Electronic signs and boards - photos

superpippo

superpippo

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Alan
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Recently I was taking shots on a railway station and notices that the boards often had words messed up and then taking shots of tram found the same thing. Example below (cropped to show direction sign) - Destination should be 'Starr Gate'

Any ideas why this ocurs and how to overcome? Is it something to do with the flicker of the lights/refresh rate? My theory is that it gets better the slower the shutter speed.


DSC_3655 by Superpippo0547, on Flickr
 
The sign is made up of a constantly moving image (like an old TV) so the full words never exist.
If you use a slower shutter speed you'll see the whole sign, but the tram might show signs of movement.
 
Thanks Phil.

I suspected that because of the old tv's having a refresh sysyem but thought that technology had got over that. That would explain why when I have shot the trams in the November illuminations the signs seem ok but the trams are blurred :bang: Slow shutter speed

It was comforting to see similar shots in a commercial photographer's window that showed the same effect of morse code display!
 
Nope.. dot matrix LED signs scan from top to bottom.. that's what if you ever see one that scrolls the letters from left to right, the letters seem to lean over a little.
 
You could try (shutter speed fast enough of course) multiple exposure then layer the images and combine to have the whole display visible?
 
I think the best thing you can do is just bring a tripod and lower the shutterspeed until you get a decent pic :)
 
I think you should concentrate on getting a decent pic of the tram / bus / train. a slow enough shutter to get the sign correct may mean the picture is only for for the bin. At which point where's the use in being able to read the sign?
 
Phil V said:
I think you should concentrate on getting a decent pic of the tram / bus / train. a slow enough shutter to get the sign correct may mean the picture is only for for the bin. At which point where's the use in being able to read the sign?
Click to expand...

I only wanted to know because for a specific shot I wanted the destination to show. Also on train platforms the signs in any background look a bit odd when they come out as dots and dashes.. No big deal tho so thanks for all the advice.
 
superpippo said:
I only wanted to know because for a specific shot I wanted the destination to show. Also on train platforms the signs in any background look a bit odd when they come out as dots and dashes.. No big deal tho so thanks for all the advice.
Click to expand...

It might have to be a composite job then.
 
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