Overview

How to get your message, advertisement, "Billboard on to the Digital Signs around Campus

Currently the Digital Sign Network consist of approximately 120 signs in various schools, colleges and administrative units. While there is one application/network tying them together which allows for services like "Emergency Messaging", the administration is distributed and so managed at the local level. Each unit may have their own protocols for what ultimately is displayed on the signs within their domain.

Best Practices

One should think they are preparing a message for a "billboard." 

Characteristics of a Bill board include:

• An eye catching graphic and/or color scheme
• A concise easily visible message intended for the passerby to retain
• Date, Time and Location for an event or
• Where inquiries may be made for more detail

There is no specific standard, your message may be displayed in a wide variety of sizes, locations, reading distances, and even the amount of time on the screen may vary from sign to sign.  Most sign locations are in relatively high traffic areas, so readers are typically in motion. Messages need to be legible, short, and easily understood to be effective. As mentioned previously administration and protocols, controlling content, for signs is a done locally by department so you may have little control over whether, where, and when they are displayed.

Formatting

The vast majority of signs in the network use a 4x3 PowerPoint Slide shows in a "region" of their sign, typically 1/3 to 1/2 of the available real estate of a sign, for content that changes fairly regularly. As digital signage changes, larger displays and orientations are becoming more popular. As a result some signs are now using a 16x9 landscape format and a few using a 9x16 or portrait orientation. They may be few but they are located in some of the most heavily student trafficked locations.

At minimum for each message you wish to have displayed you should provide .JPG images as follows:

landscape orientation

• 4x3 (1440x1080x150ppi)
• 16x9 (1920x1080x150ppi)  

and a portrait orientation

• 9x16 (1080x1920x150ppi)

it would not hurt to also include the 4x3 PowerPoint slide.  This allows Content Managers to easily add your slide to their existing PowerPoint decks.

Here is a well proportioned sample slide Lynda-dot-com Digital Sign 16x9.jpg

Distribution

The distribution of your message may be handled in a few different ways.

•  If your contribution is of an occasional nature you may simply send an email with attachments to Christopher Finkle or Roger Merrill they will forward on your message to the listserve of Digital Sign Admins
• If you plan on releasing content on a more regular basis, monthly or more frequently, you may want to consider joining the Digital Signage listserve. The listserve is used to distribute updates about the application itself, requests for assistance with issues as well as notifications about available content for members signs.
• There is also a shared folder where images and PowerPoint slides may be deposited for admins and content managers to "pick up"
• Future work, "Channels" are also possible. Within the application a channel could be dedicated to a department or type of advertisement, for example "Athletics" or events focused on drawing the student population.  Sign administrators "could" opt to display these channels as a portion, usually a "time slice" (think commercials) as part of their overall programming.  To date there has not been the level of interest to warrant the time to set this up.

I need a Digital Sign

If you get serious about getting your own sign hardware, please see this article: Syracuse University Digital Signage Solution. It lays out everything you need to do.