Edis Digital Signage Electronic Video Information Display Systems User Guide
- June 4, 2024
- Edis
Table of Contents
Digital Signage Placement Guide
Where should your displays be placed? The placement of displays is just as important as the content and messaging. – read our Digital Signage Placement Guide.
Placing Digital Signage Displays
When considering digital signage, where should displays be placed? The placement of displays is just as important as the content and messaging.
The first step is to review the floor plan, the target audience, and the intended purpose of the content.
- Visit the areas of interest and take into consideration foot traffic patterns, congregation points, and environmental obstacles.
- Who is the target audience and what are they there to do? Are they there to shop, locate something, order food, be entertained, etc?
- What are the messaging goals? Will communication be with staff, guests, customers, students, patients, etc, and will they need to interact with the displays? Displays should be mounted in areas that address these audiences appropriately.
- What size are the proposed displays? 32 inches, 42 inches, 52 inches – bigger or smaller?
This guide provides insight into best practices for positioning signage based on viewing angles and gaining the attention of your viewers.
Floor plan
Consider the following :
-
How do people move throughout the area? Do they zip down long hallways? Are they rounding corners? Going up and down stairs? Going up and down aisles?
-
Where do the people congregate? Are there areas more susceptible to people converging or hanging out?
-
Is there an opportunity for signage in these areas of traffic?
-
If so, are there any environmental obstructions? If so, what are they? Can they be incorporated into mounting your displays or do you need to work around them (example: a pillar).
Position displays at points that experience the highest foot traffic or are known congregation areas. For example, mounting displays outside meeting rooms, a wall at the bottom of the main stairs, in the center of the reception area, etc.
Ideally, most displays are mounted eye level, but due to obstacles (architecture, wall materials, etc), a few of the displays may need to be mounted above eye level. The displays mounted above eye level should still be within 1.2m of the height of the shortest person likely to view the display. By doing so, displays can be kept the field of attention within acceptable parameters.
Viewing Height and Angle
Viewer’s Field of Vision
-
On average, a person with 20/20 vision can accurately see and read the text a few inches tall on displays from 6m to 7m away
-
People walking to areas of interest cover 6m to 7m within 5 to 7 seconds
-
A person!s vertical field of view is generally 75 degrees below eye level and 60 degrees above eye level (see Example2)
-
A person!s horizontal field of view is generally 30 degrees from the center line
-
A person!s field of attention, is generally only 20 to 25 degrees from their field of view So what assumptions can we make on Viewing Heights and Angles?
-
From 1.5m away, the field of attention is within 0.6m of eye level
-
From 3m away, the field of attention is within 1.2m of eye level
-
From 6m away, the field of attention is within 2.5m of eye level (see examples 1 and 3)
If we assume the average height of our audience is 1.7m and we assume they
have normal vision, from 6m away the field of attention is 2.5m higher than
they are tall.
Field of attention plus the person’s height (1.7 + 2.5 = 4.2m).
This means the displays should never be mounted more than 4.2m high from
ground level, generally speaking.
Mounting the displays a little higher than usual (say 4.2m high), possibly
angled down a bit, may fall into the field of attention for a larger
percentage of people but it also means the average person will have to get
closer to read the content on the display.
If we use larger displays, mounted as close to eye level as possible, we
increase our ability to effectively capture the person’s attention. Displays
mounted higher are more likely to fall out of the field of attention than
those mounted closer to eye level.
When presenting to someone with less than normal vision, you will have a
significant decrease in time to get your message across. What may have been 5
to 7 seconds to get someone’s attention, becomes 2 to 4 seconds. Larger
displays, bright colors, large fonts, and motion graphics will help!
Screen Size & Resolution
Resolution and Display Size – Does It Matter?
As you can see by the charts below, the resolution of displays comes into play
the closer you get to the display. So, the closer people are to larger
displays, the more important higher resolution displays become to your
presentation.
If your displays are mounted high up on the wall or far behind an environmental structure, then the resolution does not matter as much and you can save money purchasing displays with a lower resolution. Additionally, if the displays are small (say less than 20 inches) but in close proximity to the viewer, again, the benefits of a higher resolution display are not noticeable – even to the trained eye.
So, What’s the Path to Success?
While you can take all of the points within this guide into consideration when
planning on where to place your displays, the best path to success is to spend
some time studying your location’s floor plan, your foot traffic, and target
audiences and determining your desired outcomes.
Changing content is a lot easier than changing where a display is mounted, so prior to fixing your displays… focus on collecting data around everything we!ve mentioned in this document and put your best plan forward. Then, keep an eye on how the displays are performing based on your original assumptions and make adjustments where necessary.
You’re probably asking yourself… “well, what if the signs fail?”
When we see signs failing, 99% of the time the screens are simply too far away from the targeted viewers. There are a few ways to solve this problem
-
Use bigger displays.
Larger displays can occupy a larger portion of a person’s attention zone for a longer period of time. Plus, they look cool and have more impact.
-
Use normal-sized displays (32inch – 52inch), but put them right in front of the viewer. This works great in lobbies, congregation areas, and waiting areas where movement can often be constrained.
-
Determine where the attention of your traffic will be focused and place your screens strategically. This may require some trial and error, so to minimize those efforts, pay careful attention to how your traffic moves throughout your facility.
We hope you find this information useful and wish you the best of luck in deploying your digital signage.