Melitron Broadens Product Line To Now Include A “Street Series” Of Outdoor Screens

January 18, 2023 by Dave Haynes

Custom display manufacturer Melitron has broadened its product line-up beyond the drive-thru menu displays that have been the Canadian company’s core product to now also include a “Street Series” aimed at use-cases like DOOH ad posters and directories/wayfinders.

It’s an interesting step, as many of its custom display competitors have been getting into drive-thru displays because a demand spike brought on by QSRs adjusting to COVID lockdowns, along with display totems integrated with EV charging systems (Melitron has an EV product, too).

Based in Guelph, which is in the outer orbit of greater Toronto, Melitron says its new displays are for sidewalks, parking lots, transit stations and outdoor venues, including stadiums and amusement parks.

The Street Series is available in a variety of sizes ranging from 49 to 85 inch HD displays in single or dual-sided formats with optional touchscreen, speaker, microphone, camera, sensors and more to create engaging, interactive digital experiences. The HD displays are integrated into a sleek, durable metal enclosure that can be fully customized in design, colour, graphics, LED accent lighting, form and function to meet specific service and brand requirements.

“The Street Series is built with the same durable, refined technology we first introduced with our outdoor digital menu boards that are popular with leading drive-thru restaurants,” says Mike Turner, President and CEO at Melitron. “We continue to offer complete customization and full service from start to finish with this latest addition to our digital signage and kiosk solutions.”

Melitron uses both Samsung and LG displays for its outdoor screens.

These are interesting times for the many companies who make and market high brightness LCD displays for outdoor applications. I think the price delta is still too great, but there will very likely be a time in the next three-four years when fine pitch, outdoor-rated, durable LED products supplant LCDs – offering more brightness, lower maintenance and longer operating lives.

Outdoor LCDs look terrific and offer the crisp resolution that effectively relays ordering options even with small text, but it’s a technology that doesn’t play nicely with the glare and heat of the sun – requiring a lot of engineering. LED doesn’t tend to present the same heat build-up and glare challenges.