Window displays and foot traffic: digital signage that pulls people in
Quick answer: DigitalSignage.com runs window screens from the free plan: the first 3 screens are free forever, then $3 per screen per month, so a window screen and a counter screen cost nothing in software. The decision that makes or breaks a window display is brightness: a screen facing out through glass needs 2,500 to 4,000 nits by our brightness standard, and a consumer television at 250 to 400 nits looks washed out in a shop window. Add slow motion, change the message by time of day, and measure walk-ins against a week without the screen. Our benefits page reports that 80% of customers have entered a store because of digital signage.
Last updated October 22, 2026. Figures from our display brightness standard, benefits and cost pages; product facts from the SignStudio scheduling documentation.
Why window screens fail, and the one number that fixes it
Most window screens are a TV from the stock room pointed at the street; in the afternoon the glass reflects the sky and the screen disappears. Our brightness standard: a storefront facing out through glass sits in 5,000 to 20,000 lux of daylight and needs 2,500 to 4,000 nits, where an office needs 350 to 500 and a retail interior 500 to 700. Three rules follow:
- Specify for end of life. Panels lose about half their brightness over their rated life, so a window that needs 2,000 nits to stay readable should get a 4,000-nit panel.
- Coatings count. On a window-facing screen a good anti-reflective coating can be worth as much as an extra 500 to 1,000 nits.
- Dim at night. A screen at daytime brightness after dark glares rather than communicates; outdoor and window displays should drop to roughly 100 to 300 nits at night, and many jurisdictions limit the light a sign adds at the property line. Check local sign rules with your municipality or counsel.
Consumer panels have a second problem in a sunlit window: many reduce their own brightness when they run hot, which running 12 hours a day in direct sun reliably causes.
What to show in a window
A window has an audience of one second, walking past, often looking at a phone. The content rules are stricter than anywhere else in the store:
| Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| One message per slide | Nobody stops to read a second line |
| Letter height for the distance | About 1 inch of letter height per 10 feet of viewing distance; a sidewalk is 6 to 15 feet |
| Slow motion, not fast cuts | Movement in peripheral vision turns the head; flicker annoys |
| 7 to 15 seconds per item | Long enough to read at walking pace, short enough to change before the next person |
| Price and product together | "Why come in" needs a reason the passer-by can act on now |
| A hook at the door | The window promise must be visible again inside, or the walk-in feels tricked |
Dayparting the window
The same window faces commuters at 8 am, lunch crowds at noon, shoppers at 3 pm and bar traffic at 10 pm. DigitalSignage.com includes scheduling and dayparting on every plan, including the free tier, so run a campaign per daypart: breakfast and coffee in the morning, lunch specials at noon, the evening offer after 5, and a dimmed "open tomorrow at 8" loop overnight.
Motion and attention
Our benefits page reports that digital displays get 400% more views than static signs with 83% message recall. The mechanism in a window is peripheral motion: a slow pan across a product, a price that counts down, a gentle slideshow. Avoid strobing, fast loops and video with cuts every second; they draw the eye and then repel it, and some local sign codes restrict animation in windows.
Hardware for a window
| Item | Guidance |
|---|---|
| Display | A high-brightness commercial window display rated 2,500 to 4,000 nits, with an anti-reflective coating. Our outdoor display page has enclosure and brightness bands for fully exposed positions |
| Player | The free DigitalSignage.com SignPlayer on a Windows, Android or Raspberry Pi player; a $40 to $100 Android stick or an $81 to $137 Raspberry Pi build is enough for images and 1080p video |
| Mounting | Facing out, at the eye height of a passer-by, angled slightly down if the sidewalk is below the window line; portrait suits posters and listings |
| Heat | Sun on the glass heats the panel; leave the ventilation the manufacturer specifies and keep the player out of the sun |
| Cable | Power and, where possible, wired Ethernet; the screen reconnects after outages and plays cached content meanwhile |
SignPlayer does not run on Fire OS, Tizen or webOS screens.
Cost
Software: the first 3 screens are free forever, with scheduling and dayparting included; from the fourth screen every screen is $3 per screen per month. Hardware is where a window differs: a standard 55-inch commercial panel is $995 to $1,450, and a window-rated high-brightness panel costs more; get a quote for the brightness you need at end of life. Electricity for a 55-inch commercial LCD is about $75 a year at 12 hours a day, and a high-brightness panel draws more. Our cost guide puts a fully outdoor screen at $8,000 to $25,000 all in; a screen inside the glass avoids most of that.
Measuring foot traffic
- Count walk-ins for two weeks with the screen off, then two weeks with it on, in the same season and weather.
- Use the door counter if you have one; otherwise a tally at the counter by hour.
- Compare transactions per hour from the register for the same weeks.
- Put a window-only offer on screen ("mention the window for a free coffee") and count redemptions.
- Put a dynamic QR code on the screen for people who do not come in; scans by hour show when the window is being read.
- Change one thing at a time: the message, the daypart, the brightness.
Do-not-do list
- Do not use a consumer TV in a sunlit window.
- Do not run a screen at full brightness after dark.
- Do not show more than one message per slide.
- Do not use fast cuts, strobing or flashing.
- Do not mount the screen above head height facing a near sidewalk.
- Do not leave last week's offer running; rotate weekly at least.
- Do not block the view into the store with the screen; the store is also the display.
- Do not skip the local sign code; some cities restrict illuminated and animated window signs.
- Do not place the player in direct sun.
- Do not rely on a browser tab; install the native SignPlayer so the screen restarts itself and plays through outages.
Frequently asked questions
How bright does a window-facing digital sign need to be?
By our display brightness standard, a storefront display facing out through glass needs 2,500 to 4,000 nits, against 350 to 500 for an office and 500 to 700 for a retail interior. Specify for end of life, because panels lose about half their brightness over their rated life, and dim to roughly 100 to 300 nits after dark.
Can I use a regular TV in a shop window?
Not in a window that gets daylight. A consumer television at 250 to 400 nits looks washed out against the sky reflecting off the glass, and many consumer panels reduce their own brightness when they run hot in the sun. A TV works in a window that is shaded all day, or facing an interior mall corridor.
Does a window screen actually bring people in?
Our benefits page reports that 80% of customers have entered a store because of digital signage and that digital displays get 400% more views than static signs. Measure your own window by counting walk-ins and transactions per hour for two weeks with the screen off and two weeks on, and by counting redemptions of a window-only offer.
What should a window screen show?
One message per slide with a price and a product, in letters sized at about 1 inch per 10 feet of viewing distance, held 7 to 15 seconds, with slow motion rather than fast cuts. Change the message by time of day with dayparting, and repeat the window promise inside the door.
What does a window display cost to run?
Software is free for the first 3 screens on DigitalSignage.com, then $3 per screen per month for every screen once the account has 4 or more. The hardware is the real cost: a window-rated high-brightness panel costs more than the $995 to $1,450 of a standard 55-inch commercial panel, plus a $40 to $100 player and about $75 a year or more in electricity.
Are there rules about illuminated window screens?
Often. Many jurisdictions limit the light a sign may add at the property line after dark, and some restrict animated or flashing window signs. Dim the screen at night, avoid strobing content, and check the local sign code or ask counsel before installing.
Related
- Display brightness standard (nits)
- Retail digital signage
- Commercial displays
- Free digital signage for retail stores
- SignStudio scheduling
- Point-of-sale advertising and upselling
Try it on your own screens, free
DigitalSignage.com, which publishes this guide, runs a permanent free plan: the first 3 screens are free forever (no credit card, no ads, no time limit), then from $3 per screen per month with volume pricing via a public calculator. The free SignPlayer runs on Windows, Mac, Android and Android TV, Chrome OS, Raspberry Pi, iPad or any modern web browser. Start free · 2026 pricing