Employee photo directory display: sizing the grid

The answer

At a 10 ft read distance, plan name capitals of 0.4 in. On a 21.5-inch class panel at 1920 x 1080, that is 40 px, and the grid that holds is 4 columns by 5 rows: 20 cards, each 480 x 216 px. Give every card a 4:5 portrait photo about 120 x 150 px and a name line at 40 px capitals, which is a 56 px font. A reader at 10 ft reads it comfortably; a reader out at 12 ft is still at the minimum. Past about 30 cards per slide, keep 20 per slide and let the show move on to the next page.

Two setup details matter as much as the grid. Build every page at exactly the panel's pixel size, 1920 x 1080 here: a canvas that does not match the screen is why a show lands in one corner of the screen. And lay the columns across the long edge of a landscape mount; a portrait mount swaps the numbers, 1080 across and 1920 down.

The basics behind that 0.4 in figure, viewing distance and letter height, are in the guide to choosing a screen size.

What decides the grid

Work through four inputs in this order.

Distance. The FHWA planning figure for signs is 30 ft of viewing distance per inch of capital letter height; 20 ft per inch is the safer figure for fast reading. Divide your distance by 30 for the minimum height. At 10 ft that minimum is 0.33 in, and this article plans 0.4 in, which keeps margin below the 0.5 in fast-read height without costing cards.

Headcount. Cards per slide equals columns x rows, and every card has to keep the capital height from the distance step. That is what caps the grid near 30 cards per slide on a 21.5-inch class panel. A few hundred employees is still one screen: the roster becomes slides of 20, not smaller names.

Card contents. A job title under the name adds about 30 px of row height. The row grows from 216 px to about 246 px, 1080 divided by 246 allows 4 rows, and the same panel holds 4 x 4, 16 cards.

Turnover. If people join and leave every month, the update path matters more than one extra row of cards; it is covered under Keeping the roster current.

Grid options on one 1920 x 1080 panel

On a 21.5-inch class panel at 1920 x 1080, about 102 px per inch, the sensible grids are:

Reads-from is the FHWA minimum, capital height in inches x 30 ft per inch. The 3 x 4 row leaves room for a job title under every name and suits a wide lobby where people read from across the room. The 6 x 8 row fits a reception desk monitor read from an arm's length away; on a lobby wall, names that small stop working.

Letter height scales with the diagonal. Double the diagonal at the same 1920 x 1080 and every read distance in the table doubles: the same 4 x 5 grid on a 43-inch class panel reads to about 23 ft. Stepping up the panel is usually the better move than crowding more cards onto a small one.

Recommendation: Plan 4 columns by 5 rows, 20 photo cards of 480 x 216 px with 40 px capitals (about 0.4 in), on a 1920 x 1080 panel read from 10 ft. When the roster passes about 30 people per slide, keep the letter size and split the names across slides of 20. When the reading distance passes 12 ft, step up the panel diagonal.

Example: 20 people on a 1920 x 1080 panel read from 10 ft

Inputs. Roster: 20 people, the per-slide batch this article plans around. Reading distance: 10 ft, a lobby spot a few steps from the screen. Panel: 21.5-inch class, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels, a standard commercial size. Rule basis: the FHWA planning figure of 30 ft of viewing distance per inch of capital letter height, with 20 ft per inch as the fast-reading figure.

The rule in words. Capitals needed = reading distance divided by 30 ft per inch. The grid divides 1920 across by the columns and 1080 down by the rows, then each card is checked against that capital height.

Arithmetic. Pixels per inch: the diagonal in pixels is the square root of (1920 squared + 1080 squared) = the square root of 4,852,800 = 2203 px, and 2203 divided by 21.5 in = 102 px per inch.

Capitals: 0.4 in x 102 px per inch = 41 px, so the name line is set at 40 px capitals, a 56 px font, because capitals run about 70 percent of font size in most sans fonts. Grid: 20 cards split 4 columns x 5 rows, so 1920 divided by 4 = 480 px card width and 1080 divided by 5 = 216 px card height.

Vertical fit: 8 px top padding + 150 px photo + 8 px gap + 50 px name band = 216 px, with the photo cropped 4:5 at 120 x 150 px. Horizontal fit: 480 px minus 16 px of padding each side leaves 448 px; a 56 px font averages about 28 px per character for a mixed-case name, and 448 divided by 28 = 16 characters, so first name plus last name fits one line and longer names wrap.

Result. 20 cards of 480 x 216 px, names readable from 12 ft (0.4 in x 30 ft per inch = 12 ft) and comfortable at the planned 10 ft.

Decision. One panel carries the batch at this distance: 4 x 5 per slide, nothing smaller. The threshold to watch is cards per slide. Above about 30, the capitals drop under what 10 ft needs (32 px is about 0.3 in, and 0.3 x 30 = 9 ft), so the roster moves to slides of 20 and the show advances.

When one screen is not enough

Three moves, in the order to try them.

Paginate. Slides of 20 with the show advancing cover any headcount. When one person changes, one page changes; the other pages stand as they are.

Go bigger. Letter height scales with the panel diagonal, so a larger panel shows more cards at the same read distance. Our panel-mount series runs 10.1 to 23.8 inches, and larger wall models through 75 inches are quoted for the project, with resolution, orientation, software, power, rating and warranty confirmed in the quote.

Split. Two screens side by side, one batch on each, read as one directory and double the cards at full letter height. Sizes and cut-out dimensions for the panel-mount models are on the panel-mount display category page.

One case needs a different design: visitors who search for a name. That is a touch kiosk running interactive software, and sizing a touch wayfinding kiosk screen is its own question.

Build the show in IMD Signage Studio

The pages turn into a show in IMD Signage Studio, our free Windows app: no subscription and no account, on Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.

1. Start a show; it asks three picture questions to begin.
2. Lay out one 1920 x 1080 page per batch of 20 in any design tool, saved as JPG or PNG, or make one PDF with one 16:9 page per batch; each PDF page becomes a slide, up to 200 pages. iPhone HEIC photos are converted to JPG on the way in.
3. Add the files as slides and set how long each page stays on screen.
4. Use "Watch it" to play the show with its real timings, then read a few names from the real distance before anything goes on the wall.
5. Write the show to a memory card or USB stick for an offline screen, or send it over the internet to screens that check for a new show every 2 minutes. It makes shows for IMD Signage displays running IMD Signage Player 1.1.0 or newer.

Keeping the roster current

Give the directory one owner and one page file per batch of 20. A new hire is an edit to one page and a resend of the show; a leaver is the same in reverse. Nobody opens anything on the screen, and no page is redesigned each time.

Pick the delivery to match the wall. A card or USB stick runs the screen with no network at all, and the write step reads every file back and checks it before the card is made safe to take out. The internet path reaches screens you cannot walk to: each screen looks for a new show every 2 minutes, and the free online service allows 25 screens, 200 MB of files in all, one file up to 25 MB.

For a screen set flush into a lobby wall or reception desk, the lobby and reception displays are made for flush cut-outs in portrait or landscape, play offline from a card, and carry no subscription.

What to ask for

Take these numbers to the quote:

• Headcount and turnover: people on the roster, and how many join or leave in a month.
• Farthest reading distance in ft. It sets the capital height and picks the grid row from the table.
• Panel diagonal and resolution. Pixels per inch = diagonal pixels divided by diagonal inches; for this article's panel, 2203 divided by 21.5 = 102. Every letter height scales with it.
• Orientation: landscape or portrait. Portrait turns the canvas to 1080 across and 1920 down, so divide 1080 by the columns.
• Brightness: a lobby with full-height glass is brighter than an inside corridor; ask which brightness options the model offers.
• Mounting: flush cut-out or on-wall, and what the wall is made of. A screen hung where people pass underneath mounts into the building structure, not into drywall alone.
• Terms: on the panel-mount series the page prints built to order, about 2 weeks, and the 3-year parts and labor warranty, with returns within 90 days of delivery on standard configurations. For a larger wall model, have all of that confirmed in the quote.

Questions