300 dpi video?

[Jessica Robbins]

Dave,

I am totally on the same page as you on this. I just needed to make sure I was not crazy.

The set-up is the daktronics display which asks for video at 512 x 280. The actual display is close to 6 feet wide by 6.5 feet tall. The client is concerned with “crispness” of course.

Would making a the video bigger res help this situation. The file is uncompressed and I think the client is just getting things mixed in his head. It should come out crisp if I use the uncompressed AVI at the dimensions the guide calls for correct?

I am of course going to contact the display company and look into it.
Thanks for everything as always.
-Jessica

[Walter Soyka]

I am guessing that this is an LED product? I always recommend designing at the exact pixel size of a custom display like this. The display is the limiting factor. Making your video at a higher resolution will not get you any more pixels on the display. It will force the video processor to scale the image down, which it may not handle well.

What’s the physical size of the display? The aspect ratios you listed in pixels and feet don’t match. Assuming you meant nearly 12′ wide by 6.5′ tall, I’d think this would look fine to a viewer about 30′ away from the sign. Signs like this are designed to be viewed from a distance; if you are too close, your eye can resolve the individual pixels.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Jessica Robbins]

Well, I did get in touch the the company. It is an LED product with a 512 x 280 size. They said anything larger than that would be cropped off.

thanks for the info about viewing length.

[David Bogie]

[Jessica Robbins] “It is an LED product with a 512 x 280 size.”

You can easily create an AE project of precisely these pixel dimensions. However, this is ultra low resolution and you should carefully explain this to your client. Also suggest you ask if the display outfit can give you some demo files.

bogiesan

[Jessica Robbins]

Thanks.

[Ryan Postel]

I used to do a lot of designing for Daktronics signs. The client definitely needs to know the correct viewing distance initially in order to give fair judgements of these very low res videos/animations. They always seem to think they are watching a big TV and that the resolution should be the same. But viewing them from across the street (or wherever your sign is) really helps.

As far as comp design, definitely always use the exact pixel ratio, because that will be the best for their system that plays the videos which is pretty rudimentary.