Sign process more complex than it looks

People who drive through Buffalo Grove may not appreciate the complex effort that sometimes goes into the installation of a sign.

Case in point: the new sign at the Cambridge Commons Shopping Center, where a Fresh Farms grocery store is opening.

Last week, the village board approved the sign, but only after enacting a host of restrictions on its digital display, which is “limited to a display of on-premises activity only, plus date, time, temperature, and community event information.”

But that isn't all.

The “(t)ransition from one message to another shall be instantaneous, without movement or other transition effects between messages.” Meanwhile, messages “including single and multiple lines of text, shall not change more frequently than once every 20 seconds.”

Also, there shall not be “any video, animation or moving pictures or simulate any movement or the optical illusion of movement of any part of the sign text, design or pictorial segment, including the movement of any illumination or the flashing or varying of light intensity.”

And if that's not enough the sign “shall be equipped with both a programmed dimming sequence as well as an additional overriding mechanical photocell that adjusts the brightness of the display to the ambient light at all times of day. Such programming and mechanical equipment shall be set so that the electronic message sign, at night or in overcast conditions, will be no more than 40 percent of the daytime brightness level.”

So if you happen to pass the sign at some point, you might want to keep this in mind.