Watchfire Signs Setting the Standard for LED Design and Innovation

Posted on November 14, 2023 by Design in Design Innovation | 0 Comments

Watchfire Signs is an industry leading domestic manufacturer of digital displays. Headquartered in Vermilion County in Danville, Watchfire has been an innovative leader in the electronic sign business since 1932. The company’s 140,000 square foot facility allows Watchfire to build some of the largest digital displays in the world. Watchfire designs and manufactures high resolution LED signs, custom indoor video displays, digital billboard products, and outdoor sports displays.

Watchfire has manufactured outdoor electric signs since 1932 and LED signs since 1998. The company has more than 60,000 Watchfire LED signs in operation worldwide and

has more digital billboard customers in the U.S. than any other manufacturer.

Two major national projects recently undertaken by Watchfire include the rebuilding of the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas and construction of a 36-foot by 24-foot digital billboard that was placed in Times Square in New York City. The Fremont Street Experience includes the largest single video screen in the world, with Watchfire being selected from among 15 digital screen manufacturers around the world to completely rebuild the canopy. The Fremont Street Experience attracts more than 20 million visitors annually and is adjacent to 10 casinos and more than 60 restaurants. The spectacular digital canopy and entertainment destination is 1,500 feet long and is suspended 90 feet above a pedestrian mall.

This $30 million project was completed in 2019 and delivered a screen that was seven times brighter and four times sharper than the original. The project’s scale included 130,000 square feet of digital signage, 16.3 million pixels, 49 million LEDs and 64,000 custom-designed 27 mm modules. The large digital billboard in Times Square was installed in 2020 and was the first to offer programmatic advertising, which is automated buying and selling of digital advertising.

Organizations from every industry have found success using Watchfire’s digital signage. Clients have included churches, hospitals, schools, car washes, convenience stores, banks, shopping centers, restaurants, theaters, casinos, hotels, and sports arenas. Watchfire’s design teams are constantly adapting to changing market conditions and supply challenges. The facility in Danville offers a modern and stable manufacturing platform with the ability to scale. Watchfire continues to supply products to over 1,500 loyal sign companies and more billboard operators than any other manufacturer.

“Watchfire has revolutionized the digital sign making industry,” stated Rep. Mike Marron (R-Fithian). “Their facility in Danville is state-of-the-art, with one-of-a-kind products being delivered all over the world. Watchfire offers a perfect model for how a business in Illinois should operate, and it also shows how high of a ceiling can be achieved through hard work and innovation.”

Photo credit: Watchfire Signs website