Large advertizing LED screens in New York
I waited for my business trip to New York with apprehension. On the one hand, I was to revisit this wonderful energetically charged city, on the other, I feared to see terrible scars after the September tragedy. Has New York changed beyond recognition? Does it remain the world capital of innovation and technological advance? The flight was easy but I witnessed changes in attitude already on board the plane: “Delta” hostesses were wearing badges “God bless America!”, US flags and symbols visible everywhere. The plane was just the beginning. Americans like to exaggerate and their attitude to the tragic events was exaggerated, too. Every shop window, every car carried flags or slogans as an expression of solidarity and unity. Naturally, excessive security precautions – ID check-ups, metal detectors, etc. - were the most apparent.
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| Giant LED screen media façade of Nasdaq | Giant vertical advertizing LED screen (banner) |
But essentially New York was unchanged. The most noisy place that never sleeps – the Times Square with the most exclusive shops and offices, and crossing with Broadway with theaters, concert halls and cinema plazas.
New York has very strict rules for outdoor advertising: it is not allowed anywhere except Times Square. But on this Square the density of advertizing screens is the largest in the world. I have counted 17! But photos speak better than words. We have already written about it, but I never fail to admire this technological screen advertizing masterpiece. It is not an easy matter to ensure quality image on a LED screen of that size (13 floors!).
Last time I visited New York in 1998 and already at that time Times Square was decorated with wonderful large electronic screens. Only during this trip did I realize that 3 years is a long time in high-tech industry. All new advertizing LED screens had a very high resolution, outdoor TV sets but of gigantic sizes.
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| Large advertizing LED screen | Large advertizing LED screen of Panasonic |
In general, utilization of large advertizing LED screens in New York fully confirms our views on future trends in outdoor electronic screens:
- Advertising screens on large shopping centeres like Macy’s and US Toys were installed by owners to attract customers, to broadcast their own bright and luring commercials. Creative animations grab your attention, invite to enter the store and are equally tempting bot children and adults. Naturally, the owners could have put a simple advertising board – but the newest technological outlook, the largest collection of video games demanded a modern solution. That’s where the large outdoor LED screen is indispensable.
- Some new LED screens have appeared in the Square that are used exclusively for electronic outdoor advertising. All these new LED screens are new and all of them are large – larger than predecessors. On a building that architecturally did not allow installation of a very large screen, it was decided to install 5 (five) LED screens at once. To remind our readers, Times Square is not a huge area or avenue, but a small plaza in the city center. But experienced advertisers know the value of that area and fully utilize its advertising potential!
- Advertizing LED screens and informational banner (unlike one-two color informational displays) are a new development in outdoor advertising. Such banner screens are close in format to the Internet banners. The first such giant lamp screen (banner) was installed in Russia by “ATV Outdoor Systems” in Norilsk (see the right photo) but what has been done in New York is beyond belief.
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| Cluster of five new advertizing LED screens | Giant lamp banner by “ATV Outdoor Systems” in Norilsk |
Thus, my second meeting with the New York advertizing LED screens showed that life does not stand still. The number of LED screens constantly grows, their sizes grow too, and new technological advances penetrate this area of advertizing fast. A new functional mode of these screens is linking with the Internet projects. Previously people browsed the Web in the silence of their homes. Today the WWW is present in out-of-home advertizing and provides useful information to everyone who dares to come in the street!
