Reducing Sun Glare with Outdoor Screens

One of the most common technical problems in using an outdoor screen, or even placing a screen in a store window, is coping with sun glare and the ambient brightness levels that can make a screen incredibly difficult to read.

Screen Glare

The sun’s brightness is something most of us will be familiar with when trying to watch TV at home on a sunny day.  The brightness of the sun can leave the screen unreadable forcing us to close the curtains or angle the TV away.

With an outdoor digital signage screen this is not possible, especially if the screen has been installed to face the path of the sun, and during times of bright sunshine, the consequence is that the screen becomes near impossible to read.

In some respects, minor problems with sun glare can be dealt with by utilising a form of anti-glare glass or screen covering, although this will have the effect of reducing the overall brightness of the screen.

The best solution for any problems caused by the sun is to ensure the screen used is as high brightness as possible. Typically, most LCD displays bought for indoor commercial or consumer use have a brightness level or around 500 nits. This provides enough brightness by the backlight to ensure trouble free indoor viewing but this brightness level is not strong enough to cope with bright sunshine.

Outdoor screens, and displays designed to operate in bright conditions typically have a nit value of 1,200-1,500 — three times the regular brightness of standard displays.

This high brightness level ensures the display is still readable regardless of how powerful the sun is with the LCD backlight able to provide enough brightness to overpower the ambient levels.

High brightness screens are more expensive than standard alternatives and they will still require weather protection if they are to be installed outside. Commonly high brightness screens are installed in outdoor LCD enclosures to provide a comprehensive outdoor digital signage solution.