Added: 06/20/2006 |
Modern billboards technologyThe sphere of advertising (billboards advertising in particular) changes and develops all the time. Nowadays, there are four main types of modern billboards: traditional billboards, mechanical billboards, digital billboards, mobile billboards. There is also such category as human billboards advertising. In this article you will find a brief description of modern billboards.
Roadside billboards that encourage passers-by to visit local businesses are considered traditional. This type of modern billboards includes large wooden signs with the larger ones, typically 48'x14' or 24'x12' (width x height). The display of traditional billboards is painted or printed on a vinyl sheet. The latter is glued onto the board. There are also smaller 22'x10' and 20'6"x9' billboards (a cheaper to produce format that has a less visual impact). They display a series of thirty or twenty four printed posters.
The mechanical billboards are a type of modern billboards that use a technique, called tri-faced (also known as rotating or multi-message billboards). Three separate adverts in rotation are displayed by these billboards. A special mechanical system is used here. A series of trilons (triangular prisms) constitute the mechanical billboards. These trilons are arranged in such a way that they can be rotated to present three separate flat display surfaces. The displays for the mechanical billboards are printed on strips of vinyl, fixed to the faces of the triangular panels. One strip from each of three different displays attached to each panel. Therefore, the panels can rotate and three different signs can be shown in the same space. Due to the motion that draws attention to the messages displayed, the mechanical billboards are thought to be more effective.
The scrolling billboards are another form of the mechanical billboards. Due to their ability to show up to thirty images per side, these billboards are very popular. They use a roll-up - a scrolling mechanism controlled by a computer. Printed on a special material, the images can be back lighted for night viewing. Many of these modern billboards are used on trucks for mobile applications.
The digital billboards are rather new. These billboards are entirely digitized. They allow displaying animations and completely rotating advertisements. In some places holographic billboards are used.
An emerging theme in electronic billboards is an interaction. In London, for instance, movie theatres are experimenting with billboards that contain an embedded computer chip. It can interact with a web browser, found in many cell phones. Thus, these billboards provide more information on the subject of the advertisement. There are also upcoming billboard technologies that will synchronize with advertisements on radio stations.
In order to make modern billboards mobile, it is only needed to mount a traditional billboard onto a trailer or a flatbed truck, or cover an entire vehicle in a "wrap" image. This technology is common to mount smaller "boards" on those vehicles, but sometimes it is used in bus advertising as well.
Article comments:
No comments for this article yet. Post your comment now!
