Arctic conditions have dominated the news headlines in the northern hemisphere this year with some countries, including the UK, suffering their coldest winter in three decades.

There is a serious risk that many digital signage campaigns erected in outdoor locations or in areas without adequate heating could fail because of the unusually low temperatures.

Problems can occur in outdoor digital signage systems if condensation builds up and then freezes – this expansion of the frozen water can permanently disable any LCD or plasma device used as in the display device.

Whether the outdoor digital signage will continually operate in severe cold conditions, and will also be safeguarded from any possible damage due to the sub-zero temperatures, depends on the quality of the LCD enclosure that houses the digital signage.

Not all LCD enclosures are manufactured with the same quality in mind and whilst most are designed with the outdoor standards IP65 (European) and NEMA 4 (USA) these do not take into consideration ice, snow or low temperatures.

Good quality, all-weather LCD enclosures should have installed both heating and air flow systems. These should work in tandem with the air flow system ensuring that no condensation builds up in the device whilst the heater should ensure the optimum operating temperature all the time.

With a good quality LCD enclosure there is no reason why an outdoor digital signage system shouldn’t be able to operate in temperatures as low as -20°c degrees.

And if the weather warms and we face a barbecue summer, the same climatic controls that allow the display enclosed in the LCD enclosure to withstand arctic temperatures should allow the device to operate in hot temperatures too.

A good quality LCD enclosure should allow peace of mind and the safe operation of an outdoor digital display device – no matter the weather.