Turn any screen into a scrolling LED sign
This tool fills your screen with a single line of large text that scrolls from right to left, in the style of an LED marquee or ticker display. Hold up a phone at a concert or sports match, greet someone at an airport arrivals gate, show a table number or "Order here" sign at a pop-up stall, cheer from the stands, or leave a message on a spare monitor or tablet at a party. It needs no app installation: set it up in the browser and start it.
How to use it
- Type your message in Scrolling Text. It can be up to 100 characters; the counter turns to a warning colour from 90.
- Choose a Text Color and Background Color from the nine swatches each, or pick any colour with the Custom picker.
- Set Font Size between 40 and 200 pixels and pick a Scroll Speed: Slow, Medium, Fast or Very Fast.
- Check the Preview box (the preview is capped at 48 px so it fits the editor), then press Start Scrolling.
- While the banner runs, tap or click once to pause or resume. Double-tap, double-click or press Esc to return to the editor.
How it works
The banner is ordinary HTML text moved with a CSS animation, so it is drawn by your browser rather than as a video or image. When you press Start, the page asks the browser to switch to full-screen mode, measures the width of your message, and makes the text travel from just beyond the right edge until it has fully left on the left, then repeat without end. The speed settings correspond to fixed rates of roughly 100, 200, 400 and 700 pixels per second, so the time per pass depends on your screen width and message length: a short word on a phone passes quickly, while a long sentence at 200 px takes much longer. If you rotate the device or resize the window, the path is recalculated.
To stop a phone from dimming mid-event, the page requests a Screen Wake Lock where the browser supports it and requests it again if you switch apps and come back. Your message and settings stay in the page; nothing is uploaded or saved, so they reset when you reload.
Tips for a readable sign
- Hold the phone in landscape and use the largest font size that keeps letters sharp; at a distance, fewer and bigger words work better than a full sentence.
- High contrast is easiest to read: red, yellow, green or white text on black looks the most like a real LED board. Avoid dark text on a dark background.
- Very Fast suits short words; for longer messages choose Slow or Medium so people can read them in one pass.
- Turn screen brightness up manually. Browsers cannot control brightness, and a bright screen drains the battery faster.
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't the banner go truly full screen on my iPhone?
Some mobile browsers, notably Safari on iPhone, do not let web pages use full-screen mode for ordinary elements. The banner still covers the page, but the address bar may stay visible. Rotating to landscape or scrolling so the toolbar collapses helps.
Will my screen stay on?
Only if your browser supports the Screen Wake Lock API, which most current versions of Chrome, Edge and Safari do. If yours does not, or battery saver blocks it, extend your device's auto-lock time before the event.
Can I use emoji or other languages?
Yes. Any character your device can display works, including emoji, accented letters and Chinese, Japanese or Arabic text, because the text is rendered with your system fonts.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Once the page has loaded, the banner makes no further network requests, so it keeps running if your connection drops. You do need a connection to open the page in the first place.