A new age in advertising billboards
Advertising represents a ubiquitous component of today’s lifestyles and economy, whether it promotes a brand, cause or political message. Like many other industries, the advertising sector is also looking to provide added value and sustainability, including environmentally friendly products. Against this backdrop, the EU-funded project ECOPIX (Eco-friendly digital advertising display, based on novel printable electrochromic polymers) developed radical new display technology for digital out-of-home advertising. It created a display concept based on printing electrochromic colour pixels that can be switched on or off onto flexible lightweight plastic sheets. The technology uses simple printing methods to offer a low-power display solution. During daytime the display uses the Sun’s rays to illuminate messages while at night time it employs front illumination like in traditional billboards. The small colour pixels based on RGB electrochromic materials are controlled through an electromechanical reaction. Varying the voltage can display a dark, transparent or coloured screen. One of the most important features of the new display is that new images can be uploaded remotely via the internet. This could even make traditional printed billboards obsolete while also competing with more costly and more energy-hungry digital billboards. Also worth noting, and beyond direct advertising, the technology could be useful for other applications, including exhibition spaces, signage, infrastructure and digital art. Overall, the ECOPIX technology significantly reduces the recurrent printing and installation costs of traditional printed billboards. It also offers a major advantage in terms of eco-friendliness whether against digital displays (and their questionable recyclability) or traditional billboards that require massive amounts of paper and adhesives. The new technology opens exciting new possibilities and applications that the project partners will exploit. Once industrialised, the emerging competitive product can redefine digital out-of-home marketing and contribute to the competitiveness of both industry and the advertising sector on a European scale.
Keywords
Advertising, billboards, ECOPIX, electrochromic, printing