Digital poster screen vs. printed poster and lightbox

A backlit lightbox or printed poster costs little to hang but something every time it changes: design, print, shipping and someone to swap it. A digital poster screen costs more up front and almost nothing to change.

	Printed poster / lightbox	Digital poster screen
Changing content	Reprint, ship and swap	Publish from a web browser
Several messages	One per frame	Rotate a playlist; video and images
Time of day	Same all day	Schedule by hour, day and date range
Many locations	Ship prints to each one	Publish to a group of screens at once
Checking it is right	Visit or ask staff	Remote screenshots and playback checks
Power	None, or a backlight	80–120 W maximum, 0.5 W standby

When a printed poster still makes sense

If a message never changes, a print is hard to beat. If you change posters more than a few times a year, or run several locations, the time and print costs add up quickly.

How to compare the cost

Add up a year of design, printing, shipping and labor for one poster position, then compare it with the screen price on the prices page.