Compression can be done to different levels.
A little almost imperceptible, or a lot gets ugly.
Like MP3 files at 320kbps vs 128bps.
Yesterday there was an article on my MSN home page supposedly explaining why road signs are different shapes, It was terrible but contained this link,
They are playing all kinds of tricks now to maximize bandwidth and even use less sophisticated electronics to achieve acceptable results. Things that could never have been done before the digitization of the signal information. I did read about a technique like you describe having to do with how human eye-brain perceives motion and taking advantage of limitations to reduce computational load.
Now that you brought up electronic signs, does anyone else see their proliferation as a little hazardous? I noticed a lot of them have two or three lines of text on them so when you are going 70 plus mph, trying to read the dang things takes too much time away from watching the road and other cars. I think they should be limited to 3-5 words and for real information, not just catchy little notices. I just think they spend so much money on these that the computer folks in the DOTs just love to put their little notices on.
1 Like
The part I find hazardous is the brightness of some of them. I can ignore reading them, unless they are so bright as to be blinding, especially at night. The electronic billboards are not as bad as some of the business signs along the road. FWIW, I am not interested in your current mortgage rate but I would like my retina backā¦
1 Like
The business signs are terribly bright and distracting!
4 Likes
Personally, I have a bigger issue with electronic billboards. While they tend to be somewhat distracting when they display only ads in rotation, there is one on I-287 that periodically displays an FBI āWanted Posterā with a photo of the perp, as well as a lot of verbiage. The only way to read all of that text would require taking your eyes away from the task of driving for an extended period of time.
Got those in your neck of the woods, @common_sense_answer?
I do not mind the led signs, or roadside attractions, like a cream city brick house that I cannot help to look at while driving by, maybe a cool old tractor or any number of possible diversions, and I have to keep my eyes on the road for any possible danger. I guess I have mixed it well enough to survive this long, friday night song, Morrison,
There was a real estate electronic billboard on 101A in Nashua, NH some years back that was so bright it was blinding drivers. It isnāt there anymore. Iāve since learned that some municipalities have established statutory limits on the allowable brightness of these billboards.
1 Like
In plan review we have a billboard company that wants to upgrade posted paper to LED billboards, that was not even a question I thought to ask I have not heard of the issue but will have to research it further, thanks!
Just saying the official DOT signs should only be 3-5 words instead of 3 -5 lines that you can see and read in an instant without being distracted from the road. Billboards are optional for reading but when they have the information signs that supposedly have important messages, they should be short not āup to 10,000 dollar fine for speeding in a work zoneā or ā10 minutes to such and such, and 7 minutes to E25th, and 15 minutes to beltway, etc.ā Too much going 70 mph.
I actually appreciate the electronic signs saying ātime to 290 > 20 minutesā when I drive to Austin on South I-35. Itās code for ātake an alternate routeā. (Toll 45 to Toll 130)
I had to drive by the aforementioned billboard every day on my way to work. I had to look away while driving by, as if I were dealing with highbeams from an oncoming car. Coworkers all felt the same way.
1 Like
Bright LED signs? No!
However, it gets really dark here. Driving down the road, you can see thousands of stars and gets pitch black and Iāll tell you somethingā¦
ā¦ earlier this year or last year, a sheriff deputy had a car stopped on one of our country roads in the middle of nowhere. I could see him from a mile or two away. He had those bright LED red and blue flashers on and I couldnāt see well enough to safely drive around him.
The dark sky and bright lights create a dangerous situation. The lights are nice, but actually too bright at night. 
CSA
1 Like
Iāve had the same experience numerous times. Itās especially bad when they have a car stopped in the oncoming lane and they have their flashing & alternating highbeams going too along with their spotlights.
1 Like
Just in case you know from your previous experiences, is there some info on what limits others have proposed on led billboard standards?
If you think those LED signs are hard on drivers, try living near one. People who live near them complain that itās like daylight all night long.
1 Like
That is why I am asking, ie to propose lumens or whatever light intensity standard is acceptable.
1 Like