Which screen does your shop need?

LED screens · 5 minute read

If you run a shop and are thinking about your first screen, the short answer is this: you don't always need an LED screen, and you almost never need the most expensive one. What you need comes down to four questions: what it is for, where people will see it from, how much sun it gets and where it will be fixed.

Mind the names: an “LED TV” is actually an LCD screen with LED backlighting. The LED screens we talk about here are made of panels with thousands of points of light, are built to fit the space and are sold by the square metre.

In a hurry? Start here. Further down we explain the reasoning behind each row:

If your situation is…	Start by looking at…
A small shop window, no direct sun, seen from close up	A professional high-brightness monitor
A sunny shop window and you want to be seen from across the street	A high-brightness shop-window LED screen
You don't want to block your shop window	A transparent LED screen
You want to sell inside, by the entrance or next to the product	An LED totem or poster (a free-standing vertical screen)
You want to be found from a distance	A sign, projecting sign or façade screen, and first, check which permit you need

1. What do you want it for?

Before choosing one, define your main goal. A screen can do several jobs; what matters is knowing which one comes first:

• Being seen from the street and getting passers-by to stop. It goes in the shop window or on the façade.
• Selling inside: highlighting a product or a promotion right where that product is.
• Informing: prices, menu, opening hours or services.
• Being found: identifying the premises from a distance, as a sign would.

A screen won't bring customers into your shop on its own. It works when it has a clear job and content that gets refreshed. If you don't yet know what it will show, sort that out before buying it.

2. Where will people see it from?

An LED screen is made of points of light. The distance from one point to the next, in millimetres, is called the pixel pitch: P2.5 means 2.5 mm. The smaller the number, the sharper the image looks up close and the more expensive the screen.

As a guide, many manufacturers use a simple rule: one metre of viewing distance for every millimetre of pitch. It is an approximation, not a standard: text size, the type of image and each person's eyesight all shift it. What matters is choosing the resolution your customers will actually notice from where they look, no more and no less.

Bear in mind too that these screens usually have fewer pixels than a television. Content is made to fit them, with large lettering and little text.

3. How much sun does it get?

Screen brightness is measured in nits, and it decides whether the image can be seen or looks grey. A domestic TV in a sunny shop window looks dull even when it is on. A sunny window needs a screen designed for shop windows, with much more brightness than an indoor one.

That same brightness is dazzling inside the shop. That is why the screen should have a light sensor or a schedule that dims it at dusk.

And don't forget the heat. A shop window works like a greenhouse: ask for the operating temperature range on the data sheet and leave the screen away from the glass and ventilated. It is worth looking at the window at different times of day to check for reflections too.

4. Where will it be fixed?

This is the question that appears least in catalogues and the one that most determines the installation. Each location needs something different:

• On an interior wall: fixings suited to the type of wall and a power socket nearby.
• Hung from the ceiling or behind the glass: a structure or suspension rated for the weight, and a gap from the glass so it can ventilate.
• Free-standing (totem or poster): a stable base or floor anchoring; some models are sold without a base.
• Transparent, in the shop window: depending on the model, it is stuck to the glass, hung or mounted on its own structure; either way it needs a sound support and a power socket nearby.
• On a façade: a structure, load calculations and outdoor protection. On the Cádiz coast, add the levante wind and salt air.

In every case, check two things before buying: that the screen can be repaired from the front if it goes flat against a wall, and that the shop's electrical installation can take the load.

And one more: a screen visible from the street may need a permit from the town hall, even behind glass. The rules change from one municipality to another, so check before you buy, not afterwards.

Three examples to get your bearings

These are typical cases to help you get your bearings, not recipes: the right choice for each shop depends on a site survey.

• An optician on a narrow pedestrian street, with the window in the shade and customers looking from one or two metres away. The sensible place to start is a professional high-brightness monitor: a sharp image, a standard size and a simple installation.
• An estate agency on an avenue, with the window facing the afternoon sun, that wants its listings to be readable from across the street. Here a high-brightness shop-window LED screen makes sense, with a light sensor, a gap from the glass and ventilation, and content with large photos and clearly legible prices.
• A café that wants to show its menu inside. A portrait monitor indoors is enough, with no need for high brightness. What makes the difference is the content: a readable menu and up-to-date prices.

The next step

With the four answers, you already know which type of screen to look at. The next step is a site survey: measuring the space and checking the orientation, the wall or façade and the power supply.

And when you ask for a price, ask for a breakdown: equipment, structure or base, electrical work, installation, control system and software, content, permit and maintenance. Many offers only include the screen.

In upcoming articles we will go into detail: how to choose pitch, brightness and content, and which permits, costs and running costs to plan for. More on how we work on our LED screens page.