Difficulties Keeping Outdoor Digital Signage Cool in Summer

With summer arriving we can say goodbye to the cold and dark mornings and begin to take advantage of the warmer weather by spending more time outdoors. Outdoor digital signage is more effective in the summer, as the weather is better and people linger longer around high streets and retail parks, taking more time walking around, increasing the dwell time on outdoor screens.

But summertime does bring with it some problems for digital signage displays, which need consideration when installing an outdoor display. The biggest challenge with using outdoor digital signage in the warmer months is the threat of overheating.

The problem with an outdoor screen is that in order to protect against the weather, the screen has to be waterproof. LCD and plasma screens generate heat when in operation, if this heat isn’t transferred away, the screen can overheat and fail, but the weatherization can hamper this process.

LCD enclosures and outdoor digital signage displays use cooling fans to transfer, but for these to work a supply of clean air and/or vent the warm air away. Obviously, any access to the air outside could become vulnerable to water ingress. Many outdoor digital signage enclosures get round this problem by using intricate air chambers that allow air to pass through but not water.

Different locations, however, can experience different temperature levels during the summertime. While in some areas of North America and Europe, summers can be mild, not breaching the 30 degree centigrade mark, but in other locations, closer to the equator, temperatures can rocket to above 40 degrees and further, meaning that outdoor displays  in different locations need to be adapted for the temperatures experienced in that environment.

Some locations are just far too hot for normal cooling methods to suffice. Sometimes, locations like these require air conditioners to keep the screens cool, which can add considerably to the costs of installing and running the screens.

Another difficulty in the summer is the intensity of the sun, which not only makes a screen difficult to read—leading to high brightness screens having to be deployed—but also can add to the overheating problem, especially on the screen face if the sun is beaming directly on to it. For locations like this, a screen-cooling device is required such as an air-curtain.