I would like to bring to your attention to a very interesting article about Signs and Displays - written by Karen E. Claus about 20 years ago - that got my attention because it is still so Incredibly Actual.

Ms Claus is one of the most important modern researchers of Signage And Its Effectiveness: her scientific approach to the subject provided truly important insights to anyone in the signage business, Both Manufacturers And End-Users.

Even if her article is not strictly about LED Signage, I still think there are many interesting aspects that should be considered, as for example "why" and "how" a sign does Significantly Affect Your Business.

Today I'm republishing the "Introduction" - and I will post the rest of Ms Claus article in the next few days. Please note that I edited the original text by adding some highlights (ie. bold) to underline what I considered the most important parts.

In a few passages of the article you will find specific references to the American population, but I think most of the principle explained are valid, with some adjustments, to the Population Of Any Country.

Ms Karen E. Claus is also author of "The Sign User's Guide: A Marketing Aid", a very interesting book that I strongly recommend you to read if you are in the Sign Business (either LED or not). You can find it on Amazon.com.

I am sure you will find it interesting.

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SIGNS AND YOUR BUSINESS

By Karen E. Claus
University of California, San Francisco, California

INTRODUCTION

Signs are one of the most efficient and effective communication media available to the small businesses.

Signs help people find you; they reach people who are passing by your establishment.

In short, signs tell people what you are selling. Signs are such a powerful communication medium that it is difficult to estimate the extent of their influence.

What Signs Can Do for Your Business

Signs Give Information About Your Business and Direct People to Your Location

Signs index the environment. This is especially true for travelers, new members of your community, and impulse shoppers who may be on a journey to purchase a particular good or service that you sell. Americans are mobile.

Each year we travel over 1.7 trillion miles by automobile and approximately 19 percent of us change our place of residence.

A primary source of customers for your business is the large number of people who are new to your community or who may be just passing by.

Your sign is the Most Effective Way of reaching this mobile or transient group of potential customers.

Signs Are Street Advertising

• For most businesses the street is where customers are. The message conveyed on the street reaches people who are Close Enough to make a purchase.
  
  
  
• Street advertising also helps people Develop A Memory of the products and services you sell. People tend to buy from businesses they know.
  
  
  
• A sign can Appeal To A Given Group of potential customers. If you have a particular market segment that you wish to attract to your business, your sign can be an important means of bringing these people in.

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In the next part (posted on Tuesday February 6th) Ms Claus further explain what is "The Advantages of Signs"

Why "High LED Technology"? Isn't that just simple "LED Technology"?

These are questions that you could ask yourself when reading on our website that Euro Display is manufacturer of "High LED Technology Displays & Giant Screen".

The reason why we clearly specify "High" LED Technology, is not just a copywriting technique... It Is Not A Hype to improve the perception of our company image.

We use the adjective "High" because the way we use LEDs is State-Of-The-Art.

On Giant Screens, the LEDs are not just either On or Off (as in the lightening industry for example). To provide you with superior image quality, we must do Much More.

Indeed, we do Control and Synchronize LEDs Brightness in order to find the exact color mix and the perfect balance to provide you with Super-Realistic Videos, with incredible Color Brilliance And Image Depth.

As you can understand, this LEDs management results are achieved only through Many Years of Expertise, Commitment and Passion.

So this is the reason why we think is important to specify that we are Designers and Manufacturers of "High LED Technology Displays & Giant Screen". Hope you agree with us!

Today I've been asked twice about the IP Rating In Relation To LED Giant Screens. So I guessed that was a sign from above and decided to answer this question publicly.

IP is the acronym of Ingress Protection and it identifies the "Protection" against humidity and suspended particles. The IP level is Described By Two Figures: the first one is referred to the protection level Against Dust, the second Against Water.

The Ingress Protection level is an international standard and it is utilized to Measure The Waterproofness of any electronic products. Devices with a higher IP level keep the internal components safer and cleaner.

This Ingress Protection level is particularly important when the Giant Screen Is Meant For Outdoor Use - while it became almost insignificant for indoor applications.

So you are probably wondering what is the Exact Definition Of IP65? Here we go:

• 6 (Dust) Dust-tight. No ingress of dust.
• 5 (Water) Protected against water jets. Water projected from a nozzle against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect.

Now, one of the people that asked me about the IP rate today, also asked a Very Smart Question: How can the screen be dust-tight if you have a forced ventilation system? Wouldn't the dust enter together with the air?

In the LED Giant Screens Industry, the IP rate is usually referred to the Front Side (not the rear side) of the screen, which is most exposed to the atmosferic agents.

Please note that this information Is Not Clearly Stated By All LED Giant Screens Manufacturers: some of them "forget" to specify on their brochures or websites that the IP65 is referred only to the front, not to the rear (see for example how we did it in our proMARKET page).

Indeed the protection level on the rear side is Usually Lower (Euro Display's Giant Screens are IP64 on the rear side).

LED Screens with IP63 Or Lower should not be used in outdoor environment, so when evaluating different manufacturers, please make sure you double-check with them what is the Rear Side IP.

Remember, You Could Test Their Honesty And Professionalism by asking: "How can the module be dust-tight if you have a forced ventilation system? Wouldn't the dust enter together with the air?" - and then see how they answer you.

If you want To Learn More about the IP Ratings and Consult The Entire Tables, please visit the following links:

• Ingress Protection Rating - from Wikipedia
• IP Ratings - from Engineering Tool Box

As LED Giant Screen Manufacturer, we obviously work with A Huge Number Of LEDs. But we also work with other huge numbers. For example, did you know that...

6000
Is The Number Of Items In Our Catalogue (Probably The Widest On The Market)

9216
Is The Number Of Pixels We Can Fit On Each m2

1978
Is The Year When We Entered The LED Displays Business (It Is Almost 30 Years Now...)

4500
Is The Surface In m2 Of Our Facilities

400%
Is The Increase In Image Quality You Get Thanks To Our Virtual Pixel© Technology

1996
Is The Year We Got Certified ISO9001:2000 (Being The First In Europe In The LED Displays Industry)

24
Are The Months Of Full-Warranty We Provide On Each Of Our Product

35+
(And Counting) The Countries Worldwide Where We Are Present With Our Products

500+
(And Counting) Our Installations Of LED Displays Around The World

35000
(Euros) Is The Leasing We Can Provide You With Our Financial Services

11
Are The Minutes It Takes To Build A 3x2 Meters Giant Screen With Our proEVENT light modules (No Kidding - Watch the Video Here!)

16000+
Are The Number Of Electronic Components We Put On Each m² Of Giant Screen

126
Are The Number Of Modules Of The Biggest Giant Screen We Ever Produced So Far (At 16 November 2006)

64000
Are The Numbers Of LEDs That Our Machines Can Mount Every Day

Hope you found this information about Our Giant Screens curious and interesting!

Just in case you didnt know it yet, starting From January 2007, Euro Display Will Move into a new, better and nicer location.

In the next few weeks indeed, we will move into a bigger facility (when I say bigger, I mean 4 times bigger) Just 3 Kilometers Away from our current building in Strada della Risera, 7 in Rosta, Torino (Italy).

The address of the new facility is the following: Via Gandhi, 21 - Avigliana, Torino - Italy - and it's just 2 minutes from the Avigliana Est exit.

Here our Giant Screens and LED Display products, will find a better organized place. In particular, some highlight of our new location, are the following:

• There will be a 16 x 6 meters structure (truss) with 4 engines that will enable us to built Giant Screens Up To 96 sqm.
  
  
• Our entire team of electronic and mechanical developers, will find place in their dedicated area with over 100 sqm of offices and meeting rooms, plus a 150 sqm area specifically dedicated to Tests And Research Purposes On LED  Displays Prototipes.
  
  
  
• A sample of each of our giant screens (from 5mm to 30mm pitch) will be placed in our brand new show room of over 200 square meters. Once completed, in this area there will be More Than 40 sqm Of Giant Screens And LED Displays.
  
  
  
• Just in front of the show-room, will take place our demonstrating area, fully equipped with video-projector and audio system To Give You The Best Experience when you will come to visit us. In this room will began your tour of our company, plus any training on LED products and softwares that you will follow.

But Id better stop now! I dont want to ruin the surprise, so if you want to discover all others features of our new house, Just Book An Appointment And Come Visit Us!

I look forward seeing you!