Illuminated advertising
Light captures people’s attention and has emotional appeal. That makes it ideal for the purposes of the advertising industry. With today’s attention-grabbing competitive strategies, advertising installations are becoming bigger and bigger, and brighter and brighter. |
- Excessive levels of illumination for a shopping mall
Light sources, luminaires and operation
The first requirement is to assess the suitability of the site; no luminous or illuminated advertising installations should be located outside of the built-up area.
The size, luminance and period of illumination of the installation must be precisely defined, and care taken to avoid annoyance to local residents (Burtscher in Amt der Vorarlberger Landesregierung, 2008).
The use of lighting systems for advertising purposes could also be limited to the opening hours of the businesses involved.
The lighting can be provided with LEDs that produce a warm white light. Precise lighting control is important, and top-down illumination is essential.
Organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, are a new technology. They are currently used primarily for displays and monitors. These luminescent panels are still in the development stage but could soon become available as cost-effective advertising screens.
Distraction and glare for road users
The question of distraction and glare for road users is dealt with in the Austrian RVS highway regulations, which specify the following maximum levels of luminance (candela/m2) for advertising installations in the vicinity of highways:
- up to 3 m2 < 250 cd/m2
- up to 8 m2 < 100 cd/m2
- up to 30 m2 < 25 cd/m2
Near traffic lights, the maximum levels are two thirds lower, and the traffic light colours are to be avoided.