Digital Billboard Specs in Canada: Sizes, File Formats, and Design Tips
You’ve booked the digital billboard. Now comes the part that can make or break your campaign: getting the creative right.
A file that looks sharp on your laptop can become unreadable at 50 metres. Submit the wrong dimensions or format, and your ad could be rejected before it ever reaches the screen. This guide breaks down the essential digital billboard specs, file requirements, and design tips you need to get your creative right the first time.
Always Start With the Screen's Specifications
Digital billboard specificatio ns are not universal. Every media owner, screen and advertising network in Canada can have different requirements.
Before you open a design file, confirm the following with your billboard operator:
Native pixel dimensions and aspect ratio
Accepted file formats
Colour mode
Maximum file size
Animation or video rules including duration and frame rate
Safe zones and cropping margins
Submission deadline
A file built for one screen can be cropped, stretched or rejected on another. Getting these details first saves you from rebuilding creative under deadline pressure.
To advertise on digital billboards in Canada, Boomrng provides campaign specifications for each screen before creative production begins so you are never guessing at requirements.
Common Digital Billboard Sizes and Pixel Dimensions
What are the typical sizes for digital ads in Canada? The physical face of a digital billboard matches traditional formats. The difference is in how you deliver the artwork.
Roadside and highway screens most commonly use:
1920 x 1080 pixels (standard widescreen)
672 x 240 pixels (digital bulletin, 14 x 48 ft physical size)
480 x 270 pixels (digital poster, 10 x 22 ft physical size)
1080 x 360 pixels and 840 x 300 pixels on wide custom formats
Portrait and street-level screens including transit shelters, mall placements and elevator displays typically use:
1080 x 1920 pixels
1200 x 1600 pixels
Ultra-wide and premium displays in locations like Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto use custom pixel maps. Always request native dimensions directly from the media owner for these placements.
File Formats and Colour Settings
Most Canadian digital billboard networks accept the following:
JPG for static photographic or graphic artwork
PNG for graphics that require transparency where accepted by the network
MP4 for motion creative where the screen supports video
Always export in RGB colour mode. Digital screens display in RGB. Submitting a CMYK file produces colour shifts that can make your brand look unprofessional on screen.
Export at high quality with minimal compression. Some networks specify 72 DPI as a workflow requirement for file management purposes.
How Many DPI Does a Digital Billboard Need
How many DPI for a billboard is one of the most searched questions in outdoor advertising. The answer for digital screens is different from what most designers expect.
For digital billboards, pixel dimensions matter more than DPI. The screen displays pixels, not printed inches. A common Canadian digital format specifies 72 DPI, while other networks use 100 DPI. Neither figure affects the actual on-screen display quality. What determines quality is whether your file matches the native pixel resolution of the screen.
The distinction is important:
Digital billboard: prioritise native pixel dimensions and RGB colour mode
Static printed billboard: DPI, physical scale, bleed and CMYK colour matter
If your operator requests 72 DPI at native pixel dimensions, deliver exactly that. Do not upscale a low-resolution file to hit a DPI number. It will not improve the output. Get on screen with Boomrng and receive confirmed specifications for your exact placement before production starts.
How to Design an Effective Digital Billboard
Your audience has between four and eight seconds. Most digital screens rotate eight advertisers on a fixed loop, showing each creative for six to eight seconds per cycle. Everything in your design has to work within that window.
Follow these rules:
One message only. One visual idea, one line of copy, one CTA
High contrast always. White text on deep blue, black on yellow, dark text on white. Low contrast disappears at distance
Large, bold type. Thin fonts become invisible on large format screens viewed from a moving vehicle
Keep branding immediate. Your logo and brand name need to register before the copy is read
Stay out of the edges. Keep important elements within the safe zone specified by your operator
Short CTA. A URL, a phone number or three words maximum
Test your design by reducing it to phone size. If it reads clearly at that scale, it will read on screen. If elements disappear or text becomes hard to parse, simplify before you submit.
Note on online advertising: what are the 7 types of online advertising such as display, search, social, video, native, email and programmatic all use different dimension standards than DOOH. Do not use online ad sizes for digital billboard production. The formats are not interchangeable.
Static, Motion and Dynamic Creative Rules
Not every digital billboard network accepts motion or video. Some require static JPG or PNG only. For networks that do accept motion, confirm:
Maximum file duration (typically 6 to 15 seconds)
Frame rate (usually 25 or 30fps)
Maximum file size
Audio restrictions (most outdoor screens run silent)
Whether flashing or rapid transitions are restricted
Dynamic creative that changes based on time of day, weather or local conditions can improve relevance when context genuinely affects the message. A food brand running breakfast creative in the morning and dinner creative in the evening on the same screen is a practical use case. Only use dynamic creative when the context change adds real value to the message.
Pre-Submission Checklist
Before you send anything, confirm:
Correct native pixel dimensions for your specific screen
RGB colour mode
Approved file format and maximum file size
Text and branding readable within the safe zone
CTA accurate and spelled correctly
No prohibited content as per the operator's guidelines
Final approval from the media owner before the campaign goes live
New to This? Get Live with Boomrng!
A correctly sized file submitted to the wrong screen solves nothing. The creative production process and the placement decision need to work together from the start.
Boomrng works with small and medium businesses across BC, Alberta and Ontario to identify the right screens, confirm specifications before production, build the creative and get campaigns live within 48 hours. No long-term contracts. If this is your first campaign with Boomrng, your first ad creative is designed at no charge.
Ready to go live? Start your campaign with Boomrng!