Outdoor digital LED display: where to begin?

[bigben]

So I've got few customers asking for outdoor digital LED display (I don't know if it the good name for this). I've found cirrus so far and their products are sold via a vendor here in Montreal.

1. Should I try to contact cirrus directly to place an order and/or have more informations?
2. It look like we have to go to cirrus website to manage the content. I would prefer to own the system and not be at the mercy of another company.
3. What other manufacturer should I look?
4. What should I know about the subject? (I already work in interior digital signage).
5. One of my customer want a ''bullet proof'' system with the best quality on the market. The sign is fairly low of the ground (5 feet), the sidewalk is very near and vandalism is a concern to him.

Thanks for your help.

Ben

 

[oksigns]

If you are going to be the installer, work directly with the manufacturer or a distributor you trust.

The frequent things that can happen are bad bulbs, dead logic boards/misc hardware failure, and lightening strike issues(friend wireless antennas). Otherwise there are decent solutions out there. Daktronics and Optec are popular around me.

 

[Graphic Destruction]

Vantage LED is a great company to work with.
Beware of the cheap Chinese companies,

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Vantage LED is a great company to work with.
Beware of the cheap Chinese companies,

This, a thousand times over. Five years ago, the company I worked for at the time agreed to fabricate a rather large message center using components that the customer provided- which, of course, were Chinese made. (Yes, agreeing to do the job was the first mistake.)
Amongst the problems:
- All the instruction manuals were in Chinese. Everyone in the shop who could read, read English.
- We're on the East Coast of the US. That means every time we had to call for help (which was a lot), we had to account for the 12 hour time differential. Oh, and the language barrier, of course.
- Problem parts required weeks to replace.

I'd suggest a company that has a rep near you so you can get service/assistance (when needed). Optec, Advantage, Daktronics, Vision are all pretty reputable suppliers.