How to set up an outdoor digital menu board

The short list

How bright does an outdoor menu board need to be?

Screen brightness is measured in nits, and it’s the spec that decides whether anyone can read your board at noon. Check your spot at the sunniest time of day, then pick a screen for that.

These are typical figures. Look for screens sold as high-brightness or outdoor-rated, and check the nits on the spec sheet. More on brightness in our TV guide

Behind glass or out in the open?

There are two ways to put a screen where outdoor guests can see it. Each solves a different problem.

• ✓Heat: sun heats a screen fast. A regular TV can overheat, and its picture can darken in patches until it cools. Behind glass, leave a gap so air can move.
• ✓Glare: pick an anti-glare (matte) screen, tilt it down slightly, and shade it with an awning or hood.
• ✓Direction: in the US, a screen that faces north gets the least sun on its face. On a truck, park so the screen side faces away from the afternoon sun when you can.
• ✓Sunglasses: some screens look dark through polarized sunglasses, especially in portrait. Test with a pair before you mount it.

Landscape or portrait for a truck window?

Landscape (wide) fits most trucks and trailers. The space beside or above the service window is usually wider than it is tall, and one wide screen holds a full short menu. Portrait (tall) suits the narrow panel between the window and the door, a post at a concession stand, or one category like drinks or combos.

Just a Menu designs come in both, and you set each JAM Player to landscape or portrait in the app. Before you hang a screen on its side, check that its manual allows it.

What size, and how big should the text be?

Pick the size by where guests read the menu: 3 feet from a walk-up window, or 15 feet or more from the back of a festival line. Measure from the back of your line.

• ✓Under 6 feet (most truck and trailer windows): 32″ to 43″ per screen.
• ✓15 feet or more (long lines, concession stands): 65″ or more, or a row of screens.
• ✓Text: a common signage rule is about 1 inch of capital-letter height for every 10 feet of distance. In bright sun, err on the big side.
• ✓Drive-up and pickup windows: guests read from the driver’s seat. Angle the screen toward the lane and keep it to one screen of big, short text.

See the menu board size guide, with a printable test sheet

Mounting and power on a truck

A truck shakes on every road, so its screen needs a stronger mount than a shop wall does.

When the Wi-Fi drops

Parking lots, fairgrounds and stadiums are hard places for Wi-Fi.

The JAM Player keeps your menu on the device, so your screen keeps playing without Wi-Fi. It needs Wi-Fi to set up and to pick up menu changes. If your truck has Wi-Fi on board, changes come through on site. If not, the player picks them up the next time it’s on Wi-Fi, like back at your commissary.

Your QR menu opens on your guests’ own phones, so it doesn’t need your Wi-Fi either. Put the code where the line forms, and people know what they want before they reach the window.

Good to know: skip guest Wi-Fi networks that make you sign in on a web page; they can block the player. How the JAM Player works →

Short menu, big prices

Outdoor guests read your board in the sun, often from a distance, with a line behind them.

• ✓One screen of best sellers. Cut what rarely sells. The full menu can live on your QR menu.
• ✓Big prices, right next to each item.
• ✓Numbered combos, so people can order by number.
• ✓Strong contrast: light text on dark, or dark on light. Skip thin fonts and pale colors that wash out in the sun.
• ✓Short descriptions, or none at all.

Just a Menu keeps menu text at a size people can read and tells you when something doesn’t fit, instead of shrinking it.

Template

One item and one big price read at a glance. Browse the free menu board templates →

Change it by time of day, and when you sell out

Outdoor menus change through the day: a lunch crowd, a late-night crowd, the brisket that’s gone by 2.

• ✓By time of day: schedule each slide by day of the week and time of day. A lunch menu on weekdays, a late menu on weekends, and the screen switches on its own.
• ✓Sold out: tap Sold Out in Menu Workspace on your phone. The item hides or grays out, your choice, on your screen and your QR menu. Your screen picks up the change whenever the player is on Wi-Fi.
• ✓On Square, Toast, Oracle or Clover? Change a price or 86 an item in your POS, and your boards follow on their own.

Real screen · sample menu

Each item has its own price and an In Stock or Sold Out switch.

Events and festivals

An event means a new spot, a new crowd and often a new menu.

• ✓Prices by the event: change prices and items from your phone before you leave, while the player is still on Wi-Fi. At the event, the screen keeps playing them.
• ✓An event special: Scene Magic builds a finished special or combo slide with your real item and price in about a minute. It plays in the loop with your menu.
• ✓A QR sign for the line: your QR code never changes, so one printed sign works at every event. Guests pick their language and tap for allergy info.
• ✓Wind: a screen on a stand catches wind like a sail. Weigh down or strap the base.
• ✓Power: ask the organizer what power you’ll get, and bring your own surge protector.

Questions

Illustration

For food trucks

Food truck menu boards

A custom board for your window, a QR menu for the line, and prices and sold-out items you change from your phone.

See food truck menu boards →