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How long should each slide show on digital signage?

Quick answer: DigitalSignage.com recommends 6 to 8 seconds per slide for passing traffic and 10 to 15 seconds where people wait, with the exact figure set by word count: allow 3 seconds to notice and orient, plus 1 second for every 2 words. A 10-word slide needs 8 seconds, a 20-word slide 13 seconds, and anything over about 24 words should be split. Videos for passing traffic run 6 to 15 seconds. In SignStudio you set a default duration per item on the playlist and override it per slide.

Key facts

  • A common planning figure for glance reading on signs is 2 words per second, or 120 words per minute, about half the speed of reading ordinary prose at a desk.
  • The planning formula is duration in seconds = 3 + words / 2, so 6 words need 6 seconds, 14 words need 10 seconds and 24 words need 15 seconds.
  • Passing traffic gets 6 to 8 seconds per slide and waiting areas 10 to 15 seconds, the same ranges our content psychology guide uses.
  • A slide with a QR code needs about 4 extra seconds, the time to raise a phone, frame the code and get a result.
  • A fade transition of 0.5 to 1 second sits between slides, so a 20-slide loop spends 10 to 20 seconds in transitions.
  • A 3-minute loop of 10-second slides holds 18 slides; a 60-second elevator loop holds 7 or 8.

Last updated October 25, 2026. Reading rates and dwell times on this page are planning estimates, not measurements of your audience; time ten real viewers with a stopwatch to calibrate them. Playlist settings from our SignStudio scheduling and playlist documentation.

How do you calculate how long a slide should stay on screen?​

Calculate slide duration as 3 seconds of orientation plus the reading time at 2 words per second, then round up to a whole second and never go below 6 seconds. The 3 seconds cover the moment a viewer notices the change, finds the headline and decides to read. The 2 words per second cover reading at a distance while standing, walking or holding a coffee.

Adult silent reading of ordinary prose is commonly put at roughly 200 to 250 words per minute, but that figure assumes a seated reader, a page held at arm's length and a text that is already in view. A sign viewer starts cold, reads large type from several metres, often begins mid-slide, and is doing something else. Halving the desk rate to 120 words per minute is a cautious planning figure that keeps slow readers, second-language readers and older viewers in the audience.

The orientation allowance matters more than the reading rate on short slides. A 4-word slide is read in 2 seconds, but nobody reads it in 2 seconds after it appears, because the eye first has to land on the screen, notice that the content changed and find the words. That is why very short slides still need a 6-second floor, and why a logo or photo slide with no text sits at 6 seconds too.

Count words the way a viewer reads them. A price such as $4.50 is one word, a time such as 7 a.m. is one word, a phone number is two or three, and a URL is as many words as it has parts. Headline, body and call to action all count. Small print, a legal line or a brand tagline that nobody needs to read can be left out of the count, but if it must be read, it counts.

Words on the slideReading time at 2 words per secondPlus 3 s orientationPlanned durationVerdict
0 to 4 (photo, logo, one line)0 to 2 s3 to 5 s6 s (floor)Fine anywhere
63 s6 s6 sFine for passing traffic
105 s8 s8 sUpper end for passing traffic
147 s10 s10 sQueues, lobbies, waiting areas
2010 s13 s13 sWaiting areas only
2412 s15 s15 sLongest slide most venues should run
3015 s18 s18 sWaiting rooms only, or split
4020 s23 s23 sSplit into two slides

Bottom line: count the words, divide by 2, add 3 and round up; if the answer is over 15 seconds, the slide carries too much text for anywhere except a seated waiting room.

How long should a slide show in each type of location?​

The venue decides the range, because it sets how long a person stays in front of the screen and how much of that time they spend looking at it. A corridor screen competes with walking, so its slides must be short and almost wordless. A waiting room screen competes with a phone, so its slides can carry more, but they still have to earn each glance.

Glance time and dwell time are two different numbers. Glance time is how long one look lasts, commonly planned at about 3 seconds in our psychology guide. Dwell time is how long a person stays within sight of the screen: a few seconds in a corridor, a few minutes in a queue, ten minutes or more in a clinic. Slide duration follows glance behaviour; loop length follows dwell time.

LocationPlanning dwell timeSeconds per slideWord budget per slideLoop length to aim for
Corridor, entrance, transit concourse3 to 10 s6 to 86 to 1060 to 120 s
Retail aisle or endcap10 to 30 s6 to 86 to 1060 to 120 s
Elevator cab30 to 90 s5 to 84 to 10Under 60 s
Checkout or service queue2 to 5 min7 to 108 to 14Under the typical queue time
Restaurant counter, promo zone2 to 6 min8 to 1210 to 181 to 3 min
Office lobby, reception30 s to 5 min8 to 1210 to 182 to 4 min
Break room, cafeteria5 to 20 min10 to 1514 to 243 to 5 min
Clinic or service waiting room10 to 30 min10 to 2014 to 345 to 10 min

Bottom line: 6 to 8 seconds where people move, 10 to 15 seconds where they wait, and only seated waiting rooms earn the 20-second slide.

Menu boards are the exception to rotation. The menu itself should be static, because a customer deciding what to order needs to see every item and price at once, and a menu that rotates away mid-decision slows the line. Rotation belongs in a promotion zone beside or above the menu, at 8 to 12 seconds per promotion. Our digital menu board guide covers layouts with a fixed menu and a rotating zone.

Drive-thru boards follow the same split with less time. A driver reads the preorder board in the few seconds before the speaker greeting and the menu board while ordering, so promotions there need fewer words than in-store and the menu stays fixed. The drive-thru optimization guide covers board layout and daypart menus.

How long should a video be on digital signage?​

A video for passing traffic should be 6 to 15 seconds long, a video in a queue 15 to 30 seconds, and only a seated waiting room can carry videos of 1 to 3 minutes. The rule is that the viewer should be able to see the point of the video within the first 3 seconds and the whole message before they move on.

Video does not take a duration from the playlist the way an image does. In SignStudio a video plays for its own length, which our setup guide states directly: set the duration per image and leave videos at their own length. That means the edit decides the duration, so cut videos to the venue before uploading rather than hoping viewers stay for a 90-second brand film in a corridor.

Most signage plays without sound, so a video must make sense muted. Put the message in on-screen text and captions, show the product or the price early, and hold the final frame, with the offer and call to action, for at least 3 seconds. Our video production guide covers shot length, captions and export settings for signage.

Long videos have a hidden cost in the loop. One 2-minute video in a 3-minute loop means two thirds of every rotation is a single message, and a person in a 2-minute queue may see nothing else. If a long video must run, split it into 15-second chapters spread through the loop, or move it to a screen where people sit.

Do animations and transitions change the slide duration?​

Yes: the reading clock starts only when the text has finished animating in, so add the length of any entrance animation to the planned duration. A slide whose headline flies in over 1.5 seconds and whose body fades in over another second needs 2.5 seconds more than the formula gives, or viewers lose that time from their reading.

Transitions between slides work the same way. SignStudio playlists document a transition such as cut or fade and a transition duration in milliseconds, and during the transition neither slide is fully readable. A fade of 500 to 1,000 milliseconds looks smooth without wasting time; a 2-second wipe on every slide of a 20-slide loop spends 40 seconds per rotation on movement nobody reads.

Keep motion purposeful. One entrance animation that draws the eye to the headline helps, because movement attracts attention. Animating every line, adding a continuous pulse to the price and a slow zoom to the background makes the slide harder to read and lengthens the time it needs. Our motion graphics guide covers which motion helps and which distracts.

Never flash. Content that flashes more than three times in any one-second period can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy, the threshold WCAG 2.2 sets in success criterion 2.3.1. Rapid slide changes with high-contrast cuts can cross that line, which is one more reason not to run slides shorter than 6 seconds.

How many slides should a digital signage loop have?​

Divide the loop length you want by the average slide duration: a 3-minute loop of 10-second slides holds 18 slides, a 2-minute loop of 8-second slides holds 15, and a 60-second elevator loop of 7-second slides holds 8. The loop length comes first, from dwell time, and the slide count follows from it.

The loop length rule is simple: the whole loop should play inside the time a typical viewer stays in front of the screen, so they see every message at least once. A checkout queue of about 3 minutes calls for a loop under 3 minutes. A waiting room where people sit for 15 minutes can carry a 5 to 10-minute loop and still show everything once or twice. Our playlist loop length and dwell time guide works this out venue by venue.

Too many slides is the most common timing mistake, and it is rarely caused by the duration setting. It is caused by adding every request to one playlist. When a loop grows past its dwell time, move seasonal or low-priority slides into a separate campaign that runs at other hours, or retire them. Validity dates on playlist items help: a slide can expire on a date without anyone remembering to remove it.

Regular viewers change the arithmetic. Staff in a break room or residents in a lobby see the same loop many times a day, so a long loop does not cause missed messages; repetition does. For those audiences keep the loop short, change it often, and read our guide to how often to update digital signage content.

Worked example: a bakery counter screen with a 3-minute queue​

A bakery counter screen whose customers queue for about 3 minutes, a planning estimate for a busy morning, can run eight items in an 85-second loop, which every customer sees about twice. The table shows each slide, its word count and the duration from the formula, rounded up and floored at 6 seconds.

#SlideWordsFormula: 3 + words / 2Extra timePlanned seconds
1Logo and "Good morning"34.5 snone6 (floor)
2Large latte offer before 10 a.m.87 snone7
3Breakfast combo with price1611 snone11
4Loyalty program with QR code129 s4 s to scan13
5Opening hours this week2013 snone13
6Product video, muted with captionsn/aown lengthnone15
7Custom cake orders1410 snone10
8Local weather55.5 snone6 (floor)
Transitions, 8 fades of 0.5 s4
Loop total85

Bottom line: 81 seconds of content plus 4 seconds of fades make an 85-second loop, well inside a 180-second queue, so the bakery can either add up to 95 seconds of new slides or keep the loop short so each message repeats.

Here is the arithmetic for repetition. A customer who stays 180 seconds and wants to see the longest item, the 15-second video, from start to finish needs that full showing to begin and end inside their stay. The chance of that is (dwell time minus item length) divided by loop length: (180 minus 15) / 85 = 1.94. A result above 1 means every customer sees it at least once, and most see it twice.

Now suppose the owner adds ten more slides averaging 11 seconds, plus 5 seconds of fades, taking the loop to 85 + 110 + 5 = 200 seconds. The same calculation gives (180 minus 15) / 200 = 0.83, so about 17 percent of customers leave without seeing the video in full. The fix is not to shorten each slide below what its words need. It is to keep the counter loop under 180 seconds and move the extra slides to another daypart.

How to set slide durations in DigitalSignage.com​

In SignStudio, open Campaigns, Playlists, create or open a playlist, set its default duration in seconds, then override the duration on any item that needs more or less time. Images take the duration you set; videos play for their own length. The playlist settings also cover play order (sequential, shuffle or random), the transition and its duration in milliseconds, and loop.

  1. Go to Campaigns, Playlists and open or create the playlist for the screen.
  2. Set the playlist's default duration to the venue figure: 7 or 8 seconds for passing traffic, 10 to 12 for queues and lobbies.
  3. For each slide, count its words and set an item duration with the formula, 3 + words / 2, rounded up.
  4. Add 4 seconds to any slide that carries a QR code, and the length of any entrance animation.
  5. Choose a fade transition of 500 to 1,000 milliseconds and set the playlist to loop.
  6. Add validity dates to time-limited slides, publish, and watch one full loop on the real screen with a stopwatch.

Each playlist item can also carry a play count and validity dates, according to our scheduling documentation, and a Slideshow component inside a scene can rotate images in one zone while the rest of the layout stays fixed. For any timing behaviour not covered in our documentation, such as a per-zone setting you cannot find, ask support (support@digitalsignage.com, live chat at https://chat.digitalsignage.com/).

Frequently asked questions​

How long should each slide show on digital signage?

Show each slide for 6 to 8 seconds where people walk past and 10 to 15 seconds where they wait. Work out the exact figure from the word count: 3 seconds to notice and orient plus 1 second for every 2 words, rounded up, with a floor of 6 seconds. A 10-word slide needs 8 seconds and a 20-word slide 13 seconds. Slides over about 24 words should be split. These are planning estimates; time a few real viewers to calibrate them.

What is the best slide duration for a digital signage slideshow?

For most screens the answer is 8 to 10 seconds, the point where a 10 to 14-word slide can be read in full by a standing viewer. Photo and logo slides with almost no text can run 6 seconds. Waiting room slides with more text can run 15 to 20 seconds. Go shorter than 6 seconds only for pure imagery, and never fast enough to flash.

How long should a video be on a digital sign?

6 to 15 seconds for passing traffic, 15 to 30 seconds in a queue, and 1 to 3 minutes only where people sit, such as a waiting room. The video should make its point in the first 3 seconds, work without sound, and hold the final frame with the offer for at least 3 seconds. Split longer videos into short chapters spread through the loop.

How many slides should be in a digital signage loop?

Divide the loop length by the average slide duration. A 3-minute loop of 10-second slides holds 18 slides; a 60-second elevator loop of 7-second slides holds 8. Set the loop length first, so the whole loop plays inside the typical time a viewer stays in front of the screen, then fit the slides to it.

How fast do people read digital signs?

A cautious planning figure is 2 words per second, about 120 words per minute, roughly half the commonly cited rate for reading ordinary prose at a desk. Sign readers start cold, read from a distance, often arrive mid-slide and are doing something else. Add about 3 seconds for noticing the change and finding the headline before the reading starts.

Do transitions count toward the slide time?

They take time from the loop but not from reading, because neither slide is fully readable during a transition. Keep fades to 500 to 1,000 milliseconds. Entrance animations count against the slide: the reading clock starts only when the text has finished animating in, so add the animation length to the planned duration.

How do I change how long a slide shows in SignStudio?

Open Campaigns, Playlists, choose the playlist and set its default duration in seconds, then override the duration on individual items. Videos play for their own length. The playlist settings also include play order, the transition and its duration in milliseconds, and loop, and each item can carry validity dates so a timed slide expires on its own.

Can I set different slide times for different screens?

Yes. Durations belong to the playlist, so give a corridor screen a playlist with 7-second defaults and a waiting room a playlist with 12-second defaults, each in its own campaign assigned to the right screens. The same slide files can sit in both playlists with different durations. The first 3 screens are free forever on DigitalSignage.com.

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