Digital Signage Image and Video Specs: The Complete File Format Guide (2026)
The right resolution, aspect ratio, video format, and file size for digital signage — a quick-reference table plus the mistakes that make content look blurry or stretched.
A menu board photo that looks crisp on a laptop can turn into a blurry, stretched mess the moment it hits a 55-inch TV. It's the single most common complaint from venue owners setting up their first screen — and almost always, the content wasn't wrong, it was just sized for the wrong screen.
Digital signage has different rules than social media or print. A screen sits 6-15 feet away, runs for 8-12 hours a day, and gets seen by people walking past, not scrolling close-up. Getting the specs right the first time saves you from re-exporting everything after your screen goes live.
Here's the reference most venues actually need.
Quick-reference: image and video specs
| Images | Video | |
|---|---|---|
| File format | JPG or PNG | MP4 (H.264) |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 (Full HD) | 1920×1080, 30fps |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 landscape (9:16 for portrait screens) | Same — match your screen orientation |
| File size | Under 5MB | Under 100MB |
| Color mode | RGB (not CMYK) | RGB |
| Length | N/A (set duration in your playlist) | 10-30 seconds works best on a loop |
If you remember nothing else: export at 1920×1080, in RGB, as a 16:9 landscape image or an MP4 video, and keep video files under 100MB. That covers the overwhelming majority of signage screens in the field today.
Resolution: why 1920×1080 is the sweet spot
Most commercial and consumer TVs running signage today are 1080p or 4K. It's tempting to think 4K content is always better, but for a screen viewed from across a room, 1080p (1920×1080 pixels) looks indistinguishable from 4K to the human eye — and it uploads faster, plays back more reliably on budget players, and takes less storage in your media library.
The mistake to avoid isn't under-shooting resolution — it's upscaling a low-resolution image to fill the frame. A 400×300 photo pulled off a website and stretched to fill a TV will look pixelated and unprofessional no matter how good the photo itself is. If you're not sure of a source image's resolution, right-click it and check its properties before uploading — if it's under about 1280×720, find a higher-resolution version or reshoot it.
Aspect ratio: match your screen, don't fight it
Aspect ratio mismatches are the other big culprit behind bad-looking signage. A square Instagram photo (1:1) forced onto a 16:9 landscape screen either gets stretched wide (distorted faces, warped logos) or padded with black bars on the sides (wasted screen space, looks unfinished).
- Landscape screens (the vast majority of signage installs): export at 16:9 — 1920×1080.
- Portrait/vertical screens (menu boards mounted tall, entryway displays): export at 9:16 — 1080×1920.
Design your content in the orientation your screen will actually run in. Cropping after the fact almost always cuts something important out of the frame.
File size: why smaller is usually better
Bigger files aren't automatically higher quality — they're often just poorly compressed. A well-exported 1080p JPG rarely needs to exceed 2-3MB, and a 20-second 1080p video compressed properly usually lands well under 30MB. Oversized files cause two real problems: slower uploads on venue wifi, and, on some budget players, choppier playback if the device has to decode a bloated file in real time.
The honest trade-off: if your venue has fast, reliable internet and a capable player, a slightly larger, higher-bitrate file will look marginally sharper — it's not wrong to go bigger. But for most small venues, compressing to a reasonable size (most phone and laptop editing apps do this automatically on export) costs nothing visible and avoids upload headaches. PiAds accepts uploads up to 100MB per file, which comfortably covers full-quality images and short-to-medium video without needing special compression software.
Common mistakes that make content look amateur
- Stretching instead of cropping. If your source image doesn't match your screen's aspect ratio, crop it — never stretch it to fill the frame.
- Screenshotting instead of exporting. A screenshot of a flyer or PDF is low-resolution and often the wrong aspect ratio. Export directly from the design tool instead.
- Tiny text. Even at the right resolution, text under about 36pt (roughly the size of a large headline) becomes unreadable from normal viewing distance. See our menu board readability guide for exact sizing rules.
- CMYK color files. Files exported for print (CMYK) can look washed out or shift color on a screen (RGB). Always export for "web" or "screen," not "print."
- Vertical phone video on a landscape screen. A video shot in portrait mode on a phone gets padded with huge black bars on a landscape TV. Rotate your phone before filming, or plan to crop in editing.
Where to build content that's already sized right
You don't need design software to hit these specs. Canva has free templates pre-sized at 1920×1080, which sidesteps the resolution and aspect ratio guesswork entirely — you fill in your own text and photos and export straight to the right dimensions. A phone camera shot in landscape, with decent lighting, is more than good enough for most signage content; it doesn't need to look like a commercial.
Once your content is exported, how it gets to the screen depends on your player. A Fire TV Stick is the most common and reliable option for a first screen, but PiAds also runs natively on Android, Raspberry Pi, and browser-based players if you're working with different hardware across locations — the file specs above apply the same way regardless of which device is actually running the loop.
This is also where a proper signage platform earns its keep over a folder of files on a USB stick: a real media library keeps every image and video organized, replaces itself automatically when you swap a slide, and — if you open up ad slots — handles local advertisers' creative the same way, all without you having to think about codecs. PiAds runs $10 per screen per month with every feature included and no contracts, and if you allow local ads, you keep 75% of every ad booking on your screen.
FAQ
What resolution should my digital signage images be? 1920×1080 pixels for landscape screens (1080×1920 for portrait/vertical). That matches virtually all signage displays in use today and looks sharp from normal viewing distance.
What video format works on the most players? MP4 with H.264 encoding is the safest, most widely supported format across Fire TV, Android, Raspberry Pi, and browser-based players.
Can I just use a phone photo? Yes, as long as it's shot in landscape (or portrait, matching your screen), well-lit, and not zoomed in digitally past the point of blur. Most modern phone cameras easily exceed 1920×1080.
Is there a maximum file size for uploads? On PiAds, uploads are supported up to 100MB per file — enough for full-quality images and most short-to-medium video without needing to compress manually.
Do I need different files for landscape vs. portrait screens? Yes. Content designed for one orientation looks distorted or heavily cropped on the other, so export separately for each screen orientation you run.
Ready to build a content library that's actually sized right? Start free with PiAds and get your first screen live today.