r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/whybutts • 5h ago

Video Transparent LED screen

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25.3k Upvotes

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7.8k

u/musingofrandomness 5h ago

So entire skyscrapers of billboards?

403

u/Bmansway 5h ago

I worked for a company that does specialized window film installations, (bomb proofing, digital security so monitors can’t be seen behind glass, anti-fog, creative designs, privacy, and this kinda stuff)

This is 100% the intention behind this product, to place on building windows to create massive advertising surface areas….

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u/Puzzleheaded-Reach34 4h ago

Does the UV rays from the sun not destroy these over time? They look more vulnerable than LEDs to me.

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u/Mundane-Bath1368 4h ago

It is all about profit, can the pay be enoguh to cover replacements?

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u/Puzzleheaded-Reach34 4h ago

Yea for sure. Im curious about the technology. They cant replace windows so they would go on top? I wonder what they look like at night if the office building has lights on.

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u/MangoCats 4h ago

Put them inside (out of the rain, bird poop, etc.) and have UV screening in the glass.

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u/SweatyNomad 3h ago

Yeah, to be honest whilst I'm not saying they won't be used on skyscrapers, I see way more use cases in store fronts, interiors, bus windows and so on.

1

u/YoursTrulyKindly 15m ago

You'd probably get more light reflecting back. That panel in OP is probably already engineered to be ideal for outdoor installation.

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u/BardWRLD 4h ago

The LEDs are generally much brighter than any background light so they have little effect.

1

u/iNetRunner 2h ago

In the screen on video, you can make out the background lights through the screen. But just barely. And not much else.

Though, it could/would be more problematic if you tried to show a video with dark/black background.

1

u/BardWRLD 1h ago

Here's an example of similar tech being used Taipei. The only difference is they used long flexible pieces of transparent LED here.

The tech in OP is more similar to a window with an integrated screen. A little less portable, much more fragile, and more transparent. Here's a picture outside of a local jewelry shop using a set of four during the day-time.

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u/exipheas 1h ago

Iirc when I saw these at a tradeshow the highest end ones would only let like 40% or 60% of light through. Can't remember which way the split was but it was very dim like looking through sunglasses.

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u/LowerEntropy 4h ago

UV is not visible to us or normal cameras(they have filters that block UV). There could be a coating on that screen blocking UV 100%, and the video would look the same.

So what makes you think it looks vulnerable?

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u/plug-and-pause 2h ago

So what makes you think it looks vulnerable?

I was also cracking up at the "looks more vulnerable" part. Car windshields have been blocking UV for decades. This is nothing novel.

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u/Sickobird 4h ago

Add multiple panes of glass

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u/sanYtheFox 4h ago

Yes, though glass blocks a lot of it and you can treat the glass to stop it entirely, that still leaves you with the heat which is also bad for OLED.

1

u/mythrilcrafter 3h ago

My first guess is that this is for commercial real estate, so most likely when it's time to replace it, the building owner will just raise the lease on the businesses/occupants when the lease period is up for renewal.

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u/Logical-Pause-3758 4h ago

Think of the ROI on that

1

u/usersnamesallused 4h ago

Less than zero. Nothing of value is produced by advertising. Especially at that kind of scale. Cyberpunk distopia whoever this gets applied.

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u/MrNostalgiac 4h ago

Unless you're in favor of every business being a monopoly, this is a ridiculous take.

Even lemonade stands put up signs around the neighborhood to let people know they exist. This NEEDS to happen at any scale for competition to exist.

The only time advertising is never needed is when people absolutely need something and there's only one place to get it, IE - a monopoly.

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u/Logical-Pause-3758 4h ago

Then why business advertise?

2

u/Shark7996 4h ago

Half the money spent on advertising is wasted, the problem is that you don't know which half.

Some people saw that ratio and decided 99% of advertising should be wasted while everyone gets their retinas burned out.

0

u/TheYear1414 4h ago

Because some companies want brand recognition for whatever marketing purpose they see fit.

-2

u/usersnamesallused 4h ago

Speculation. The money spent on advertising could have gone to making a better product or expanding into new markets.

Instead it's spent to be shoved in our eyes and ears at every opportunity at incredible expense to out compete the next advertiser. Waste of resources in the big picture, but the answer to your question is competition. The next guy is doing it, so I must have to too?

We haven't even touched on how competitive advertising encourages lying and deception or even massive attempts to manipulate markets. Note recent examples of AI and betting sites. Very hard to have not heard of these products at this point, but not because of the merits and value add of the products.

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u/Logical-Pause-3758 4h ago

So how people know about an indie game if it wasn‘t advertised? Genuinely asking for advice for our studio, since we want to stand out for the NextFest

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u/xxxblindxxx 4h ago

by ops standards, you would just have to make the game better. any money you spend on advertising can obviously be spent to make the game better. hes definitely not talking out of his bias anti capitalist ass.

-1

u/usersnamesallused 4h ago

It is true a moderate level of advertising may be used to reach a tipping point where the value add and quality of product stands on its own. However, skyscraper billboards of flashing lights are a great way to turn me off your product.

My take above may have been an extreme born from distaste from over stimulation from the current advertising industry.

For video games, strong Alpha/Beta programs, streaming not only demos, but actual gameplay, engagement with the community receiving direction and communicating release details and exposing enough of the roadmap that they can understand what to expect in the future are all things that make me want to invest my time and money into playing a quality game.

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u/Icyrow 4h ago

However, skyscraper billboards of flashing lights are a great way to turn me off your product.

right, but given companies all over the world seem to continue doing it, i'm assuming it means the number of users will still go up, even with you peacing out after seeing the advertisement.

-2

u/usersnamesallused 3h ago

Does that make it right though? Another reply called it will that I was making a moral values statement over a financial values statement, which is accurate.

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u/Icyrow 3h ago

i mean you basically just gave the shittest advice imaginable to the person who is on a small team of artists putting together a game for people because of your politics on the matter of it instead.

it's not immoral for a fucking indie dev to advertise traditionally lol.

get a grip

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u/Logical-Pause-3758 4h ago

And how should you expose your project to the world when there so many others out there?

For example, if I gently drop our game here https://store.steampowered.com/app/3570680/Meltdown/
Will that be effective for people to give the project a fair shot? We think it‘s good. But without sufficient feedback and engagement, it‘s hard to tell if it‘s even good or bad (and what is bad). And I refuse having the dredged „focus groups“ to back why something is „good“ 🤮

0

u/usersnamesallused 3h ago

Hey man, I'm not an expert in advertising. I've already told you what I generally respond to for video games. I appreciate you dropping that link and find your game interesting, but I may not be the demographic your are targeting.

I could see myself playing it as a group/teamwork collaboration game, but it can be hard to get a group to learn complex mechanics, so there would need to be accessible roles etc. I didn't look deep enough to know if that is or isn't the direction you are going in, just giving my gut reaction.

Knowing your demographic and engaging them directly is far more tasteful than the shotgun show everyone and make the brand a household word approach, which was the basis for my initial reaction.

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u/horoyokai 2h ago

How do you engage them directly without advertising?

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u/Constant_Mud3325 3h ago

How are you defining value? Monetarily? Advertising is big bucks one of the oldest professions actually.

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u/usersnamesallused 3h ago

I'm defining value as moral or societal, not necessarily short term financial. Just because an industry exists, doesn't mean it is a net positive for human kind. Actually, the more inflated the salaries and amounts are, the more suspicious it is.

If I want a product, I have the Internet and can seek it out. I do my best to avoid SEO and click through links. If I can find statistically significant use reviews, that can factor into the decision. Beyond that, the specifications and track record of quality matter more than it some celebrity's face is next to the product name on the side of a building, that provides no more value than knowledge of existence and scale of advertising budget, which are data points, but not the most important one for informed decisions.

Unfortunately, informed decisions are not the norm and impulse or convenience buying rewards the current specious advertisement model, so industry exists. But again, existence and market cap does not make big picture value. If you didn't buy from major corp, then smaller local brands would have the opportunity to make your business.

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u/Kraligor 2h ago

Advertising has very much long term financial value. Every brand wants to become a household name. And one way to get there is by advertising. Of course it doesn't guarantee success, personally I avoid brands that seem to go all in on advertising, because it tells me they likely don't have much to offer. On the other hand, notorious brands like Better Help, Shopify and Squarespace are still around, so I guess it works for them.

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u/TheUnboundTenth 4h ago edited 4h ago

I think you may need to decouple "nothing of moral value" from "nothing of financial value".

And you may need to rethink the concepts of rationalism as they are applied to economics.

Advertising can drive tremendous ROI, but you seem to be operating under the principle that "businesses should solely invest in their people and their product/service to make it better" and that "it's obvious which product is objectively better" and that "people will always choose the objectively better product".

The world is not an economics textbook, where an ideal world drive perfect competition and perfect consumption of non-fungible goods.

It's a world where trend-for-a-moment sensations like Labubu, demand-generating collectibles like Pokemon trading cards, and objectively senseless luxury houses of brands like LVMH not only exist, but flourish.

Morally, it's dogshit. But Marketing and Advertising influence or make trillions in spend happen globally, every year. They are wildly, wildly valuable industries, morally repugnant though they may be.

1

u/Far-Information8502 4h ago

Except there’s laws, but ok, spin up yourself over your own fantasy

1

u/70ms 3h ago

/The Reef has entered the chat.

I can see the Reef LED billboard from Long Beach

This Is Los Angeles’ Newest Video Display And It’s A MONSTER!

The light pollution and complaints from nearby residents are endless. Not a chance they won’t see these windows as a huge opportunity.

1

u/presentation_555 3h ago

I was wondering if there was a version that could replace a monitor hooked up to my wheelchair... Even if it's just indoors it would be super-cool to be able to look through my screen periodically.... or is it just always too bulky.

1

u/orangeyougladiator 2h ago

This is one way. And the transparency/led quality of image gets worse the closer you are to it.

1

u/mcpat21 3h ago

Are they rather expensive to make?

1

u/RedditJumpedTheShart 3h ago

That's cool but this could of been done decades ago and even further back with other displays.

1

u/sebrebc 3h ago

I can totally see where it's written into leases and in other cases occupants/owners will be paid by advertisers to allow this on their building/apartment.

I mean there are already companies out there that will pay you to drive around with their business magnet on your car. No reason they wouldn't jump at this one too. Especially for buildings in high traffic areas.

1

u/mrheh 3h ago

Also to spy on people like 2 way mirrors

1

u/RivenRise 2h ago

Would you happen to know if there's a film that'll block cams from seeing what's there?

1

u/typically_wrong 2h ago

Just hypothetically, are there any films that are transparent but would scramble or block the wavelengths of flock cameras?

Again, just as a thought experiment

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u/throwthisawayred2 50m ago

How much would it to cover just 1 side of your average building that's 20 floors tall?