Digital Signage
A digital screen earns its place by changing. Prices go up, a special sells out, breakfast turns into lunch — and none of that costs you a printed panel. These are commercial displays rather than televisions, driven by a player and software you can reach from your phone, whether you are in the back office or on a beach.
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Digital Signage, set up properly
We supply the screens, the mounts, the players and the software, install the lot, and build the first set of content ourselves so it goes live looking right rather than looking like a spreadsheet. The platform ships with thousands of templates and food images at no extra cost, and our designers keep adding to it, so putting up a new offer takes minutes instead of a design fee. Screens run landscape or portrait, singly or tiled into a video wall, and the high-brightness window displays stay readable through glass in direct sun.
- Update any screen from a phone or laptop, anywhere
- Commercial displays rated for all-day use, not TVs
- Thousands of templates and food images included
- Video walls, landscape menus and window screens
Screens we have installed
Footage from live sites rather than a showroom. Each one plays on tap; sound is not needed because there is none — screens in a shop run silent.
Video wall
A 2x2 video wall at Heavenly Desserts — four screens driven as one picture, so the artwork spans the whole wall.
Landscape menu screens
Landscape menu screens running as one continuous board across the counter, with the offer changing on a schedule.
Window display
A portrait window screen bright enough to read through glass in daylight, promoting from the street.
Promotional content
Animated promotional content built from the template library — the sort of thing that takes minutes to put up.
What should you know before ordering digital signage?
Is a commercial display better than a TV for digital signage?
Yes, for anything that runs through a full trading day. A domestic television is built for a few hours of viewing in the evening, not for lighting up a counter from opening to close, day after day. BD Signs supplies commercial displays rated for all-day use, driven by a dedicated player rather than the apps on a TV. Commercial panels are also made to be mounted in portrait or tiled into a video wall, and most televisions are designed for neither.
Where should digital menu screens go?
Where the decision gets made. On most counters that means a landscape run above the till, readable from the back of the queue, so customers have chosen before they reach the front. Portrait screens suit doorways, side walls and windows, where one offer at a time does the work. A video wall is there for impact rather than reading. BD Signs plans the positions at survey, around sight lines, viewing distance and where power can reach.
Who makes the content that goes on the screens?
BD Signs does, to begin with. Our designers build the first set of content, so the screens go live looking like your brand instead of a price list typed into a template. After that it is yours to change. The BDigital platform includes thousands of templates and food images, and the library keeps growing, so a new offer starts from a finished design rather than a blank screen.
How does BD Signs set up digital signage?
- Step 1
Survey and screen plan
We look at the counter, the walls and the window, then plan which screens go where: landscape over the till, portrait by the door, a video wall if the space calls for one. Mounts, players and power are worked out at the same time.
- Step 2
Screens, mounts and players
We supply the commercial displays, the brackets that hold them and the players that drive them, and our own teams fit the lot. A run of landscape screens is lined up so it reads as one continuous board.
- Step 3
First content, designed for you
Our studio builds your opening menus and promotions in your colours, with your products. It all runs on our own digital menu platform, written in-house and developed over 15 years, rather than on software bought in from someone else.
- Step 4
Handover and everyday changes
We show you how to change prices, swap offers and set schedules from a phone or laptop. When you want something new, start from the template library or ask our designers, and nothing ever has to be reprinted.
Are digital menu screens or printed menu boards right for you?
Both sell food. What decides it is how often your menu changes and what each change involves. Here is how the two compare when BD Signs talks it through with a customer.
| Compare | Digital menu screens | Printed or illuminated menu boards |
|---|---|---|
| Changing a price | Done from your phone, with no new panel to print | A new printed panel or overlay for each change |
| Movement | Video, animation and rotating offers | Static, one image per panel |
| Time of day | Scheduled to switch between breakfast, lunch and evening menus | One menu all day, unless panels are swapped by hand |
| Up-front cost | Higher, with screens, players and installation | Usually lower |
| Best for | Menus, prices and offers that change often | A settled core menu that rarely changes |
| Needs | Power, plus an internet connection to send updates | Nothing for printed boards; power for illuminated ones |
Digital Signage we've built
What do people ask about digital signage?
Can I change what is on the screens from my phone?
Yes. Every screen is managed through the BDigital platform from a phone, tablet or laptop, so you can change a price, pull a dish that has sold out or put up a new offer without being in the shop. You choose which screens each change goes to, from a single display to a whole run of them. Day-to-day updates are designed to be something you do yourself.
How bright does a window screen need to be?
Brighter than anything inside the shop. A screen facing the street through glass is competing with daylight and reflections, and an ordinary indoor display looks washed out once the sun is on it. That is why BD Signs fits high-brightness window displays, built to stay readable through glass in direct sun. Indoors, a standard commercial panel is enough, and there is no point paying for brightness nobody will see.
Can the screens change automatically through the day?
Yes. Content can be scheduled, so breakfast turns into lunch, lunch into the evening menu, and a promotion appears only on the days it runs, without anyone touching a screen. Scheduling is where digital pays its way, because the board always shows what the kitchen is actually serving. BD Signs sets up the first schedule with you, and you can move the timings whenever trade changes.
The rest of the system
“Excellent service as normal — have used BD Signs for the last 20 years and they have always been very helpful and delivered on time and on price!”
“Used BD Signs Design and Print services to design a new logo for my company and to design and print some large labels to use on my jobs. Professional service from start to finish. Highly recommended.”
Want a demo of digital signage?
Tell us how you trade and we will show you the system running your own menu, priced as one job including installation and training.
Or email info@bdsigns.co.uk — we answer everything the same working day.