Reading LUNCH across the room proves very little. The customer needs to read the sandwich name and its price. Let that smallest essential line decide your menu board font size.
Yodeck’s design guide offers distance-based typography advice. Use it as a starting point, not a guarantee for your TV. Your panel size, typeface and reflections still decide what someone can read.
Measure the view customers actually have
Write down the TV’s diagonal size, the design dimensions and the furthest ordering position. Note the viewing angle too. A screen can be close but awkward to read when mounted high or seen from the side.
Measure from the queue to the screen. Check daylight reflections before trying to solve glare with larger text.
Choose a test item with a price and a size label. Use those to judge whether someone can choose a sandwich from the queue.
Start with a large-text draft
For a first 1920 × 1080 design, try names and prices around 48 to 64 pixels and headings around 72 to 96 pixels. These are starting values for an exercise, not a readability standard or legal minimum.
Font families differ. A 56-pixel setting does not mean the visible capital letters are 56 pixels tall. Stroke weight, character shapes and spacing affect the result. Check the exported file, not just the number in the editor.
| Test position | What to ask someone to read | What to change if they struggle |
|---|---|---|
| Beside the till | Size labels and extras | Simplify labels and improve spacing |
| Middle of the queue | An item and its price | Increase the smallest essential text |
| Furthest ordering point | Two items in different categories | Remove content or divide the menu |
| Off to one side | The same names and prices | Review screen placement and glare |
Do not make the whole menu smaller to fit one extra category. Give that category another place, remove nonessential descriptions or split breakfast from lunch.
Calculate how canvas pixels become physical letters
Calculate the physical letter height to see how screen size affects the text. A 55-inch 16:9 display is about 27 inches high. A visible letter that measures 50 pixels high in a 1080-pixel-high image would occupy about 1.25 inches of that screen’s height.
The calculation is physical screen height × visible letter pixels ÷ image height. On a 43-inch 16:9 screen, about 21.1 inches high, the same 50-pixel letter would be about 0.98 inches high. These are rounded geometric examples, not recommended reading distances.
The visible letter height matters here, not the font-size setting. If you move from a 1920 × 1080 canvas to 3840 × 2160 on the same TV, double the design’s pixel measurements to preserve the same physical proportions. Keeping the same numeric font size can make the text physically smaller.
Kinosign makes a competing product, so weigh our view with that in mind. Its screen service is pre-launch. If your current Yodeck installation works, adjust the design there before considering a move.
Check contrast separately from size
A large, pale price on a pale background can still be hard to read. Put ordinary menu text over a quiet, solid background and compare the colors with a contrast checker.
The W3C’s WCAG contrast guidance explains the problem plainly:
Some people cannot read faint text.
WCAG’s ordinary-text threshold is 4.5:1, with a 3:1 exception for qualifying large text. Those web thresholds do not establish a safe TV reading distance. For a menu draft, aiming for at least 4.5:1 across names and prices is a starting check. You still need to inspect the display.
Avoid relying on color alone for meaning. Spell out sold-out status. Label size columns. Keep prices in a predictable position rather than making customers decode the layout.
Run the same reading check after real edits
Ask someone who has not worked on the menu to find an item and its price. Include a longer dish name and a price with a decimal. Let them stand where they would naturally wait.
Repeat after adding calorie information, a special or a QR code. Each addition consumes space. A design that passed last month may no longer pass after six new drinks arrive.
If the menu remains crowded, try another layout or divide the information between screen and print.
Open your menu in the free menu maker, reduce the item count if needed, and ask someone at the back of the queue to read two prices without help.
Sources
Vendor prices and plans were checked against each linked page in November 2026. They change often, so open the page before you buy.
