Louise Story Zhan
New york-seventh
Their names have been told to all: boards that post notices or advertisements.
But billboards are being transformed in the United States.
To better catch the eye, billboard companies are using new digital technology to rotate the advertiser's image every six or eight seconds.
Although the image is not moving, the new billboard looks like a TV screen.
In some parts of Asia and Europe, technologies that allow similar digital or rotating advertising are already common.
The problem, security experts say, is that the new billboard may work too well, adding another disturbance to the driver.
There are about 400 digital signs in the United States.
But according to the American Outdoor Advertising Association, up to five of all billboards, or about 90,000, may be converted in 10 years.
Advertising, a new technology that stimulates billboard companies, can earn three to five times as much revenue from digital signage and advertisers.
Clear Channel Outdoor and Lamar ads with most new billboards have been installed to promote digital signage to attract consumer attention more effectively.
While the billboard industry says the digital logo is not dangerous, driving safety researchers say there is not enough research to determine.
Most driving studies focus on mobile phone use.
Nevertheless, the researchers say that human mental resources are limited and that digital signs may affect the driver's awareness more than the old ones --
Old-fashioned static logo.
"In my opinion, they will definitely be distracted," said Deanna Singhal, research assistant at the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, Driving Safety Group, Ottawa.
"It will not only keep their eyes off the road, but it will also be more demanding in terms of cognition.
"A study commissioned by the Federal Highway Administration recommends further research into whether these signs pose a risk to drivers," said Dale Case, who oversees the study . ".
The study by the United StatesS.
The federal government's Institute for Environmental Conflict resolution will be released in a few weeks.
The government has allocated $150,000 for future digital signage research.
At the same time, these signs are rising.
Tommy Teepell, chief marketing officer at Lamar Advertising, said that Lamar Advertising converted about 28 traditional billboards into digital signs every month, and company executives considered new locations at weekly meetings.
He said Lamar was not planning to convert all of its approximately 158,000 signs into digital signs, but instead focused on the signs in the busiest areas of traffic.
So far, Lamar has mainly listened to positive feedback, Teepell said.
"Usually, the response we get is that people like it because they are very attractive," Teepell said . ".
"The color is very attractive and looks creative.
You will never fade in the sun.
Eileen Furukawa, an analyst at Citigroup, said the profit margin of the digital logo could be as high as 70%, while the profit margin of the static logo is close to 45%.
She advised investors to buy outdoor shares in Lamar and Clear Channel.
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Sales of digital signage are more like TV commercials than traditional billboards, the advertising executive said.
Advertisers can buy ads in a day or hours, rather than a few weeks at a time on a regular Billboard.
The ad "as we move forward, Variable signage is largely part of the outdoor landscape," said Jodi Senese, executive vice president of outdoor marketing at CBS, the company has not yet posted digital signs along the highway.
The digital Logo provides tremendous creativity, flexibility and targeting for different population groups, which is really not an option, Senese saysof-
Home advertising.
"Digital billboards are one of the main areas of growth for outdoor companies, and advertisers are eager to register," said Paul Meyer, president and COO of Clear Channel outdoor.
"You can't avoid it," Meyer said . ".
"No mute button. There's no on-off switch.
"Billboard companies often need permission from local governments to convert signage into digital signage.
They were rejected by some towns;
Others are negotiating everything from traditional logo quotas to digital image brightness.
For example, in Syracuse, New York,
Charles ladard, the city's district administrator, said Lamar quickly refused by starting to complain that the digital logo installed last year was too bright.
Digital signage is not allowed in Omaha, NEAs, unless billboard companies propose to remove multiple traditional logos for each digital logo, it is not intended to do so.
City planner Tom Blair said: "All they have to do is press a button and they can flash and disturb the driver.
"Mayor Bill Brooks, 6,000 people in a town near the Florida Disneyland on Bella Island, said that the negotiation with transparent passage outdoor made the city's first digital sign on December, part of the reason is that he does not want to risk falling into a long legal dispute.
As an active member of the national Cities Alliance, Brooks said he was well aware of the lawsuits that other towns face due to billboard regulations.
The American Planning Association, the National Urban Union and the International Association of Municipal lawyers have all publicly accused the billboard industry of a fierce prosecution of billboard regulations in cities and towns.
Eric Damian Kelly said there have been about 100 cases in the Federal Court over the past seven years, about three times as many as in 1993-2000, and professor of urban planning at Power State University.
Although almost all lawsuits involve traditional signs, the American Planning Association says digital billboards could be the next battleground.
A version of the article was published in the International Herald Tribune on January 11, 2007.
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