LED writing boards in Dubai

What an LED writing board is

An LED writing board is a clear acrylic or glass panel in a slim frame with LED lights hidden along its edges. You write on it with fluorescent liquid chalk markers, and the writing glows in colour against a dark background. A damp cloth wipes it clean. Sizes run from about 25 × 30 cm to 70 × 90 cm.

It's sold under many names: illuminated writing board, LED message board, fluorescent writing board, glowing writing board, erasable LED board, neon writing board and LED menu board. They're all the same product.

What comes with one:

• The board: a clear writing face over a black backing, in an aluminium or plastic frame.
• Lights: a strip of colour-changing LEDs inside the frame.
• A controller: a button on the frame or a small remote, to change colour, mode and brightness.
• A power adapter that plugs into a wall socket.
• Markers, usually a set of six or eight colours.
• A cloth for wiping.
• Chains or brackets for hanging.

What it's good at:

• A short message that changes often. Today's special, this week's offer, a welcome, a price.
• Catching the eye in a dim room. A glowing handwritten board in a café or bar gets noticed.
• A personal look. Handwriting says someone here wrote this today.
• Costing very little to buy and nothing to update.

What it isn't:

• A screen. It shows only what you write.
• A daylight sign. In direct sun the glow disappears.
• A long menu. Forty items in marker pen is unreadable.
• An LCD writing tablet. Those are small grey drawing pads for children and notes, sold under a similar name. They don't light up and aren't signs.

How it works, and why that matters

The LEDs shine into the edge of the clear panel, and the light travels inside it, trapped between its two faces. Where fluorescent ink sits on the surface, the light escapes into the ink and makes it glow. The rest of the panel stays clear, so you see only the black backing behind it.

That one fact explains nearly everything about using the board well.

• Only the ink glows. The board itself adds no light to the room and has no lit background. A message with thin strokes gives a faint glow, and one with thick, solid strokes gives a strong one.
• Fluorescent ink is needed. Ordinary whiteboard markers and pale chalk markers sit on the surface but don't glow much. Fluorescent liquid chalk markers are made to react to the light.
• Scratches glow too. A scratch on the face lets light out just as ink does, and shows as a bright line forever. So the face must be cleaned gently.
• Smears glow. A greasy film or half-wiped ink lights up as a haze. A clean board has a deep black background, and a dirty one looks grey and tired.
• Brightness falls towards the centre on large boards, because the light enters from the edges. Good boards have lights on all four sides. Cheap ones light two sides and leave the middle dim.
• It can't beat the sun. The glow is modest. In a dim room it's vivid. Next to a bright window it's weak, and in direct sunlight you see ordinary marker pen on a dark board.
• The black backing matters. A clear board with no backing, hung in a window, shows whatever's behind it and loses contrast. Double-sided boards have a black layer in the middle.

Sizes and how to choose one

Choose the size from how far away people read it and how many lines you need. A board about 40 × 60 cm carries a headline and three or four lines, readable from 5 or 6 metres. A board of 60 × 80 cm carries a headline and six to eight lines, or a short message in letters large enough to read across a shop.

The sizes follow those listed by suppliers, which run from 10 × 12 inches to 23 × 33 inches at one (Anything Display) and to 24 × 32 inches at another (Displays2go).

How to work it out

1. Measure the distance from where the board will hang to where people will read it.
2. Find the letter height. A common sign rule is about 2.5 cm of letter height for every 3 metres. Handwriting is less even than print, so allow more: 3 cm at 3 metres, 5 cm at 5 metres, 8 cm at 8 metres.
3. Count your lines. Each line needs its letter height plus about half again as a gap. A line of 5 cm letters takes about 8 cm.
4. Add a margin of 3 to 4 cm all round, where the light is strongest and writing looks crowded.
5. Pick the board. A 60 × 80 cm board used upright has about 72 cm of writing height, which is nine lines at 5 cm, or six at 8 cm.

Upright or wide?

• Upright suits lists: specials, prices, a short menu.
• Wide suits a single message: a welcome, an offer, a name.
• Most boards hang either way. Check that the hanging points and the cable exit allow it.

When one board isn't enough

Two boards side by side, one for food and one for drinks, read better than one crowded board. If the list keeps growing, the answer is a printed or digital menu and a small board for the specials.

Types: hanging, standing, double-sided and custom

LED writing boards come as wall or chain-hung boards, tabletop boards on a small stand, floor-standing boards on an easel or A-frame, and double-sided boards for windows and ceilings. We also make custom boards to size in our workshop, with a logo or fixed heading engraved into the panel so it glows permanently.

Ready-made boards

Standard sizes, a black frame, colour-changing lights, a remote and a set of markers. In stock, and the lowest price.

Custom boards made in our workshop

• Your size. To fit a niche, a pillar, a window bay or the space above a counter.
• Your logo, engraved. Engraving cuts fine lines into the back of the panel, which catch the edge light and glow like the ink. The logo and a heading such as "Today's specials" are lit permanently, and you write beneath them.
• Printed panels. A logo or a border printed on the panel, with the centre left clear for writing.
• Fixed sections. A layout with printed item names and blank spaces for prices, so only the prices are rewritten.
• Frame colour and finish to match the shop: black, white, gold, wood-effect.
• Sets for a chain, all alike.

Stand and A-frame versions

An A-frame writing board at the door does the job of a chalkboard pavement sign, lit. It needs power from a cable or a battery pack, and on a public pavement it needs permission like any other sign. See the A-board section of our LED poster displays page.

Double-sided hanging boards

A board in a window is read from both sides, and writing on a single clear panel reads backwards from behind. A double-sided board has two faces and a black core, so each side carries its own message, such as "Open" facing out and the specials facing in. For a ready-made lit "Open", see open signs.

Acrylic or glass

• Acrylic is light, safe and the standard. It scratches if cleaned roughly.
• Toughened glass is harder and resists scratches, stays clearer for years, and suits boards rewritten daily. It's heavier and costs more.

Lights, colours and flashing modes

The LEDs in the frame can show one colour or change through several, hold steady, fade slowly, or flash. Suppliers list 7 to 13 colours and from 4 to nearly 50 flashing modes, with about five brightness levels on better boards. A steady light in one colour is what most businesses should use.

• Colours. One supplier lists 7 LED colours and 12 flash modes on a single button. Another lists 12 colours, 4 flashing modes and 5 brightness levels on a remote (GlowSource).
• The light's colour changes how the ink looks. White light shows each marker in its own colour. A single coloured light tints everything towards that colour: under blue light, most inks glow bluish.
• Use white or a slow colour cycle to keep a multi-colour design looking as you drew it.
• Steady, fade or flash. Steady is easiest to read. A slow fade draws the eye without annoying anyone. Fast flashing gets attention for a moment and makes the text harder to read.
• Brightness. Turn it down in a dark room. A board at full power in a dim restaurant glares.
• Memory. A good board remembers its setting when switched off at the wall. A poor one restarts in a flashing demo mode each morning.
• Remote or button. A remote is convenient until it's lost. A button on the frame is always there.

A word on flashing

• In a shop window, flashing lights can irritate neighbours and, on a street front, may fall foul of a landlord's or the municipality's rules on flashing signs. Steady is safe.
• In schools, clinics and sensory rooms, avoid fast flashing altogether. Flashing lights can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy.
• In a bar or at an event, a slow colour change adds to the mood.

Power: mains, battery and USB

Most LED writing boards run from a small plug-in adapter and use only a few watts, less than a light bulb. Some run from a USB socket or a rechargeable battery pack, which lets a board stand on a table, an easel or a pavement with no cable. We supply battery packs for boards used away from a socket.

• Mains adapter. The standard. A low-voltage adapter plugs into a wall socket and a thin cable runs to the frame.
• The cable. It's the untidy part. Plan where it runs: behind the board, down a corner, into a socket at the same height. For a wall board we can fit a socket behind it so no cable shows.
• USB. Smaller boards run from a USB port or a power bank.
• Battery pack. A rechargeable pack clips behind the board or sits in the A-frame. One supplier sells a rechargeable pack as an extra for its boards.
• How long a battery lasts depends on the board's size, brightness and mode. Ask for the hours at the brightness you'll use, and plan to charge it overnight.
• Battery boards are dimmer on their low-power setting. Check it's bright enough.
• Timers. A plug-in timer switches a mains board on at opening and off at closing.
• Safety. The board itself runs at low voltage. Keep the adapter and its socket away from water, and don't use an indoor adapter outside.

Hanging and fitting

• On a wall: two screws into plugs, level, at eye height. The centre of the board at about 1.5 to 1.6 metres suits standing readers.
• On chains: two hooks into something solid. A suspended ceiling tile won't hold a board.
• In a window: hung from the frame or ceiling, 10 cm or more back from the glass so the heat of the sun on the pane doesn't reach it.
• On an easel: stable, on a level floor, out of the way of doors.
• We install wall and ceiling boards, with the power point, if you'd like it done for you.

How to write a board people can read

A readable board has few words, large letters, thick strokes and one or two colours. Aim for a headline and three to six lines, letters at least 3 cm tall for every 3 metres of reading distance, and strokes drawn with a broad marker tip. Most bad boards have too many words written too small.

Before you write

1. Decide the one thing the board is for. A special, an offer, a welcome.
2. Cut the words. "Fresh mango juice AED 15" beats a sentence about it.
3. Sketch it on paper in the board's shape, so the lines fit.
4. Mark light guidelines with a ruler and a single dot at each line end, or lay a strip of masking tape as a baseline and peel it off after.
5. Clean the board completely. Old haze glows behind new writing.

Letters

• Thick strokes glow more. The light comes out through the ink, so a broad line is brighter than a thin one. Use the widest tip that suits the letter size, and go over thin letters twice.
• Capitals for headlines, lower case for lines. Lower case is quicker to read in a list.
• Plain letters. Fancy script looks lovely up close and can't be read from the door.
• Space between lines, at least half the letter height.
• Space at the edges. Keep writing 3 to 4 cm inside the frame.

Colour

• Two colours are enough. One for headings, one for the rest. A third for prices if you like.
• The brightest inks on most boards are white, yellow, green, orange and pink. Blue and purple are dimmer, and red can look dull. Test your set on a corner.
• Prices in one colour throughout, so the eye finds them.
• Fill shapes, don't outline them. A filled star glows. An outlined one barely shows.

Layout

• Headline at the top, the largest thing on the board.
• Items left, prices right, in a column. In Arabic, the reverse.
• A simple border or underline frames the board and takes thirty seconds.
• One drawing at most. A coffee cup, a chilli, a leaf. Small, in a corner.
• Leave empty space. A half-full board is read. A full one isn't.

Arabic and English

• Arabic on the right, English on the left, or Arabic above and English below, each at the same size.
• Arabic needs a broad, flat-tipped marker for its thick and thin strokes. A chisel tip gives a better line than a round one.
• If space is short, make two boards, one in each language, and hang them together.

If you'd like it done for you

We offer hand-lettered artwork: we write or draw the first design on your board, headings, borders and logo included, so your staff only change the lines that change. A photograph of it makes a template for next time.

Markers: which ones work

Use fluorescent liquid chalk markers, also sold as neon or wet-erase markers. They're water-based, glow under the board's light and wipe off with a damp cloth. Don't use permanent markers, paint pens or ordinary dry-erase whiteboard markers. We sell markers and refills with the board and separately.

• Shake, then prime. Shake the marker with the cap on, then press the tip on scrap paper until the ink flows. Not on the board, where a blob will land.
• Let it dry. The ink takes a minute or two and brightens as it dries. Don't touch it wet.
• Tip sizes. A 6 mm tip for most writing, a 10 or 15 mm tip for headlines, a 3 mm tip for small boards and detail. Many tips are reversible, round one end and chisel the other.
• Store them flat, capped tightly. In Dubai's heat, a marker left uncapped is dry by the afternoon.
• Dry tips can often be revived by rinsing the tip in water and priming again.
• Buy good ones. Cheap markers give pale lines and are harder to clean. A marker maker's guide blames poor-quality markers for most cleaning trouble (Uchida).
• Keep spares. White and yellow run out first.
• Test a new brand on a corner and wipe it off the next day before trusting it with a whole board.

Cleaning, ghosting and care

Wipe the board with a damp, soft cloth, then dry it with a clean one. For marks that won't shift, use a little water with white vinegar. Never use alcohol, glass cleaner with ammonia, solvents or abrasive pads on an acrylic board: they cloud or scratch the face, and the damage glows.

Everyday cleaning

1. Switch the board off, so you can see what's ink and what's light.
2. Wipe with a damp microfibre cloth, in straight strokes. The ink softens in a few seconds.
3. Rinse the cloth and wipe again. A dirty cloth spreads a film.
4. Dry with a second, clean cloth.
5. Switch on and check. Any haze you've left will show at once.

Ghosting

Ghosting is the faint shadow of old writing that stays after wiping. It builds up when ink is left on for weeks, when cheap markers are used, or when the board is wiped with a dirty cloth.

• Change the message often. Ink that's been on for a month is far harder to remove than ink from yesterday. The marker maker's guide notes that ghosting is common where marker has been left on for a long time.
• Vinegar and water. The same guide suggests starting with 70% water and 30% vinegar, and strengthening it if needed. Leave it on the mark for a minute, then wipe.
• Let cleaner soak. A chalk-marker maker advises leaving cleaner on the ink for 20 to 30 seconds before wiping, so it lifts and doesn't smear (VersaChalk).
• A melamine sponge, dampened, with light pressure, as a last resort. It's a very fine abrasive. On glass it's harmless. On acrylic, heavy or frequent use dulls the surface.
• Deep clean monthly if the board is rewritten daily.

What damages the board

• Alcohol, acetone, thinners and ammonia glass cleaner attack acrylic. It clouds, and fine cracks appear that glow under the light.
• Paper towels and rough cloths leave fine scratches. Use microfibre.
• Scouring pads and scrapers. Never.
• A dry wipe drags dried ink across the surface like grit.
• Heat. A board in a sun-facing window bakes the ink on and can warp the panel.
• Water in the frame. Wring the cloth out. Don't spray the board so that water runs into the bottom edge where the lights are.
• Leaning things against it.

If the face is scratched

Light scratches on acrylic can be polished out with acrylic polish. Deep ones can't, and the panel has to be replaced. On our custom boards, we replace the panel and keep the frame and lights.

How long a board lasts

The LEDs last for years. What wears out is the writing face, the adapter and the remote. A board that's cleaned gently and kept out of the sun lasts a long time, and a glass-faced one lasts longest.

Where it works and where it doesn't

An LED writing board works indoors in ordinary or low light, where the glow stands out: cafés, restaurants, bars, salons, shops and events. It works in a shaded window after dark. It doesn't work in direct sunlight, and it isn't made to live outdoors in Dubai's heat, dust and humidity.

• Daylight. By day the board still reads as coloured writing on black, like a chalkboard. The glow returns as the light drops. For a café that's busy in the evening, that's fine.
• Outdoors. Standard boards aren't sealed against rain, dust or humidity. Use them at a sheltered entrance and take them in at closing.
• Heat. Don't leave a board in a closed car or against sunlit glass.
• Condensation. A cold, air-conditioned shop and a humid doorway make a board mist over. Wipe it dry.
• Wind. An A-frame board needs weight at its feet.
• For a sign that must work in full sun, a lit box with a printed face or an LED screen is the right choice. See light box signs.

Uses: restaurants, shops, events and teaching

LED writing boards are used wherever a short handwritten message needs to stand out and change often: daily specials in restaurants and cafés, offers in shops and salons, welcome boards at events and weddings, and as glowing drawing boards in classrooms and sensory rooms. Each use wants a different size and set-up.

Restaurants and cafés

• Specials of the day, soup, catch, dessert. Four to six lines on a 60 × 80 cm board.
• Juice bars and cafeterias, where prices change and a printed menu can't keep up.
• Behind the bar: cocktails or the mocktail of the week.
• At the door, on an easel or A-frame, to bring people in.
• On the buffet, small tabletop boards naming each dish, with allergens.
• Keep the full menu elsewhere. The board is for what's new today. For the whole menu, see digital menu boards.

Shops, salons and services

• Offers and new arrivals by the entrance or at the till.
• Salons and barbers: today's offer, the price list's headline items, "walk-ins welcome".
• Phone and repair shops, tailors, laundries: turnaround times and prices.
• Pharmacies and clinics: opening hours, the doctor on duty.
• Groceries and bakeries: fresh today, and the price.
• Gyms and studios: class times, the workout of the day.

Events and weddings

• Welcome boards with names and a date, on an easel.
• Seating and order-of-day boards.
• Exhibition counters: a show offer, changed daily.
• Market stalls and pop-ups, on a battery pack.
• Guest message boards, where guests write on the board themselves.

Offices and homes

• Reception: welcome a named visitor.
• Team boards: targets, wins, the day's priorities.
• At home: a family message board, a child's drawing board, a party sign.

Teaching and sensory rooms

• Classrooms and tuition centres use small boards for spelling, sums and drawing, where a glowing answer holds attention.
• Sensory rooms use illuminated boards for mark-making in low light, which helps some children engage with writing and drawing.
• For children, choose rounded corners, an acrylic face, a low-voltage or battery supply, and non-toxic water-based markers.
• Use a steady light. Avoid flashing modes around anyone who may be sensitive to them.
• Tabletop size, 25 × 30 or 30 × 40 cm, so a child can reach all of it.

Writing board, chalkboard, light box or screen?

Choose an LED writing board for a short handwritten message that changes often, in a dim or ordinary room. Choose a chalkboard for the same job with no power. Choose a light box for a fixed design that must look printed. Choose a scrolling LED board for text seen from the street, and a screen for a full menu with pictures.

In practice

• The handwriting is the point. If nobody on your staff writes neatly, a writing board will always look poor. Choose something typed.
• A writing board and a printed menu work well together: the menu is fixed, the board is today.
• A writing board in the window by day disappoints. Use a light box or an LED scrolling message board.
• For a lit handwritten look that's permanent, a neon sign of your own lettering does it properly.
• A custom board with an engraved logo sits between the two: the brand is permanent and the message is yours to change.

What they cost

LED writing boards are inexpensive. Online suppliers list ready-made boards from about US$40 for a basic 40 × 60 cm board to about US$240 to 300 for a framed 60 × 80 cm board with wall or ceiling fittings. Custom boards with an engraved logo cost more, and markers, battery packs and stands are extras.

These are US prices, before shipping. The spread between the cheapest and dearest boards of the same size is the frame, the evenness of the light and the quality of the face.

Our own prices:

Prices are quoted excluding VAT. Delivery in Dubai is free on orders over AED 300, and AED 25 below that.

What moves the price

• Size.
• The frame: plastic, or aluminium.
• The face: acrylic, or toughened glass.
• Lights on two sides or four.
• Single or double-sided.
• Custom size and engraving.
• Quantity. A set for a chain costs less each.

Mistakes to avoid

Most disappointment with LED writing boards comes from where the board is put and what's written on it. The board itself rarely fails.

1. Hanging it in a sunny window and expecting it to glow at noon.
2. Buying too small for the distance.
3. Writing too much.
4. Thin letters from a fine-tipped marker.
5. Six colours on one board.
6. The wrong markers: permanent, paint or dry-erase.
7. Cleaning with alcohol or glass spray, which clouds acrylic.
8. Wiping with a dry or dirty cloth.
9. Leaving the same message for months, so it ghosts.
10. Fast flashing that makes the text unreadable and the neighbours cross.
11. A cable trailing across a walkway.
12. A board with lights on two sides only, dim in the middle.
13. Leaving it outside overnight.
14. Expecting it to replace a menu.