Outdoor, sealed, sun-readable
Digital drive-thru menu boards, built as a project
A drive-thru isn't a screen you buy. It's a site survey, a footing, a conduit run, a sealed outdoor panel and a menu that switches from breakfast to lunch at 10:30 without a manager on a ladder. Every failed lane we've been called to fix started as an indoor screen in a box.
Quoted per lane after a survey · (347) 410-6890
A standard single lane, screen by screen
| Position | Screen | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-sell board | One 46" Samsung OH46B | Combos and the current promo, read while the car is still queued |
| Main board | Two or three 55" OH55A-S, portrait | The menu, with daypart switching. Three panels add a promo column |
| Order confirmation | One smaller screen at the speaker post | Shows the order as it's keyed, so the wrong burger gets caught before the window |
A tandem (dual) lane duplicates the main board and the confirmation screen. Tight sites drop the pre-sell board; the main board and confirmation screen earn their keep first.
What a lane costs in year one
| Line item | Range |
|---|---|
| 2 outdoor menu screens (Samsung OH) | $7,000 to $14,000 |
| 1 confirmation screen | $700 to $1,400 |
| Media players | $300 to $1,500 |
| Software, year one | $1,000 to $5,000 |
| Install: mount, weatherproofing, structure | $3,000 to $7,000 |
| Content design | $1,000 to $3,000 |
| Year-one total | $13,000 to $32,000 |
Market ranges from CrownTV's 2026 menu board cost breakdown. The swing is mostly concrete and conduit: a lane with existing power at the post is near the bottom, a new pylon with trenching is near the top.
Where outdoor installs actually fail
The panel is rarely the problem if it's a sealed OH-series unit. The failures we see are in the parts around it: no surge protection on the power run, a rear face left exposed to weather, and mounts that weren't engineered for wind load. Those three are on our survey checklist for every lane.
Brightness is the other one. The previous-generation OH55F was 2,500 nits and held up under canopies, but on south-facing lanes at midday it could wash out. The current OH55A-S and OH46B are 3,500 nits, about seven times an indoor menu screen.
Want a window-facing or patio menu instead of a full lane? A 46-inch sun-readable screen behind glass is $3,850 to $4,200 installed, same all-in scope as our indoor screens.
Price sync and dayparts in the lane
The lane is where most QSR revenue goes through, which is why digital pays here first. Breakfast rolls to lunch at the minute you schedule, at every location at once. When commodity costs move, head office reprices a market overnight instead of shipping translites and hoping every franchisee swaps them the same week.
POS price sync (Toast, Square, Clover, Revel, NCR Aloha, Olo) is scoped per project. Name your POS on the form and we'll tell you what syncs before you buy. For the indoor side of the same restaurant, see menu board installation; for chains, QSR rollouts. Outdoor panel specs are listed on highbrightnessdisplay.com.
Common questions
Drive-thru menu board questions
How much does a digital drive-thru menu board cost?
A full single drive-thru lane with two outdoor menu screens and a confirmation screen typically costs $13,000 to $32,000 in year one once footings, conduit, install, software and design are counted, and the outdoor panels alone are $4,499 for a 46-inch Samsung OH46B and $5,499 for a 55-inch OH55A-S as hardware from DisplayDetails. We quote each lane after a site survey.
What parts make up a drive-thru menu board system?
A digital drive-thru menu board system has sealed outdoor screens (a pre-sell board, a main board and an order-confirmation screen), media players, the mount or pylon with its footing, a conduit run with surge protection for power and data, and software that schedules dayparts and syncs prices. The two tables on this page show what each screen does and what each part adds in year one.
What are the dimensions of a drive-thru menu board?
A digital drive-thru menu board is sized by its screens rather than one standard frame: the main board is two or three 55-inch panels in portrait, the pre-sell board is one 46-inch, and the enclosure, pylon or canopy mount adds to that, so the island gets measured before anything is ordered. In portrait, a 55-inch picture is about 27 inches wide and 48 inches tall, so three side by side make a picture roughly 81 inches wide before the frame. We take exact dimensions at the site survey.
Can I put a regular TV in a drive-thru?
No. A consumer TV is around 250 to 350 nits and has no sealing. It's unreadable in daylight and the first rainstorm or heat wave ends it. Even a commercial indoor screen in a third-party box struggles with heat and glare.
How bright does a drive-thru screen need to be?
2,500 nits minimum and 3,500 for full sun. Samsung's current OH46B and OH55A-S run 3,500 nits. The older OH55F and OH46F were 2,500 nits and could wash out on south-facing lanes at midday.
How many screens does a lane need?
Three to five: a 46-inch pre-sell board before the speaker post, a main board of two or three 55-inch panels in portrait at the order point, and an order-confirmation screen. If budget is tight, drop the pre-sell board first.
Do outdoor screens survive winter?
Sealed ones do. The OH series is IP56-rated on the front, runs from -22°F to 122°F and has a built-in heater for condensation. CrownTV has OH-series panels running through Minnesota winters and Phoenix summers.
Do I need a permit?
Often, yes, for the structure and electrical, and sometimes for the sign itself. Rules vary by town. We check before ordering hardware so you don't own a board you can't legally light.
Reply in 2 business hours
Get a drive-thru lane quote
Send the number of lanes, a photo of the current board and the address. We'll check permits and existing conduit before we price it.
(347) 410-6890Or call. You can also use the full quote form on crowntv-us.com if you want to attach floor plans.
- You send the basics: locations, screens, timeline.
- Within 2 business hours, a priced scope per screen comes back.
- Once the invoice is paid, most sites are installed in 5 to 7 business days.