SIGNGIG BLOG

Our SignGig Signs Blog Spotlight for today is:
How much does an electronic LED digital sign cost and what factors should you consider?

If you are just beginning your search for an electronic sign for your church, school or business, then you are in the right place! We hope to help you understand many questions you may come up with in your online search results and the information we are sharing below may help answer many of your questions.

For starters, LED digital signs are sold all across the internet on various websites and shopping platforms. You may be seeing LED electronic signs being sold for less than $10,000. The truth about these LED signs is that these signs are unlikely to be outdoor durable. Yes, they may last you for a little while, but there are many factors to take into consideration when purchasing an LED digital sign and outdoor durability is one of them. 

Outdoor durability is a factor when purchasing an LED digital sign. The well known LED sign company names (as well as highest price tags) for LED digital signs will come from the likes of Daktronics, WatchFire, Formetco as well as Stuart Signs and others. These are also good companies to check for pricing with! When it all comes down to decision making, it will be very difficult to have an apples to apples comparison on products and pricing as each company has their own product offerings and sizing structures. Our electronic LED digital signs are extremely comparable in quality to Daktronics, WatchFire and Formetco, and a much better quality and resolution than Stuart Signs. However, our pricing is by far more affordable than any of these companies!

Things to consider here are:
Is the sign able to handle rain, what is the IP rating? Will the sign display well in full sun and what about the heat and UV of the sun? Does it have an automatic brightness sensor included?

What are some things you should consider when researching the purchase of an electronic LED digital sign?

1) Are LED digital signs permitted in your municipality?
It is best to start with your permitting authority. Check with your city or county permitting office to see what may be allowed for your location with regards to LED signs. Permitting for LED digital signs varies greatly from city to city, county to county and authority to authority. What is allowed by your permitting authority and what is required by them will greatly dictate the build of your sign. You may be required to meet size and height limitations as well as specific build requirements which include masonry around your sign which can also affect your budget no matter what company you purchase your LED digital signs from.

2) Where will your LED digital sign be located?
Do you have an existing structure at your location such as a stone monument or pole structure? If you have an existing masonry structure, this can be beneficial to the addition of an LED digital sign at your location. If you do not have a structure, this will add additional costs to your sign build.

Distance for LED Digital Sign

3) Do you have electricity where the sign will be located?
You will need electricity to run your LED digital sign! Believe it or not, sometimes this isn’t factored into the thought process or the cost and will need to include an electrician.

4) What size LED digital sign would you like to purchase?
Our standard sizes are 3’ x 6’ or 4’ x 8’. However, we can also custom build outside of these sizes in certain sizes. With all of this said, size affects cost. The distance of your sign to the viewer can also play a roll in what size screen is best for your location.

5) What screen resolution would you like your LED digital sign to be?
Resolution of an LED screen greatly affects the cost. Our standard outdoor LED digital signs are in 6mm (best), 8mm (better) or 10mm (good). The lower the number, the better the resolution of the screen and the more pixels you will have on the screen. The better the resolution the screen is, the more details you are able to display on it. Do you want to display text only on your screen, or do you want to be able to display detailed pictures and graphics? The distance of your sign to the viewer can also play a roll in what resolution screen is best for your location.

LED Sign Pixel Pitch Resolution

Other things to consider:
Is the company you are purchasing from local to you?
Is the company you are purchasing from a middle man?
Does the company you are purchasing from have good references you can call?

SignGig only sells full color LED digital signs. We sell and service our own brand of SparkLED screens. All of our LED screens are outdoor, professional durable and of the highest quality. We have an IP rating of 67 or better, handle a wide range of outdoor environmental factors and all of our LED signs include an automatic brightness sensor. A good starting budget for a 3’ x 6’, double-sided 6mm pixel pitch LED digital screen as of September 2022 will be upwards of $24,000, not including any additional options such as sign design, structure or removal and installation.

Do you have more questions about your LED digital sign project?
We would love to hear from you and share our knowledge of more than 20+ years in the LED digital sign business! We are located in the Metro Atlanta area, in Marietta, Georgia. 

SignGig Signs Blog Project Spotlight: Cherokee Christian Schools LED Digital Marquee
Slide the arrows on the below image from left to right for before and after the completed signage project.

Our SignGig Signs Blog Project Spotlight for today is:
Cherokee Christian Schools in Woodstock, Georgia

Located on Trickum Road in Woodstock, GA, Cherokee Christian Schools has Kindergarten through grade 12 and is located in Woodstock, GA.  reached out to us about replacing their older, changeable copy sign with a new LED digital sign.  

The School LED Digital Marquee:
Cherokee Christian Schools marquee is a new LED digital screen is a 6mm pixel pitch resolution in a 4 foot by 8 foot double-sided configuration. This LED screen allows for pictures, video, text and graphics in a beautiful, full color format. The new digital sign allows for the digital content to be changed at a moments notice, communicating with the students, faculty, parents and community. 

Contact SignGig Signs today to update your school signage and communicate in an electronic reach your campus with beautiful and vibrant messaging!

SignGig Signs Blog Project Spotlight: Mountain View Church
Slide the arrows on the below image from left to right for before and after the completed signage project.

Our SignGig Signs Blog Project Spotlight for today is:
Mountain View Church in Marietta, Georgia

Mountain View Church in Marietta, Georgia had a very old single-color, large pixel pitch, LED sign which stopped allowing communication and could no longer be supported.

SignGig is excited the church contacted us about a new LED sign which will reach the growing community around them! SignGig was able to retrofit a new LED screen into their existing brick column monument structure. We were also able to update their name panel by removing the fluorescent tubing and replacing it with LED lighting.

The Church LED Digital Marquee:
Mountain View Church’s new LED digital screen is a 6mm pixel pitch resolution in a 3 foot by 6 foot double-sided configuration. This LED screen allows for more than lines of text because Mountain View Church can now display detailed pictures, video, graphics as well as text on the new LED digital sign.

Contact SignGig Signs today to update your church signage and reach your surrounding community with beautiful and vibrant messaging!

SignGig Signs Blog Project Spotlight: Grace Community Church
Slide the arrows on the below image from left to right for before and after the completed signage project.

Our SignGig Signs Blog Project Spotlight for today is:
Grace Community Church

SignGig has been very excited to work with Grace Community Church is located on Hickory Flat Highway in Cherokee County, GA. Formerly Atlanta Street Church in Historic Roswell, the congregation of Grace Community Church recently moved to Canton, GA.

Church Property:
This amazing church property allows for growth within the community and the congregation. The newly completed monument sign, which is located alongside traffic laden Hickory Flat Highway, provides outreach to the nearby community. At the same time, the church is able to communicate through a modern electronic format. The LED allows the church to easily display the many scheduled events, missions and outreach the church is involved in.

The church property itself is absolutely beautiful with a natural park like setting, creek, sports field and event venue. By incorporating natural elements of the church property and chapel facelift into the monument sign design, the newly completed  sign ultimately accentuates the entrance of the church property beautifully. The optional architectural design feature of the cross, along with an internally lit name and logo cabinet sign, completes the monument sign.

The Church LED Digital Sign:
The LED digital screen is a 6mm pixel pitch resolution in a 4 foot by 8 foot double-sided configuration. This LED screen allows for Grace Community Church to display detailed pictures, video, graphics as well as text on the LED digital sign.

Contact SignGig Signs today to update your church signage!

SignGig Signs Blog Spotlight: Frequently asked questions about buying an LED digital sign

Our SignGig Signs Blog Spotlight for today is:
Frequently asked questions about buying an LED digital sign

Scott, at SignGig, has been working with LED digital signs since 1999. Now, this was way back in the early wild, wild west days of LED screens, so he knows everything there is to know about the LED digital signage industry! We thought we would answer some frequently asked that may help you in your search for an LED digital sign!

What is an outdoor LED digital sign?
Outdoor LED digital signs, also have also had interchangeable names through the years such as: electronic messaging centers, JumboTrons, LED video displays, electronic reader boards, video walls, LED screens or simply as LED signs. LED signs have become a much more affordable signage option and have become popular with advertising in last decade. Churches, schools and businesses are now seeking signs with modern, changeable format that can effectively communicate with their community around them, and LED digital signs fill this need.

Simply put, an LED digital sign is an LED backlit flat visual display. At SignGig, we like to say: think of an LED digital sign as a sort of outdoor tv screen, with a 24 hour, 7 day per week commercial that you are in complete control of. An LED digital sign allows you to communicate your brand as you need to! Here is a link to Wikipedia with more information.

What is the difference between outdoor LED signs and indoor LED signs?
There are outdoor LED digital signs and indoor LED digital signs. Outdoor LED signs are used by churches, schools and businesses within their roadside signage to display pictures, videos and graphics. Outdoor LED signs have a rating for use outdoors.

Indoor LED signs are frequently seen inside store windows, these LED signs do not have the rating or components for use outdoors.  These indoor LED signs typically display mostly text in red green, yellow or blue.

I have an existing sign, can it be refurbished?
If you have an existing monument sign with brick, stonework, or a changeable copy reader-board sign, it is very likely we can use your existing sign structure install an LED screen! If you send us an email, including the physical address of your signage structure, along with measurements of your existing sign, we can let you know pretty quickly if your existing sign can be refurbished with an LED screen (we may request pictures as well). Check out our galleries to see signs that we have refaced and upgraded with LED digital signs! Refurbishing or refacing an existing sign can also help you with your signage budget!

I found an LED sign for a great price online, what is the difference between your LED signs and those I find online?
Online shopping is such a great experience and has changed our modern lives, except for the fact sometimes you do not know exactly what you are purchasing! Many of the LED signs you will see for sale online are for the purpose of selling quantity over quality, and also selling to an uneducated customer. This is especially true with an LED digital sign. If you are looking for a professional outdoor LED sign for your church, school or business, online shopping at a website, like an auction site, is not the place to purchase it! Buyer beware when shopping online for an outdoor LED sign! The truth is that the LED signs you see for sale when shopping at online outlets for “such a great price” will actually be indoor style LED signs. These types of LED signs are not outdoor rated, let alone ‘professional quality’ outdoor LED signs. Many of the LED signs you will see for sale at online auctions, or the like, are only indoor rated and will not handle even the most normal outdoor elements…like rain or pollen!

The inner and outer workings of an LED digital sign can vary greatly in quality, and will affect the price of the LED sign. Everything about an LED digital sign from how you communicate with it, to the quality of the LED lamps, the seals, power supplies as well as ventilation, resolution (or pixel pitch ratio), screen size and even the internal wiring is all very important! All of our LED digital signs are outdoor professional quality, IP67 rated or greater, meaning they are outdoor rated and built to handle the outdoor elements. 
We understand there can be sticker shock with LED digital sign prices and that the prices you see at an online outlets and auction sites may be very appealing to you. When sticker shock happens, it is best for your organization to establish and create a good budget for a professional outdoor quality sign from a reputable LED digital sign company! We have had customers save up for a couple of years and come back to purchase their LED digital sign from SignGig!

What do the numbers mean when I am researching the purchase of an LED digital sign?
LED digital signs are spoken about in a language that an average person would not understand and can be confusing…this language is called “pixel pitch ratio”. What is “pixel pitch ratio”? The pixel pitch ratio or the screen resolution is in millimeters. This ratio of the screen affects the quality of the images and media which are displayed on the LED screen, but this number also affects the price of the LED screen itself. Technically speaking, the pixel pitch ratio is the distance between two LED pixels, measured in millimeters. The lower the pixel pitch ratio number, the closer together the LED lamps are. This means there are more LED lamps in a 6mm pixel pitch than a 10mm pixel pitch within a same size screen. A screen with more LED lamps will create a better image on the screen. At SignGig, we offer 6mm, 8mm and 10mm pixel pitch resolution LED screens. 10mm pixel pitch ratio is currently being phased out of our product line-up. A 6mm pixel pitch resolution will offer you the best viewing of images, graphics and video to be displayed on your LED screen. We call our 6mm a ‘high-resolution’ LED screen and this is the most popular pixel pitch ratio with SignGig customers!

What sizes do LED digital signs come in?
LED digital signs can come in many various sizes, however at SignGig, our most popular sizes of LED signs for church, school and business are 3′ x 6′ and 4′ x 8′. These sizes of LED screens are based upon the parts used to build our LED signs along with basic sign ordinances within cities and counties. However, we can build many various sizes of LED digital signs including 3′ x 9′, 3′ x 12′, 6′ x 6′, 6′ x 12′, 4′ x 4′, 8′ x 8′, 12′ x 12′! Video walls, such as inside event venues or church worship centers as well as LED digital billboards will have much larger LED screens. If you are searching for a digital video wall or digital billboard, we would love to speak with you too! 

How do you add content onto an LED digital sign?
At SignGig, we have an amazing communication software for our LED digital signs. The content for an LED sign has two sides or functions in order to be displayed onto an LED digital sign. 1) the creation side and 2) the scheduling side. The creation side of content is usually someone who is creative and has the ability to create the content for the LED sign. This creative person may know how to use software such as Photoshop, CorelDraw or even Paint. Our LED digital signs accept common file types such as .jpg, .png and .mp4 files.
The scheduling side of content is someone who will take the created content files and send that created content to the LED sign and schedule it within the software. These two functions can be completed by the same person, or more than one person working together. The content you create will be sent and scheduled through our communication software to the LED sign within its own WiFi. Our LED signs have their own WiFi and we offer various ways for you to communicate with the LED sign, depending upon your needs! When you purchase an LED digital sign at SignGig, we will train you on how to add content and schedule it on your LED sign as well as cover some basic best practices for content creation!

We’ve covered a good bit of territory here regarding many FAQ’s about LED digital signs and know you still may have questions regarding a SignGig LED sign for your church, school or business. Contact us, we look forward to hearing from you!