How to Illuminate Billboard Correctly?

Billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure. It is the place where brand building and product promotion are carried out. Billboards are often placed in high-traffic areas or along roadsides to maximize the attention of pedestrians and drivers. It means that the billboard should be attractive. Pedestrians or drivers notice and carefully read the advertisements on the billboard, but safety is the priority. Improper lighting of billboards causes distraction and is dangerous for drivers and pedestrians. For this reason, the correct lighting of billboards plays an important role in both ensuring security and gaining attractiveness.

Billboard classification

There are two types of billboards, traditional billboard and digital billboard. The main difference between them is the way they provide lighting that allows drivers or pedestrians to read the message.

Traditional billboard is printed with characters or images on a paper or vinyl sheet and affixed to the facades of a building or to a sign surface. Paper and vinyl siding cannot produce light at all. Traditional billboards can be seen by light shining onto or reflecting off their surfaces. The sun or daylight shines on the billboard and during the day it reflects the light from the surface, making the billboard visible. Billboard needs external light source for illumination at night. Since the billboard is usually mounted on a high pole, powerful LED floodlights are placed above or below the billboard to provide adequate illumination.

Advanced technology makes the billboard self-illuminating. This type of billboard is called a digital billboard. The digital panel is visible because of the light emitted inside the panel. Unlike traditional billboards, digital billboards should be set to a higher light level for clear visibility in bright sunlight during the day. But at night, the higher light level can cause glare and make it too bright to be read. Drivers may complain about the excessive brightness of the billboard. Excessive light can make it difficult for them to distinguish the direction and traffic situation and can cause serious hazards or even accidents.

   

Panel lighting requirements

Since the digital billboard can emit its own light, we want to talk about traditional billboard lighting and how it can be illuminated correctly.

The most important point in making billboard lighting correctly is the effects on people and the environment. In other words, we should prevent lighting pollution while lighting the billboards.

It should be said that unnecessary high watts and higher light levels are a complete waste of energy and are harmful to the environment and people. Careful lighting design will not only save energy, but also help you save costs. It is absolutely necessary to get help from a professional team on such an important and critical issue.

The purpose of lighting the billboard is to illuminate the advertisement and to make it visible and readable by drivers and pedestrians. Too much light causes glare. Excess light spreads from the billboard to the dark sky, nearby residences or plants, disturbing people and animals. In addition, there is glare and discomfort in the eyes, which causes temporary recognition and unresponsiveness in heavy traffic.

Lighting contrast is another critical factor for correct billboard lighting. Contrast is the difference in brightness between the subject and the background. Our eyes can distinguish the objects in the background under two conditions, the background and object color is different, or the background and object have a certain brightness contrast. Brighter object and slightly darker background would be great for better vision. Conversely, if the background is brighter than the objects, visibility will be significantly reduced. Especially in poor lighting conditions, the lack of brightness difference may cause false visual phenomena, then distort the detected object. As a result, the light level must be adjusted according to the ambient brightness. For example, billboard lighting should be lower in an open area at night, such as on the highway. But for business areas, billboard lighting value should be slightly higher for more competitive appeal.
Every area has standards or regulations that apply to billboard lighting and the relevant regulations and standards should be considered. Billboard lighting regulations and standards may differ by region.
Conventional billboards are usually mounted on a pole or building at a certain height from the ground, and they come in various sizes. There are some simple formulas for billboard lighting regarding its dimensions or height. Important information such as width, height and width of this billboard must be known. Because how many meters an LED will be placed depends on these features. Therefore, to say something clear here will mislead you.