywhere but indoors.
Liquid Crystal Display Screens
This technology provides the bright screen on many tablet type computers and is being used for quite a number of large, flat screen TV’s. Because of the compact, fan less electronic components and sunlight viewablilty screen availability, this technology can be harnessed to produce weather proofed Outdoor Digital Signage Displays that can be positioned just about anywhere. Anyone with a message to impart now has the potential to reach large numbers of people at any location of their choosing.
