Outdoor LED Kiosk Technology
LED display technology has long been favored over LCDs for many video signage applications, especially in areas with high ambient light. Increasingly, it’s also a preferred alternative for wayfinding and kiosks, with superior brightness influencing a dramatic increase in interest for outdoor LED kiosks. Other benefits make LED the ideal solution for close-proximity messaging in high-traffic environments.
- Image Quality: The pixel density for dvLED now rivals LCDs, easily attaining crystal-clear imagery with up-close viewing. This allows fine text and symbols in addition to dynamic video, a critical need for wayfinding and directory-assistance kiosks.
- Size: While LED is versatile enough to retrofit standard-sized LCD applications, it’s also a superior solution when size matters. SNA Displays has installed oversized kiosks in high-traffic pedestrian areas outside Benchmark International Arena, home of the Tampa Bay Lighting, and Boeing Center at Tech Port, a live entertainment venue in San Antonio. Both are hot and high-sunlight environments that require high brightness and ruggedness, and both called for big, wow-factor designs.
- Weatherproofing: A major challenge with permanent outdoor kiosks is weatherproofing. Minor cracking or warping of an enclosure’s seal presents a major risk to LCD applications. LED displays offer much greater protection of system electronics. For example, we retrofitted LCD kiosks with new LED at the entrance of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral. Not only do the new LED kiosks provide a brighter, clearer message center, they’re reliable enough to withstand hurricanes.
- Lifetime: LED tech far outlives LCD. While startup costs of LCDs are lower, the lifetime of an LED display system can span several LCD investments, particularly ones exposed to the outdoors.