Here are some excerpts of a talk Lori Sieler gave on Product Management as part of the Daktronics Work Smarter webinar series.  Lori is a digital billboard product manager at Daktronics with 20 years’ experience in engineering and product design.

What Should You Think About When Purchasing a Digital Billboard?

• Design Experience – Subtle design differences can mean the world when it comes to longevity of your display.  A supplier needs to balance innovations with costs.  Life expectancy is used as a buying consideration many times and serious consideration should be given to knowing how much design and manufacturing input a supplier has.  Having in-house design and manufacturing and engineering support provides that additional peace of mind…Ask to see the reliability lab and the quality control processes.

• Image Quality – Every supplier will say that they purchase top tier LED’s to deliver best image quality…Day one is only part of the decision.  It’s important to consider how the components of the system work together not only on day one but in the years to come.  The louvers which shade the LED’s are important because the protect the LED’s from the sun.  The orientation of the LED’s is important.  Etching which provides a smooth image instead of the squares in the display.

• Contrast Performance – Contrast is the difference between the whitest whites and the blackest blacks.  Daktronics is proud of its displays because they have the highest contrast in the industry.  To see the importance of contrast, look at these images.

The square image on the left has lower contrast and it looks more washed out.

The higher contrast wolf on the right hand has more definition.

What are some additional features which are important?

• A redundant path for communicating to the display. This helps with permitting.  It also helps if there is an internet lag of power cycling.

• Display dimming is important because it affects power consumption and may be required by local billboard codes.

How long does it take to install a display?

It depends on the size of the display.  Posters are delivered in one section and install time is typically an hour.

What is the operating temp of your displays?  I live in the south.  Is this a concern? 

The operating temperature of our displays is -30 to 120 degrees. Design elements differ across vendors, Daktronics ships to multiple locations like South Africa, Dubai and the US, so our design includes fans in our systems to add airflow if needed.  The fan airflow provides consistent cabinet temperatures, electronics live longer in this controlled environment rather than with large temperature changes. Our diagnostics include temperature self-measurement in the displays so we can see if there is a spike on a very hot day out displays will go into a mode so that they don’t blank…

If I replace a module will it be noticeable?

We are able to do a panel adjustment for new panels to make new panels fit in.  Sometimes servicers don’t show an attention to detail.  We have an algorithm which allows a new module to blend into the rest of the display.

You can watch the entire 25-minute presentation by visiting this link and registering for the series: www.daktronics.com/worksmarter.

[wpforms id=”9787″]

Paid Advertisement