What is a Sunlight Readable Display and How Can it Help Your Business?

July 28, 2021

One of the best ways to grow your business and increase brand recognition is through digital marketing. While creating a strong online presence is increasingly important, physical advertising remains an essential part of driving sales. Digital signage seamlessly blends the benefits of dynamic digital content with actual physical advertising. However, the quality of your billboard advertisements, signage, flyers, and messaging can make or break your efforts. This is especially the case when choosing outdoor digital signage, where sunlight readability is critical. In this article, we’ll discuss how sunlight affects digital signage, what a sunlight readable display is, and how it can benefit your outdoor advertising strategy.

Understanding Sunlight Readable Display Technology

Sunlight readability simply means to what extent a viewer can read a display in high ambient light conditions, such as direct sunlight. When someone tries to view a traditional display in bright sunlight, the brightness of the sun overpowers the display brightness and it becomes unreadable. You’re probably familiar with this phenomenon if you’ve ever tried to read your phone while standing in direct sun – you can hardly see anything! The same goes for larger displays used in outdoor commercial digital signage. If you’re considering advertising outdoors with digital signage, sunlight readability is essential to the success of your efforts.

How Sunlight Readable LCDs Work

The liquid crystal layer of LCD displays are “non-emissive”, meaning they don’t produce their own light, but require an external light source to illuminate the display image. Think of an old school slide show or even better, a film strip. The images are located on a film which sits in front of a light. All of the color and content are located on the film (albeit statically) and the bright light shines through the film to show the view whatever family vacation Uncle Joe and Aunt Sally took their RV to that year. The liquid crystal layer is very similar to this, only the images and colors can change. Just as there are different projection methods for slide shows, LCD displays have three illumination methods which can be used to display their content. They are as follows:

1. Transmissive LCD displays use a powered backlight to illuminate the display. Their brightness is measured by candela per square meter (cd/m²), which is often referred to as a “nit.” This unit of measurement accounts for both the luminous intensity and the overall area of a given display. Indoor transmissive LCD panels usually measure between 250-450 nits, while outdoor transmissive LCD brightness must measure at least 2000 nits for sunlight readability with most of the best daylight readable displays measuring over 4,000 nits. The energy required to power a 2000-nit backlight is significant and consequently increases operational costs. The brighter backlight also produces a good amount heat, which then costs even more to cool the display and expedites burn out.

2. Reflective LCD displays rely on ambient light to illuminate the display. Instead of a backlight, a mirror-like layer is installed behind the liquid crystal layer. In this configuration, ambient light passes through the LCD cell from the front and reflects back to the viewer. Reflective LCD brightness is proportional to the sun — the brighter the sunlight shines, the more light is reflected to the viewer. Because of this, the light source of the display no longer competes with the sun (because it technically is one and the same) and this configuration allows for 100% sunlight readability. Furthermore, because reflective LCDs don’t use a backlight, reflective LCD displays are the only LCD technology that maximizes sunlight readability with minimal energy cost.

3. Transflective LCD displays use a combination of both transmissive and reflective LCD technologies – both a backlight and a reflective layer – hence, the name transflective (transmissive + reflective). The backlight provides enough luminance for visibility in low to medium ambient light, while the reflective layer boosts the display’s visibility in bright ambient light without increasing power consumption. This hybrid option offers the choice of both illumination options but can negatively impact the display’s color saturation, resolution, and/or contrast.

How Sunlight Readable LCD Displays Can Benefit Your Business

While the upfront costs are a little higher than traditional advertising methods, the benefits of using commercial digital signage is well worth the investment. Digital signage has helped many businesses save on printing costs that are associated with paper signs or menus while also eliminating the wasted time that comes with changing printed signs out. Digital signage offers businesses the convenience of manipulating advertisements remotely and with minimal effort. This can boost your advertising efforts to change quickly with the time of day, season, sales and promotions. Simply put, digital signage can maximize your overall visibility while decreasing your overall spending.

By utilizing sunlight readable LCD displays in your outdoor advertising efforts, you’ll create a stronger first impression with your target audience. The improved visibility of the display itself can boost your business sales and build customer loyalty.

One thing to understand is that not all sunlight readable digital signage is created equal. It can vary widely based on the technology used. To make sure that you’re getting the most out of your sunlight readable monitor, contact Sun Vision Display. Our reflective LCD tec hnology operates in a wide range of temperatures, uses up to 95% less power than high-brightness LCDs, reduces blue-light emissions, and outlasts traditional LED or LCD displays. Without a backlight there’s no risk of burnout or overheating. This means that you’ll be able to utilize the same display monitor for years without needing repairs or replacement. They’re great for applications in public spaces, transportation, food and entertainment, tourism, sports and recreation, retail, and more. We turn sunlight into a solution. If you’re interested in adding commercial digital signage to your marketing efforts, contact the professionals at Sun Vision Display today.

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🚚 Batch #2 Has Arrived – Dawn/Eve Pre-Orders Now Shipping

July 31, 2025

Great news – the next batch of our Dawn and Eve RLCD monitors has arrived , and we’re back to fulfilling pre-orders!

Update on Inventory & Pre-Orders

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We’ve been hard at work getting shipments of the rE 2.0 Dawn and Eve out the door, and we’re thrilled to be able to get them into your hands. Thank you for your patience and support along the way! We’ve officially fulfilled the first phase of our pre-orders and are currently well on our way with the next batch of Dawn and Eve, which is scheduled to arrive in July . If your pre-order is part of the second phase, we will notify you individually and update you when your unit ships out. For those of you who may want to skip the frontlight option, we still have plenty of inventory of the original rE monitor ! In the meantime, we recognize that there is a LOT of uncertainty with the impact of tariffs on consumers, and the global economy in general. Please rest assured that at SVD, we are doing everything possible to ensure stability in our pricing and practices to help mitigate additional costs to you – our supporters who have had our back since Day 1. Therefore, we’ve changed things up a bit: First, for pre-order options via our website, you can now reserve your place in line for only $250 USD (fully refundable), which will be applied towards the cost of the monitor. When your monitor becomes available, we’ll confirm the order with you and collect the balance prior to shipping. You have the assurance that your rE 2.0 Monitor is on its way, the flexibility to pay the difference when it’s ready, and if you happen to decide otherwise at the time, not a problem. You’ll get the $250 refund returned and we can still be friends! Second, while the tariffs appear to be on hold currently, there is no predicting if or when they may return, or to what extent. In light of this, you have SVD’s commitment to full transparency. We will make every effort to keep our prices as low as possible, and if they are to increase (for any reason), we will be sure to keep you posted, prior to making any actual changes. Together, we will continue to support each other. Needless to say – for us at SVD, our customers continue to remain at the forefront of all we do! As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions. We look forward to serving you. With gratitude, The SVD Team

The rE 2.0 Dawn and Eve - Fontlit RLCD Monitors

Dawn & Eve Monitors Have Arrived!

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We have exciting news to share — the very first batch of Dawn and Eve monitors has arrived at our Elgin office, and several are already headed out the door this week! If you’ve pre-ordered, your monitor is on its way soon. We couldn’t be more thrilled to finally get these into your hands.