Beyond the Obvious: Differences Between Indoor and Outdoor Digital Signage

Indoor and outdoor digital signage are both ideal mediums to engage people, but there are some unique benefits with indoor LED video walls. Let’s breakdown the differences between the two.

1. Resolution
Indoor LED displays will often require higher resolutions than outdoor digital signage since they are intended for up-close viewing inside malls, churches, hospitals, or sports arenas. Indoor LED video walls may often be at ground or eye-level, so they need to have a clear, sharp display for foot traffic.

2. Brightness
Outdoor LED displays must compete with the sun, so maximum brightness is an important consideration. High quality outdoor LEDs are designed to output up to 10,000 nits and are optimized to use as little energy as possible in the process. The high efficacy outdoor LEDs Watchfire uses are also designed to age more uniformly over time.

Because indoor environments are dimmer, LED video walls need only be about ¼ as bright as an outdoor LED sign. Video screens installed inside atriums or areas with a great deal of natural light can still be adjusted to compensate for additional environmental light, while those installed in darker areas can be dimmed to avoid being overpowering.

It’s important to adjust any LED sign to the surrounding environment so that viewers are not straining to read it or put off by blinding brightness.

3. Plug and Play Integration
Indoor displays are designed for quick, easy integration with third party players and multiple input sources. Outdoor displays use a more rugged controller for playback and are typically managed by a single, proprietary software suite that includes sign diagnostics and remote access capability.

4. Weather Protection
Outdoor digital signage needs to be engineered to withstand all types of weather conditions. This includes full silicone encapsulation, heavy wall extruded aluminum cabinets and rugged, fade-proof louver shades. Indoor signage won’t be exposed to the elements, so these protections are not necessary. By omitting these weather protections, manufacturers are able to produce indoor LED displays for far less than the cost of producing outdoor LED displays.

5. Design Integration
Interior video boards can be designed for a variety of architectural needs and configurations because they are not installed within a cabinet. This means that indoor screens can be used to create accent patterns or continuous ribbons inside a building such as a stadium or arena. Further, they are typically assembled on-site, panel by panel.

Outdoor LED signs are also versatile and can be mitered or installed in a radius, but they are not built module by module on-site. Instead, most innovative outdoor projects ship in large sections that are then installed in place on a building or sign structure.

6. Key Similarity
Whether you choose digital signage for inside, outside, or both, you want a manufacturing partner who can offer a quality product and service after the sale. The quality and reliability of Watchfire’s indoor and outdoor products is a key similarity that makes them an obvious choice. All of our models are backed by the industry’s best customer support team, providing you with peace of mind that your project will look great on day one and for years to come.