Piccadilly Lights is one of the world’s best-known landmarks for DOOH advertising. From January 2027, brands will have more opportunities to take over the entire 783.5㎡ curved LED screen. The new format will increase both the frequency and duration of full-screen advertising. It will give brands more opportunities to create high-impact campaigns in central London.
Piccadilly Lights sits at Piccadilly Circus in central London. It has become one of the city’s most recognizable digital advertising landmarks.
Ocean Outdoor operates the screen. Daktronics designed and manufactured the LED display. The current screen launched in 2017 and replaced a group of separate advertising displays.
The curved LED screen follows the shape of the building. This design creates a continuous visual surface across the corner of the site. The screen measures about 17.56 meters high and 44.62 meters wide. Its total display area reaches 783.5㎡.
The display uses an 8mm pixel pitch and RGB 3-in-1 LED packages. It has a physical resolution of 5490 × 2160 pixels. That equals about 11.86 million pixels across the full screen.
These specifications give brands a large canvas for high-resolution video and detailed visual content. The curved structure also creates opportunities for content that responds to the physical shape of the screen.
Ocean Outdoor also uses the site for its DeepScreen® 3D format. The technology uses anamorphic perspective techniques to create an illusion of depth. Viewers do not need special equipment to see the effect.
This approach can make products and visual objects appear to extend beyond the screen. It has supported creative campaigns across sectors such as automotive, entertainment, technology, and luxury.
Piccadilly Lights can also support live and interactive content. Campaigns have connected the physical screen with mobile AR experiences. Other projects have used live information and real-time content.
These capabilities show how modern DOOH advertising can go beyond conventional advertising playback. A large LED screen can also become part of a wider digital experience.
Piccadilly Lights has long balanced shared advertising with exclusive brand moments.
The regular format allows several brands to appear on the screen at the same time. The display can use six standardized advertising areas. Non-competing brands can share the screen, with their content rotating at regular intervals.
This model gives advertisers access to a high-profile London location. It also preserves the multi-brand visual style that has long defined Piccadilly Circus.
However, some campaigns need a larger stage.
A product launch may require a strong visual reveal. A major entertainment release may need a continuous image across the entire screen. A global brand campaign may also benefit from uninterrupted visual space.
A full-screen advertising provides that opportunity.
One brand can use the complete 783.5㎡ canvas for a defined period. The campaign no longer competes with other advertisements on the same screen. This creates a stronger visual impact, especially when the creative uses the screen’s full width and curved structure.
For premium DOOH advertising, that difference can be important. The value does not come only from the size of the display. It also comes from the ability to turn the screen into a recognizable part of the campaign.
The biggest change will come in January 2027.
Piccadilly Lights will move to a new advertising format. The current four-part production grid will go. This will create a larger edge-to-edge canvas for full-screen campaigns.
The full-screen takeover schedule will also change.
Previously, brands could receive one 40-second full-screen opportunity per hour. From January 2027, the format will offer two 60-second takeovers per hour.
That means brands will get more opportunities to use the complete 783.5㎡ display. Each takeover will also last longer.
The regular multi-brand format will remain available. Standardized advertising slots will continue to support campaigns that need regular exposure rather than exclusive screen ownership.
The new model therefore offers two different approaches.
Brands can use shared screen time for consistent exposure. They can also use full-screen takeovers around important marketing moments.
This could work particularly well for product launches, major events, entertainment campaigns, and other high-profile activations. Brands can build regular visibility and then use a full-screen moment to create a stronger peak in attention.
The changes at Piccadilly Lights reflect a wider shift in DOOH advertising.
Traditional outdoor advertising has always focused on reach. Advertisers want to know how many people pass a location and how often they see a message.
Digital out-of-home advertising adds more possibilities. LED screens can display dynamic content and support real-time campaigns. They can also create immersive visual experiences.
Landmark screens can take this even further.
Piccadilly Lights sits in one of London’s most recognizable public spaces. Its large scale and curved shape give creative campaigns a strong physical presence. A full-screen takeover can make that presence even more noticeable.
The audience can also extend beyond the people at the location.
Visitors may photograph a campaign and share it on social media. Media outlets may cover a visually striking activation. Online sharing can then extend the campaign beyond its original physical audience.
This gives full-screen takeovers a role beyond traditional media placement. They can help brands create a moment that audiences recognize, record, and share.
The 2027 changes point to an important direction for premium DOOH advertising. Landmark screens are no longer valuable only because they can deliver large audiences. Their value also comes from the experiences they can create.
For brands with strong visual ideas, Piccadilly Lights offers a particularly large canvas. From 2027, they will have more opportunities to use that canvas without visual separation from other campaigns.
A 783.5㎡ curved LED screen can do more than display an advertisement. At the right moment, the entire screen can become part of the campaign and part of the surrounding cityscape.
