So why do LED Giant Screens use the Virtual Pixel Technology? And what is it exactly? These are very common questions when you approach the LED Giant Screen industry for the first time. The answer might look obscure at first, but it is actually very simple once you understand a few basic principles.

The Virtual Pixel is a video-management feature that allows a 400% increase in image quality. Yes, 400%. So why LED giant screens manufacturers use it is pretty obvious: we use it to show better quality, realistic-looking images.

But why LED giant screen need to increase the image quality through a video-management feature in first place? It's pretty simple: despite of its huge size, a LED screen has usually many LESS pixel than the PC screen you are watching right now. How is that possible? Because on a LED screen, the distance between 2 pixels can be up to 30mm or even more.

As a result, on a normal PC screen, you can have 1024 x 768 physical pixels or more - while on a 4x3 meters LED giant  screen you could have 192 x 144 physical pixels! Big difference, uh? So how can we actually see anything on a LED screen with a resolution of only 192 x 144 (27.648 physical pixels in total)?

Easy! Thanks to the Virtual Pixel technology, we can double the number of pixels in lenght and the number of pixels in height: therefore we can increase the number of pixels perceived by the human eye, by 4 times! Therefore, the same screen with Vitual Pixel technology will have a perceived resolution of 384 x 288 pixels (or 110.592 pixels!). Ain't that beautiful?

Now you are probably asking how is that possible, but I dont want to fill you with too many information to handle all at once. Stay tuned as I'll explain clearly how the Virtual Pixel works on LED giant screens in the next posts.

A good percentage of the people I talk to are not aware of the fact that, in order to install a LEDwall on the public ground, you need to get permission from the competent authorities FIRST. The "Competent Authorities" are usually the City Hall, the Traffic Control or the Government, depending on the place of installation.

LEDwalls are a fairly new technology in some coutries, while in others they are largerly present since the '80s. Therefore, the very first thing you should do when creating the business plan, is to find out which is the right authority to forward your request to.

Once you have found it, you should send them the request for the installation of a "Display for Advertising and Information Purposes" (please note that it might be called in slightly different ways depending on countries).

One of the best way to get the City Hall interested in supporting your project, is to offer them, free of charge,  some of your advertising spaces. In this spaces they will be able to provide the community with public interest information about services available, special events, traffic deviation, weather forecast, maintenance work etc... In this way, you reach 2 important goals:

FIRST, if you can show the benefits that your LEDwall can bring to the community, the authorities will be more willing to support you. Which is already a great achievement (especially in some countries).

SECOND, you get updated, customer-targeted content almost for free from the City Hall that keep your LEDwall fresh and full of news that people are interested in. And if they are looking at the LEDwall, it become easier to sell the advertising space to your customers, doesnt it?

I would like to spend a few more words about the "Big Boy" (that's how we called our LEDwall) that has been recently installed in Santo Domingo and that is currently broadcasting news and advertising 24/7.

While watching at some pictures and videos of the screen, I suddenly realized that it is a real State Of The Art Installation. It reminded me of the LEDwalls in Piccadilly Circus (London, UK) or in Times Square (New York, USA) -- see pictures here: Piccadilly; Times Square;

What all these LEDwalls have in common?

First of all they are HUGE: they are so big that you see them from kilometers away, especially at nights.

Second, they are installed in a TRULY STRATEGIC AREA: they are positioned in one of the most trafficated areas in their cities, with thousands of "impressions" (people passing by the screen) a day and millions a year.

Third, they became an UNMISTAKABLE part of the environment: all these LEDwalls are part of the cities' image and history. And they are a symbol of the entire nation abroad. This is what makes them so special and different from any other installation.

Of course, these are truly "special" installations, which are the result of a lucky combination of the different factors mentioned above (size, position, recognizability). But luck, bring luck! Did you know that during the 20 days spent to complete the installation, our Customer closed more deals than in the previous 4 months?

I guess that people got impressed by the screen while they saw him "growing"! And I guess most advertisers realized that our "Big Boy" is one of the few State Of The Art LEDwalls Installation in the world.

I am sure you found Ms Karen E. Claus article about signs very interesting and still very actual.

I would like to point out to your attention to a couple of passages that I consider particularly interesting, as they become even more significant when using LED signs.

"Signs are one of the most efficient and effective communication media available to the small businesses [...] [they] give information about your business and direct people to your location."

That is even more true for a LED sign, which will exponentially increase your visibility (its bright!) and your ability to communicate (its dynamic!) and inform your potential customers - with daily updates, news and promotions.

LED signs allows you to easily create and save up 100 messages and and to create your own playlist... which means that you can create tailored messages - and promotions! - for Christmas, San Valentine's Day, Easter, summer holidays... and just schedule them when you need.

"Signs are oriented to your trade area [and] communicates to potential customers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, week after week, month after month, year after year."

If you are a small or medium business, most of the time the people that can see your signage are those who live or pass-by your trade area.

The people that see your LED sign repeating your message over time are your potential customers - which will start to remember your products and services because your bright and dynamic LED sign became a point of reference in the static city environment.

"Turn right at the bright moving sign!" Even people which are not you potential customers will start to mention you when giving directions to someone.

"this [advertising] potential to influence people exists right outside your door, which is the only place where those impressed by your sales message can react to it instantly."

A proper use of a dynamic, updated and bright on-site LED sign could convert your location into cash.

Imagine to advertise one of your products at an higher discount, switching product every day.

Main fast-food companies adopted exactly the same marketing technique and they advertise their offer nation-wide on the radio, with a different ad for any day of the week.

A dynamic LED sign allows you to use the same proven principle without the huge budget a radio campaign require!

The study leaves little doubt that on-site signage delivers more market coverage with a higher degree of readership than any of the other media.

In her article, Ms Karen E. Claus refer to several studies that proved on-site signage being over 200% better in terms of cost-per-exposure when compared to other media (ie. newspaper ad).

Does that mean that a small business owner should not invest in other forms of advertising?

Surely not. But what I have learned from Ms Claus article, is that any entrepreneur should first optimize its on-site signage - and be sure to get the most of of it - before moving to any other form of promotion!

And today LED signs are the best tools available on the market to 1) attract people's attention - 2) inform them about your product/services - 3) constantly communicate your updated promotions - 4) inspire instant reaction (and gratification for the need you created).

Here below you can read the last part of Ms Claus article "Signs And Your Business".

In this last extract she will bring up real data from a research study that proved the effectiveness of on-site signage.

Real-life examples are described, with experiments and results that clearly demonstrate how signs are the most effective advertising tool available to small and medium businesses (about 200% better than other media...).

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The National 3/M Company conducted a definitive research study covering the Effectiveness Of Advertising Media for retail use.

The study leaves little doubt that on-site signage delivers More Market Coverage with a higher degree of readership than any of the other media. Also, it does this at an astonishingly low cost per thousand exposures – and at the very point of sale!

It found that an average on-site sign was viewed by eighty-five percent of the retail market, ten times per month for a Cost Of Only Pennies per thousand exposures.

In comparison, a three hundred line newspaper ad, also run ten times a month, could command only fifty-three percent of the market at a Cost Of Two Dollars and eighty-one cents per thousand.

Readership estimates are even more startling, with Sixty-One Percent attributed to the sign and thirteen percent to the newspaper advertisement.

Comparisons between on-premise signs and other media in the study were Even More Decisive In Favor Of Signage. TV for instance, cost nine dollars and eighty-two cents per thousand exposures but could command only fourteen percent of the retailers market with a readership of only eleven percent.

A great deal of the tremendous cost effectiveness of on-site signs is due to their Long Life and to their Placement on property valued for other than advertising purposes. 

Since the use of the business location Is Free for the taking, the user of on-site signage limits expenditures to the cost of the sign. Because of the durability of signs, this expenditure is low since the cost is spread out over years.

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I hope you found the reading interesting, because I surely did.

Do not miss the next post with a summary of what Ms Karen E. Claus said and which lesson we (all) can learn from it.