UC Merced Digital Signage Policy [PDF]

The library accepts content for display on digital signage in the library from academic divisions, the Division of Student Affairs, and the Office of Communication. Announcements from student organizations must be submitted through the Office of Student Life.

The library may consider proposals for digital art exhibits on one or more monitors following the same guidelines as other exhibits. Exhibitors must submit a proposal [PDF form] with electronic files adhering to the file types outlined below to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Files should include the title and sponsoring organization on all slides or images to be displayed.

Submit content files at least 1 week in advance of posting. Indicate dates for posting and removal.

Technical Guidelines and Specifics

For optimum viewing, submit image files with the dimensions w1920 x h1080-pixels. Video files should be at least w1280 x h768.

Text should be font size 18 or larger.

The digital signage can display images, video, and sound. The following file types are supported:

• Video
  • Animations: AnimGIF
  • Movies: MP2 and MP4 (preferred), DivX, AVI, MPG plus SWF (Flash)
• Image: jpeg (preferred), tiff, GIF, PNG, WMF
• Sound: MP3, WMA, and WAV

PowerPoint users: The default dimensions in PowerPoint are not compatible with the library's digital signage. To address this, the library has created a PowerPoint template sized to 1920x1080. Please use the provided template if you are planning on using PowerPoint to create your digital signage. PPT Template

Suggestions for Creating Content

When creating signs for the digital signage, there should be a balance between text and graphics. If a sign contains a lot of text, simple graphics are a better choice than very busy graphics. On the other hand, if your sign has minimal text, pairing that text with intricate or high-impact graphics can add interest to the sign (just make sure that your graphics don’t overwhelm your text).

Tip: Outlining your text can help it stand out against the background.

In general, however, the digital signage works best with minimal text and interesting/colorful graphics. If you are creating text for a sign, state your message in as few words as possible- a text-heavy sign is visually overwhelming and few people will stop to read it.

More specifically, keep content brief and to the point: what, who, when, where, how. Limit one announcement, event, or feature per slide. Each slide for display should have a headline; use bullets for readability. Keep in mind that each slide is displayed for a number of seconds and people will view them in passing.

Examples