lcd screen for restaurant menu pricelist

Digital menu boards are electronic screens that display menu options, pricing, images, and videos. They are an excellent way to inform customers of your cuisine style, showcase specials and promotions, and encourage upselling. The screens themselves can be pricey—ranging from $325 to $1,400—and the ongoing cost for software can be as low as $7.99 per month.

With advances in smart TVs and streaming devices, it has never been easier to set up digital menu boards and displays. If you’re thinking about adding some to your shop, here’s the easiest way to do it.

There are two ways to set up a digital menu board, both involving a television screen with HDMI or USB connections. Once you have your TVs, you can either connect a signage player or a thumb drive. The most popular setup is using a signage player because it is easier to manage multiple screens from a single dashboard, and most signage players come with easy-to-use menu templates. So we’ll start with that strategy.

Most small, independent restaurants can piece together a digital display system easily. All you need is a screen, a compatible digital signage player, mounting hardware, and cords to connect these components.

Once you have chosen your preferred sign player company, you’ll need to get all the other necessary hardware. This includes the screen, sign player, and peripheral items like mounting hardware and Wi-Fi signal boosters.

Screens:Most digital menu boards operate on smart TVs. Either LCD or LED screens will work; you just need to be sure that the screens you purchase have HDMI ports, as most digital sign players connect via HDMI. The number of screens you need will vary based on the size of your menu, what you want to display, and how much space you have. If you plan to install your screens outdoors, you’ll need to ensure they are graded for water and wind resistance.

Digital sign player: These are small devices, similar to a Roku or an Apple TV. Many digital signage companies provide their own signage players. Often, the cost is factored into your monthly fee, or you’ll pay upfront. Alternatively, several cloud-based digital signage platforms like SignPresenter, operate via Amazon Fire TV Sticks, which retail for around $40 each. You’ll need a digital sign player for each menu screen.

What is HDMI? HDMI stands for High Definition Media Interface. HDMI connections can transfer high definition images and high quality audio from one device to another. HDMI connections can enable you to project your menu on a high-definition television screen and even show videos or animation if your sign player supports those features.

With your hardware in hand, you’re ready to mount your screens to the wall. Before you grab your level and power drill, you need to find the ideal location for your screens. You want your digital menus to be visible in high-traffic areas where your customers can see them. But there are a few more variables to consider.

Near electrical outlets.Your screens (and sometimes your sign player too) will need to be plugged in to electricity. You’ll want to place your screens within 3 to 6 feet of a grounded wall outlet.

Away from glare. Light fixtures and light from windows can cause glare on your screens. You can reduce this by purchasing anti-glare screens, moving light fixtures, or adjusting your screens’ tilt.

Away from heat and water.Restaurants and other service businesses should be mindful of the temperature near their screens. Water and steam are also a concern.

In a stable wall. Mounting your screen to wall studs is the most stable setup. Brick or concrete is also good (though it may require specialized tools).

Depending on your restaurant’s layout, mounting your screens from a ceiling or soffit may make the most sense. The slideshow below illustrates several mounting options to help you choose the best spot.

Most digital signage platforms have a gallery of images and content widgets to help you create dynamic images, animation, or even videos to enliven your displays. Alternatively, if you have design experience or a designer working for you to create menus and other content for your digital menu, you can design your own digital menu.

If you lack the administrative bandwidth to design displays yourself, you might prefer to work with a platform like Reach, which includes design services for subscribers. Alternatively, you could hire a freelance designer from a site like Fiverr to create templates you can reuse.

The beauty of a digital menu board is that you can use bright colors and eye-catching graphics to capture your customers’ attention and guide them through your menu. Depending on your service style and business type, various menu formats may be best. We’ve included a few of our favorites to get your creative juices flowing.

The Blackboard. This high contrast black and white design is a natural fit for coffee shops, coffee roasters, delis, and farm-to-table operations. (Image from DSMEnu)

The multi-column, static image. Dynamic colors offset different areas of the menu so customers can easily find what they want. It is a great format for delis, burger joints, taquerias, and noodle shops. (Image from DSMenu)

The menu grid. This grid layout is an excellent way to highlight a single-item menu that has lots of variations. Bakeries and burger joints would get good use out of this style. (Image from DSMenu)

The large graphic. This style is a great fit for restaurants that want to highlight a combo or promotion. If you want to get fancy, you could fly those burgers into the screen with a bit of animation. (Image from DSMenu)

The menu with a header. This dynamic design has clearly established areas for standard menu items and specials. The header image can easily be updated to reflect an upcoming holiday without disturbing the rest of the menu.

Setting up a digital menu display using a thumb drive will save you a little money, mostly in monthly software fees. You’ll still need to buy screens and mounting hardware, though, which are the costliest parts of setting up a digital menu.

The biggest difference between a sign player setup and a thumb drive setup is that thumb drives do not require internet access to operate. So, you can place your screens without any regard for Wi-Fi signal strength. This process varies only a little bit from that of using a signage player.

Step 1: Gather your hardware.You’ll need smart TVs that have a USB port to accept the thumb drive, a thumb drive for each screen, and mounting hardware for each screen.

Step 2: Mount your screens.The way you mount your screen will vary depending on your restaurant layout. You’ll want to use appropriate mounting hardware and install it in sturdy walls with electrical outlets nearby.

Step 3: Design your menu template(s). If you use a thumb drive, you’ll need a template for your menu. If you have the skills, you can design a digital menu using popular design software like Canva or Adobe Photoshop. You can hire a freelance designer from a site like Fiverr to create a menu template for you, or you can use DSMenu and Yodeck’s free design tools to create simple, static menu images (dynamic menus with animated functions require an annual subscription). Once you have a design you like, you need to enter your menu information and download the finished menu to your thumb drive.

Step 4: Insert the thumb drive into the TV.Plug the thumb drive into the USB port of your smart TV. Use the television remote control to navigate to the output that corresponds to the USB port. You’ll need a thumb drive for each screen you plan to use. If you want different images to display on different screens, you’ll need to design menus for each one.

Smart TVs are getting lighter every year, but they are still expensive, sensitive equipment that can do some real damage if they fall. If you are even the slightest bit stressed about installing screens yourself, call a licensed professional. If you buy your screens from a big-box retailer like Best Buy or Home Depot, you can use their referral tools to find a local, independent installation technician. These professionals tend to focus on basic wall-hanging installations; you may need to shop around for more complex, ceiling-hung installations.

If you need a large scale digital screen installation, platforms like Samsung and Peerless-AV provide professional installation for a fee. Rates vary depending on the complexity of your installation. When hiring a professional installer, it is important to ensure that your technicians are licensed and insured. Using an unlicensed installer may violate the terms of your lease or liability insurance or void hardware warranties.

If you are mounting several screens in walls without grounded electrical outlets, you should also call an electrician. It may be less expensive in the short term to connect your screens via lengths of extension cords, but daisy-chained extension cords can be a fire and trip hazard. It is far safer to have a professional install a few more electrical outlets exactly where you need them.

Clearly, there are a few different costs associated with digital menu boards. Most small businesses can expect to pay about $400 to $1,700 for a single digital menu board with all its necessary components. The biggest cost variance comes from your choice of screens. The larger your televisions and the higher their resolution, the pricier your setup will be.

Pricing for a media player can vary wildly, depending on the brand, amount of memory, and whether you purchase it directly from a provider or a third-party; costs range from $40 to $500 each. In most cases, you’ll need one media player per screen.

BrightSign’s sign player is compatible with many digital sign platforms. Prices range from $300 to $500, depending on the model. (Image from BrightSign)

Most digital menus can operate with LCD or LED television screens. Though LEDs tend to be better for digital signage because they are lightweight and thinner than LCD screens and generate less heat. LEDs are also less prone to a phenomena called “screen burn,” where traces of an image remain after the screen has changed to a different image.

Costs will vary depending on the brand, specifications like LCD or LED, size, and bulk discounting; costs range from $325 to $1,400 each for 43-inch to 65-inch displays. We’ve listed some popular digital menu screen options in the slideshow below.

This outdoor digital menu is built with Panasonic ClearConect screens that can operate from -31 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and can withstand driving rain. They are available from Panasonic at custom-quote prices.

Mounting hardware is unavoidable, and prices range from around $30 for a basic, flat wall mount up to $550 for a complex ceiling mount. If you need to boost your Wi-Fi signal, antennas and mobile access points range from $50 to $350 each.

Cloud-based software comes with a monthly fee, and some require a contract. Typical prices range from around $8 to $30 per screen, per month, though some platforms that cater to small businesses offer free basic subscriptions.

Implementing digital signage can be an affordable upgrade from the paper or plastic sign solution you have now. If you’re outfitting your space with multiple screens, it could be a sizable investment. The average cost of a full-scale, multi-screen restaurant installation is around $12,000, but many small businesses find that their systems pay for themselves in 12 to 18 months. This makes sense as you’ll be saving on printing and design services and have increased potential for upsells.

When it comes to the pros and cons of digital menu boards, the positives stack up quickly. Using a digital menu board can help drive sales. They are incredibly convenient, and you can display calorie counts easily. Yes, a digital menu is pricier than a printed menu, but it’s an investment that will likely pay off within a year.

Better customer service:Vermont bar and restaurant Pro Pig Brewery added digital menu boards behind its bar during COVID-19. They found that it freed up their bartenders to have more in-depth conversations with customers about the rotating beer selections.

Convenience:Updating printed menus requires time and ink. A digital menu can change as often as you’d like, and it’s as easy as filling out forms online.

Nutritional info: It’s far easier to display nutritional information on your food menus with a digital menu board; if you make any changes to an item, you won’t have to reprint a menu with the new calorie count.

Upfront cost: To get started with digital menu boards, you’ll have to spend a sizable amount for TVs or monitors and media players, and you’ll have an ongoing monthly fee. Plus, if you want professional photos or graphics, you’ll have to hire talent for it.

Power usage: Most smart TVs are designed to be energy efficient, but even the most efficient smart TV uses more energy than a paper menu. Every hour your restaurant is open, your digital menu boards will need electrical power, which will have a definite impact on your energy bills.

Outages:If your internet connection goes out, your menus are down; it’s a good idea to have a mobile hot spot ready to go as a backup, but this could come with extra costs as well.

A digital menu board is an excellent way to entice customers to engage with your restaurant. It is easy to operate and is a relatively affordable solution to the static menus, directories, maps, and in-store advertising you may currently use. Not only do digital displays give your business some extra polish, but they have also been shown to drive sales and increase customer affinity for your business. They can also free up your staff to build more authentic connections with your customers and drive repeat business. You can find plenty of freestanding solutions or integrate with your POS system.

iBroke My Gadget is a gadget repair specialist originally founded in 2005 as a local mobile phone contract provider. It was during this early stage of the business that the company gained a vast amount of knowledge about repairing devices. This lead to the company’s expansion with the first purpose built gadget repair shop based in Surrey opening in 2012 which was able to accommodate repairs all electrical goods while still specialising in mobile phones. In February of 2018 the company came to us looking for Digital Signage for their new stores that they were planning to open, including a new flagship store in the Westfield Shopping Centre and a new location in Putney, London. . . .

With its various sizes, our LCD digital advertising screens can be used both as a restaurant digital menu display and as a ordering tablet to display the restaurant monitor menu, price and product information.

Among them, big sizes such as 32 inches model SAD3201S, 43 inches model SAD4203S, and 50 inches SAD5001S are installed vertically or horizontally for portrait or landscape display as a digital menu restaurant touch screen monitor to display the menus and prices.

And the small size Android digital advertising LCD menu screens like the 10inch tablet SAD1010S, 15.6 LCD screen tablets SAD1560S are widely used on the restaurant tables as a ordering tablet to display the menu, price and dishes details. Customers can easily know the product information and order what they like quickly by the restaurant touch screen monitor.

Compared with traditional paper menus, these digital restaurant menu LCD displays are high brightness that more attractive to customers. And they come with wifi and internet capabilities, which support remote and quick change of video content by a CMS software. Restaurant employees can also change the contents easily by a USB or SD Card.

Digital Screen or digital signage for restaurant menu display is usually called digital menu board, restaurant menu display screen can help increase profits, improve the customer experience, and save you time and money.

It’s a question we continually ask not only ourselves but also our clients. Based on the menu display screen feedback we receive and from our own personal experiences, we believe the key factors for any client when choosing an open frame LCD advertising display suppliers:

Digital menus are electronic LCD screens that display menu options, such as prices, pictures and videos. Restaurant touch screen monitors are a great way to introduce your customers to your style of cuisine, display offers and promotions and encourage sales.

Option 1, update the content from a USB or SD card. You can set up images, videos or photos on your laptop and copy these dates to a USB or SD card, which can then be inserted into the digital menu LCD.

Option 2, update video content remotely from WiFi or Ethernet via the content management system. You can create videos, images, and price tags from the content management system and send these to the digital menus located in different areas.

An up-to-date menu is a key part of the dining experience. As a diner, being able to clearly identify popular items, pricing, and specials is a definite plus.

Displaying your restaurant menu on your TV is more efficient, engaging, and economical than sticking with a static display, and has the bonus of even helping you to grow your business. What’s more, digital menu displays don’t have to be an expensive investment, and can be easily implemented using your existing TVs.

Classic menus, such as handheld menus and even backlit electronic menu boards, tend to be static. These can be challenging to update without replacing completely, and that can require significant time investment.

Printing new menus, as you may well know, isn’t the cheapest or most environmentally friendly option, either. The bottom line is that menus are expensive to replace, which makes seasonal items and specials more of a hassle, and in turn, you end up with a menu that is less innovative and relevant.

Digital restaurant display menus are quickly becoming the new normal. They’re significantly more efficient, easier to manage and customize and more environmentally friendly in the long run.

But what if we were to tell you that you don’t even need specialized equipment to get started with transforming your restaurant menu displays? A regular flat-screen television is the perfect canvas for a digital restaurant menu board, and chances are you already have one on-site.

When it comes to displaying your menu, TV is an excellent option because you not only get improved practical efficiency on a day-to-day basis but also improved marketing numbers for your business.

Recent studies have found that simply having a digital display can increase the time customers spend in your restaurant by as much as 30%. This gives you plenty of time to drive sales up through that extra coffee or dessert.

Digital menu boards are engaging; their shifting displays can be coordinated with particular brand colors, slogans and styles to create a lasting impression that your customers will talk about long after they leave.

A display is nothing if the items on display aren’t well-crafted and valuable. There are many templates available online for creating a TV menu board that will intrigue and captivate customers.

Select the orientation. Depending on the restaurant’s needs, the menu board may be landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical). More extensive menus can be split into two columns on a landscape display, while shorter or specialty menus can offer more detail in a portrait display.

Create or utilize a template. Templates offer guidelines for filling in various menu sections and adding in personal design touches such as borders or logos. They ensure that the space in the canvas is used correctly. A display template can be created in a wide variety of online platforms, from Google Slides or PowerPoint to specialized TV menu board software.

Fill in the template.Add the restaurant’s logo and name prominently, usually at the top of TV menu screens. Use a high-resolution logo image file. From there, fill in the section headings and menu items as appropriate. Be sure to add proper descriptions and keep prices in their own column.

Display your menu.Connect your TV to your menu streaming device or directly insert a USB stick or SD card into the TV. If it’s a static image, select how long to display it for. If it’s a video, select the “loop” playback option.

Displaying your menu can be achieved by purchasing some additional hardware, but frequently you can simply hook your display software (a designated device or your computer) to the TV via an HDMI cable or DisplayPort, which lets higher resolution images and videos play more smoothly on newer smart TVs.

Having a digital menu also allows you to display it on your website or offer it for download through a scannable QR code. This increases your restaurant’s reach and accessibility, which may lead to an uptick in sales.

Having the right materials in place is essential, but knowing how to use them is just as important. Here are some tips for creating impressive TV menu designs for your restaurant.

Utilize color theory.Your brand likely has an associated color palette; use this palette to create a menu that fits your business’s style and theme. It’s also helpful to consider contrasting and complementary colors that keep your menu visually interesting.

Pair prices clearly. Connect prices and dishes visually through dots, lines or a grid system to dispel confusion. You may also consider dropping the decimals to conserve screen space.

Monitor your brightness.Be sure that the brightness of your menu board is adaptable — usually it needs to be brighter in bright environments and dimmer in low-lighting.

Revise your menu to fit your audience.Monitor your analytics and ask customers questions about improvements they would like to see in your menu. Ongoing feedback can be an incredibly powerful tool for your business.

The television used for TV menu boards in restaurants should be able to handle high-resolution imagery, upwards of full HD, at 1920 by 1080 pixels. For particularly detailed images, having 4K (3840 by 2160 pixels) resolution guarantees that the image displays without compressing or losing any quality.

These programs, both paid and free versions, have useful tools for canvas sizing and exporting high-quality images. They can also be useful in creating custom animations and transitions for the menu.

Aside from this, TV menu displays often require a digital signage content management system or CMS. Digital menu board software allows users to interface between the computer where the content is stored and the display itself.

It’s possible to run a digital display without digital menu software for TV, but having one on your side provides you with tools that set you up for success. Not only that, but they can offer a system of support that can make the transition from classic to digital display more accessible and possibly even more profitable.

Our fully online cloud control platform lets you manage multiple TV screens across all of your locations simultaneously. It also offers easy remote updating and scheduling, and extensive engagement analytics so you can be sure your displays are as effective as possible.

How many times have you experienced this— you walk past a quick-serve restaurant, you notice the outdoor digital menu board displaying the mouthwatering images of a burger or sushi…and now, all of a sudden, you feel HUNGRY!

And, that is precisely why your restaurant desperately needs a digital menu board, if it already hasn’t got one. Both indoor and outdoor digital menu boards act as visual magnets to draw customers towards the counter and increase sales.

Therefore, irrespective of whether you are a five-star hotel or a local cafe/QSR, it is essential for you to think through the outlook and design of your restaurant digital menu boards.

Well, creating a digital menu board for a restaurant doesn’t have to be expensive or even priced at all. There are many design software that allow you to download as well as edit free digital menu board templates.

In this blog, we will tell you how to create digital menu boards for restaurants using both free and paid software. We have listed the six online menu makers that can help you create stunning and professional-looking digital menu boards for your QSR, food truck, restaurant, hotel, or school cafeteria.

Before choosing the design application, make sure that you know what file formats are supported by your digital menu board software. For example, Pickcel’s software for digital menu board supports all kinds of images, video formats, and URLs.

Pickcel has the perfect software for digital menu boards that will take care of all your creative necessities. This digital restaurant menu app can be a fabulous asset, particularly for those eateries that need to update their menu boards quite frequently, and for whom time is of the essence. This commonly includes food services like restaurants, cafes, QSRs, hotel restaurants, office canteens, drive thru stalls, etc.

Clean and organized menu design, fancy but readable texts, and a whole lot of breathable space to avoid confusing or overwhelming the customers. Believe it or not, creating such clever designs on your own is not really as simple as it may look.

But, that is the advantage of using ready-made templates of the Pickcel digital menu board app: They are designed by professionals and you can simply select a digital menu template and edit it to the very last detail like:

Image: The page view of the editor: users can edit food name, meal description, food image, restaurant name, category name, category description and add predefined tags here.

Image: The page shows advanced settings: here users can change the text formatting, background graphics, background opacity, currency, logo, add or remove tags, etc.

Exclusive for digital menu boards: As you scroll down through this list, you will see that there is hardly any software that is so fine-tuned to the requisites of the food service industry. When you use a dedicated software, the chances of your objective getting fulfilled (in this case, your menu board being an instrument of temptation so that your customers can’t avoid buying from you) increases strikingly.

You can do so much more than just design digital menus: We are not bragging, but the Pickcel digital menu board app surely emerges as a winner if you consider the additional benefits you get. This is a software that not only allows you to create excellent, professional digital menu designs, but also happens to be a complete package of your restaurant’s digital signage management.

The app offers one single platform from which users can create digital menus and publish them directly to the restaurant’s digital menu boards. Besides digital menu boards, restaurant digital signage can also be used for various other purposes like showing promotional contents, live news, weather updates, social media feeds, order status, and so on.

Within the Pickcel menu board app, users can pick and choose from a range of alternatives and then mix and match them to create a design of their choice. This takes far less time than filling up a completely blank space.

Pickcel software subscription required: If you are looking only for free digital menu design software, then this can come as a little anticlimactic. Pickcel’s digital menu board app comes free with the Pickcel digital signage software. In fact, an amazing collection of Pickcel apps comes free with the software. But, the digital signage software license itself is not free.

However, there is an upside to using licensed software. Most free softwares have limitations; they may be suitable for passion projects, but fail to meet business expectations. Proprietary products are secure; they come with rich features, UI, and tech support. Pickcel is a reputed digital signage company that caters to some of the biggest enterprises.

Pickcel offers the software license on a monthly and yearly subscription rate and the plan can be cancelled at any time. There is a text Moreover, there is a 14-day free trial period for which users can avail all the features of Pickcel signage player software including the digital menu board app, completely free of cost

DSMenu is a company that offers tons of customizable templates for different types of restaurant digital menu boards. These services do the creative heavy lifting for you by designing professional templates that meet the industry benchmark.

All you have to do is simply select a template and edit it to add all your courses and dishes with their prices. You can also add or create your own restaurant logo for branding.

It saves time: Hotels, restaurants, and cafes need to update their menu boards frequently, often more than thrice a day to display different meals. On top of that, there are special meals, festive offers, regular discounts, coupon codes, and many other changes that require constant updates. Therefore, unless you have hired a creative team to regularly design and update your restaurant menu board, it is always reasonable to go for a ready-made template instead of designing one from scratch.

Exclusive for digital menu boards: DS Menu templates are tailor-made for food businesses only. This means that you will get huge collections of industry-standard designs. Moreover, the templates are well-organized under popular categories like ‘Lunch’, ‘Breakfast’, ‘School Menu’, ‘Happy Hour’, ‘Bakery’, ‘Chalk’ etc. You can also request custom designs.

Not Free: DS menu allows you to register and design your menu for free so that you can warm up to the application. However, in order to download your design, you need to be a paid subscriber.

If you are searching for hundreds of free templates, hands down, Canva is the ultimate option to try. It is, in fact, a one-stop solution for all kinds of creative templates, not just digital menu board templates. Even though all templates are not cost-free, it is safe to say that you’ll get plenty of unpaid designs to choose from. You can hover over each template/photo/video/element to check which ones are tagged ‘free’.

In Canva, you can also design your restaurant digital menu boards from scratch, import graphics from your personal devices, share your designs and work as a team.

It’s free…for the most part: In Canva, almost every feature has both free and paid options. You can also download your designs for free and without any watermark! as long as you don’t use any paid templates, elements, videos, etc. for your design. Once you fall in love with Canva, you can become a paid subscriber to open up the full Pandora’s box of amazing designs and features.

It allows video formats: You can add free stock videos to digital menu board design. You can also download them in GIF or MP4 formats besides SVG, PNG, JPEG, and PDF file formats. Adding dynamic graphics (like GIFs and videos) can make the digital menu boards for restaurants 10X more attractive. Simply create a high-quality video of some great food being prepared in your restaurant kitchen, import it to Canva, and insert that video clip in your digital menu design! Isn’t that fun?

Let"s add another great news: Pickcel users can now design and manage their digital menu boards directly through our integrated Canva design tool. Check out our step-by-step tutorial with images for more insight.

Mostly Vertical Menus: Sorry, we couldn’t find any such downside for this tool. If at all something has to be pointed out, then we can only say that most of the digital menu board templates are in portrait orientation. But then, you can always resize! The standard landscape aspect ratio is 16:9.

Easil is another user-friendly graphic design software where you can create beautiful content for your restaurant digital menu boards. It offers three tiers of pricing plans. The ‘Basic’ plan is free and is packed with useful features.

The digital menu board template designs are surely a breath of fresh air, especially if you have a weakness for pastel shades and minimalist designs! If you need horizontal menus, you may be a little disappointed at first glance, as Easil mostly offers vertical menu board templates.

But, don’t worry, we’ll let you in on a secret that will solve your problem: all you have to do is copy and resize the vertical template into the ‘Digital Screen’ (1920px X 1080 px) size. It’s that simple!

Custom dimension for digital screens: Digital menu boards for restaurants are generally large digital signage screens. For a layman, understanding the technical nitty-gritty of graphic design like size, resolution, and aspect ratios can be a genuine struggle. At the same time, not having the correct understanding of these dimensions can lead you to create a design that will ultimately appear blurry or pixelated on your digital signage displays. Easil completely obsoletes this hassle by providing a standard ‘digital screen’ dimensions.

Apple Keynote is another presentation tool that can be used to design beautiful dynamic and static digital menu boards for your restaurant/QSR. You will get plenty of gorgeous templates, to begin with. Apple Keynote comes pre-installed with Apple devices and can also be downloaded for free from the Mac App Store.

Tip: if you are a hip and urban restaurant/QSR with plenty of millennial customers, you can use this feature to give your digital menu board a cool and funky organic look!

The time factor: With more features, you need more time to figure them out. Besides, with Apple, you might be surprised at the number of new features getting introduced every now and then! So, for creating a digital menu board in Keynote, you might need to sit down with a cup of coffee, watch some tutorials before you can create a ‘wow’ design for the digital menu board. All we are saying is, we hope you are not in a hurry.

If you want to design your restaurant digital menu board right from scratch, then Google Slides can be your favorite application. It allows a much greater scope of collaboration. You can share your slides with others and can group edit your digital menu board designs in real-time.

Also, you can import any existing designs in PowerPoint and convert them into Google slides. If you want to get started with templates, that is also available. However, do not expect to find the kind of huge repository of templates that you get with applications like Canva or DS menu, or Easil.

Free: There is no subscription fee at all. Everything is free up to a limit. Supports screencast: Digital menu board designs made with Google Slides can be wirelessly cast on your digital displays directly from your android devices like smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, etc. using Chromecast, Hangouts, and AirPlay. You can get the tutorials here.

Comparatively Less Time-Efficient: Designing something from scratch comes with its own set of comfort and discomfort. While you may enjoy the satisfaction of creating something all by yourself, you will also need to put a little more effort and time which often businesses find scanty.

Before creating your digital menu board with PowerPoint, do make sure to resize the slides in the standard 16:9 ratio if you plan to show your menu on widescreen. The default aspect ratio of a PPT slide is 4:3. You can change the aspect ratio of your slides from the ‘Page Set-up’ option under the ‘Design’ tab of the toolbar.

Intelligent Design Suggestions: The new Microsoft PowerPoint version offers smart design suggestions based on the design of your first slide (as shown in the image above). You can find these suggestions under the ‘Designer’ tab. Some designs are free while others are only for ‘Premium’ members. Nevertheless, you can get a fair number of new digital menu board design ideas from this section.

A Little Time-Consuming: Same as with Google Slides; you will not get any such pre-baked designs for your restaurant digital menu board. Therefore, it is not a very time-efficient choice.

Once you have learned how to create a digital menu board for your restaurant or QSR outlet, it is time for you to move on to the next level: how to create a digital menu board that sells your products and communicates with your customers at the same time.

Add relevant images: Nothing cries ‘amateur’ more than an erratic and unrelated image/graphic in your digital menu board design. Imagine the disappointment of the customers when they walk into your restaurant hoping to get that delicious burrito displayed on your digital menu board but realize that it was just a decorative image and that you don’t actually sell one! You wouldn’t want to set a wrong impression, do you?

Less is More: While designing digital menu boards for restaurants, make sure that you do not crowd it with lots of graphics, font styles, and effects. Your customers will feel lost if you do that, and it might also make your menu look desperate for attention. Keeping it simple always works well enough.

Set Yourself Apart: Do a little homework on how your competitors design their digital menu boards? And, what can you do to make your’s a little different from the rest? If your competitors are using colorful images, then maybe you can go for the cool ‘chalkboard’ look. If others are using images, then you can add GIF or video elements to make your digital menu board even more dynamic.

Add Interactivity to Your Restaurant Digital Menu Board: When it comes to customer experience, nothing can beat the fun of interacting with gadgets & gizmos. That is why you need interactive digital menu boards for your restaurant . But the question is how.

However, on the upside, Pickcel provides affordable solutions like digital menu board solution and digital discount coupon that offer massive scope for digital interactivity along with an incredible range of advanced features that the DIY menu boards fail to match.

Check out: Pickcel"s Software for Digital Menu Boards! The software offers a consolidated platform to design, publish and manage your restaurant digital menu boards from anywhere, with any device!

The bottom line is, creating digital signage for restaurants, QSRs, cafes, or hotels does not have to be an ordeal. It doesn’t have to be expensive either. You don’t even need to hire a designer for the job. In today’s world of automation, designing your digital menu board can be an absolute breeze.

Printed menus have been the restaurant standard for centuries, likely even dating back to the advents of pulped papyrus and thin-sliced bread. Serving as a guide for patrons to compare prices and food descriptions, many restaurants post their menu outside as a way of enticing passersby to choose their restaurant for their next meal. Menus have also been an effective advertising space for showcasing coupons, sales, or even services from local businesses. While printed menus have worked well for centuries, they are becoming somewhat outdated as restaurants try to satisfy consumers" ever-growing demands for technologies that offer more dynamic information.

Menu items change frequently with the seasons, as produce and local ingredients become available. Pricing or daily specials can also change with little notice. The last thing restaurant owners want to do is disappoint their customers who are anticipating a featured meal that is no longer available. Outdoor printed menus take a beating from the elements. Sunlight, moisture, and wind can quickly fade, discolor and batter printed paper menus risking a negative impression from the public. For all of these reasons, printed menus need to be re-printed, replaced, or printed with several versions. These simple changes can demand tremendous time, energy, and expense for restaurants relying on outdoor paper advertising.

The emergence ofdigital signage offers restaurantsa way to avoid some of the issues associated with traditional printed menus. Digital signage can dynamically display menu items, prices, and daily specials. They can be easily and quickly updated as often as necessary to reflect the most current information. Short animations can be included to highlight featured dishes, which adds more value to the user interface than static images. Video advertisements and updates can be incorporated periodically to reach more of the dining crowd without diverting attention from the menu selections. Some software solutions even allow for customers to login or interact with the displays without touching them directly. Here they can download menu items or play short videos to see more about the food item they wish to order, all of which is simply not possible with a printed paper display. All of these features create a more personal and engaging experience for patrons, increasing the likelihood they"ll return and maybe even bring new customers into your business.

Outdoor digital signagebecomes even more significant in the way that it assists restaurants expand their business. For example, many Dunkin Donuts locations have adopted outdoor digital displays for theirdrive thru pick-up service. In addition to the benefit of changeable featured content, these displays are designed to resist harsh weather and be capable of interacting with customers, both of which were previously not possible with printed menus. With the newest advancements in online ordering, customers can even connect their mobile device to the restaurant’s digital display and access the same menu items on their phones, including ordering and paying for their meal remotely. In another example, one of McDonalds challenges has been informing its customers about when the breakfast menu is finished and the traditional menu is offered. Different locations could have different times and the policies were often regionally enforced. By upgrading to digital signage, not only could individual menu items be updated, entire menus could be replaced in a fraction of a second. By using multiple screens, McDonalds and other fast food companies can showcase menu items, explain which menus are available, and even show the customer their current order in real time, all within a single, convenient experience.

To be objective, there were some initial challenges for implementing digital signage, as there are with incorporating any new idea or technology. When it comes to viewing any digital images in an outdoor environment, bright sunlight can make it difficult to see the image on the display clearly. In addition, this same bright light can cause devices to heat up quickly and even fail if proper precautions are not followed. Obviously, this is undesirable for any user and a concern for business owners who don’t want to see their investments only be subject to risk and failure. For a long while, the only solution was to have the display “outshine” the sun, cranking up the brightness on the device in an effort to power through the ambient sunlight. In some ways, this can be effective, as the saying going, “The brightest stars are seen at night.” But this method also comes at a high cost. First, it takes a lot of energy to try to beat the sun when it comes to emitting light and even if capable, that energy comes with a price tag that is ever consuming, unless the sun were to stop shining. At that point, digital displays would become the lowest of anyone’s worry. Second, this energy output also creates heat of its own and is another amount of energy that needs to be dissipated before damaging the device. Additional Anti-Reflective coatings and AC fans or water-cooling systems need to be used to pull heat away, adding to the overall energy usage and cost of operating the display. Last, by using the High Brightness mode, the LCD and back lights themselves would degrade more quickly, reducing theoverall lifespan of the displaybefore it would need to be fully replaced. So while a display may be able show a brighter image in bright conditions, it is important to understand what it takes to achieve that result.

The best aspect of technology is how quickly it advances. Just as printed paper menus are being upgraded to digital displays, so is the digital signage industry constantly upgrading itself. For instance, Sun Vision Display approaches the issue of sunlight differently, turning what was considered a problem into a solution. By usingreflective technology, the same sunlight that other display panels compete with now becomes the exact light that illuminates the LCD panel. In this way, there is no need to “outshine” the sun or consume extreme of energy to do so. In fact, the brighter the sunlight, the better the images appear to the viewer, resulting in true sunlight readability.

The key to this technology is to replace the back light with a mirror-like reflective layer, eliminating the high energy component and cleverly converting interfering light energy into a useful asset. Though the physical mechanics of how this works may require several advanced degrees, the concept is actually quite simple and is what makes reflective displays truly a brilliant solution to an otherwise universal difficulty. As a result of this “small” change, many other benefits also arise. The energy required to operate the display is reduced up to 95% and in addition to removing the back light, saves overall cost every time it is turned on. The display welcomes bright light and is not subject to the same high heat degradation of other displays, increasing its overall lifespan and again reducing energy costs to cool the unit. Each factor that previously worked against the user now each benefit from the reflective technology and create a solution that is much more than the sum of its parts. This is the brilliance behind the way in which reflective technology has advanced the idea of using digital displays instead of printed paper menus.

While it is important to seehow technology has advanced, it is just as important to see how it impacts everyday life. In order to do so, one must look at how that technology is being used and how well it works in each application. The use of digital signage by restaurants for drive-thru services or outdoor dining space has been trending rapidly upward. One interesting example is how food trucks have also been able to incorporate mobile displays into their always-moving vehicles. It makes logical sense that a food truck owner who can easily be making lunch items in the center of Time Square, NY, likes the idea that she can also move her truck to Boston for dinner and late-night options. Similarly, she would like the idea that the content of her menu and specials can change as often as she pleases. Digital signage simply makes sense in this case and offers many wonderful advantages over paper menus and displays.

In the above food truck example, reflective displays could work very well for a number of reasons. The low power requirements make it easy to operate in a setting with limited resources. Also, reflective displays are designed to handle nearly any weather-related conditions that may hit. For example, SVD displays have an operating temperature between -20C and 70C, making them suitable for many outdoor climates. They can also be sealed behind toughened glass and ruggedized to an IP65 rating which will help withstand weather and the jostling conditions of a moving vehicle.

If you are interested in learning more about outdoor displays, especially as they are being used by the Food and Entertainment industry, please feel free to reach out to one of our representatives today. SVD currently offers signage in a 32” diagonal size, with 43" and 55” options in development. These displays can also be tiled together in 2x2 or 3x3 arrangements to scale for larger needs. No matter what size you need, there is a good solution available to you that will help upgrade your business and increase your sales. Please contact us today with any questions!

Most modern television sets feature the ability to play images and videos from a USB flash drive (also known as jump-drive or thumb-drive). Simply plug a jump-drive of your content into the USB port of your TV to showcase your menu, photos, or even videos. Some TVs even allow your content to play on loop – an easy way to share a slideshow of content.

Ever wonder why some TVs are much, much cheaper than others – even though they may be the same size? TV manufacturers can create a range of models and slash prices by removing premium features. The ability for a TV to read and display content from a jump drive often falls under that “premium feature” umbrella. When considering displays for food service establishments, premium features that appeal to home consumers often don’t make sense. Your TV might have a USB port, but when you plug a jump drive in nothing happens… it means that your TV’s jump drive is there to provide power only.

You don’t need a fully functional USB port as long as your TV has an HDMI port. When plugged into your HDMI port the ‘Micca Speck 1080p Full-HD Ultra Portable Digital Media Player’ gives you a USB and more. If you’ve got an extra TV kicking around, I highly recommend this little device. Why? Because in 2020 I helped a customer set up 3 of these on used TVs – and it worked flawlessly. The Micca Speck is a cheap, powerful media player that can display multiple images and video formats in full 1080p HD. The player comes with a remote control and connects to your TV via HDMI cable. This device includes some noteworthy features such as an SD/SDHC memory card reader, USB port, automatic restart after a power failure, aluminum case exterior, and high-quality playback.

So, now you’re excited about creating a digital menu board or point of sale display… What do you need? 1) Any TV with an HDMI port. 2) The Micca Speck Digital Media Player. 3) A USB thumb drive loaded with the images/video you want to share.

Microsoft PowerPoint slides can be set to a default size of “1080p” or 1920×1080 (the same aspect ratio as most modern TV displays). Often 1920×1080 is already the default PowerPoint template size, if not you can change it.* Once you’ve created your menu simply “export” the slide as a jpeg image and copy it to your jump drive. Because the image is exported as 1920×1080 pixels your menu should display on your TV exactly how it appeared in PowerPoint.

Of course, you can use any application you’re comfortable with to create your digital menu artwork. And there are many more methods, services, and devices you could utilize to display your electronic signage… this one just happens to follow one of my favorite business strategies – highly effective and inexpensive.

If you’re already having your menus designed and printed by an outside company, a tv-ready digital version of your menu could be just a conversation away.

Digital signs are the perfect choice when seeking to enhance the customer experience while improving efficiency and flexibility in the food serving industry. Improve your queue management and reduce perceived wait times with menu suggestions, infotainment and interactive self-ordering kiosks.

Cost effective compared with printed menus, digital menu boards deliver marketing messages and provide the flexibility to change prices, promotions or advertisements immediately depending on availability, time of day or seasonality - locally or centrally across a network of outlets.

Maintaining customer interest often means adding a new item to the menu or running a special promotion every few weeks. In those cases, restaurant operators need to have the ability to change the menu board quickly and seamlessly. Sharp/NEC continues to build on its leadership in the restaurant industry, delivering customized, turnkey solutions to local restaurant and nationwide chains alike. Cost effective solutions, highlighted by technology-rich digital displays, are dynamic and flexible in handling a multitude of functions for every aspect of your business – delivering time-scheduled product information and promotions, entertaining customers with interactive music and video, wayfinding, employee training and brand reinforcement.

Digital menu boards are electronic displays that show a restaurant"s menu items, prices, and other information. They are commonly used in fast food and quick-service restaurants, as well as other food and beverage establishments. Digital menu boards can be used in place of traditional paper menus, or as an additional display in addition to paper menus.

Digital menu boards can be created and managed using specialized software that allows the user to easily update and change the content, such as adding new menu items or updating prices. They can also be programmed to display different menus or specials at different times of the day, such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Digital menu boards may also include additional features, such as the ability to display images of the menu items, nutritional information, or promotions.

Digital menu boards have several advantages over traditional paper menus, including cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and the ability to easily update and change the content. They can also be more engaging and visually appealing, which can help increase sales and customer satisfaction.