Screens introduce a problem print does not have: the code can disappear. Everything about designing for digital signage follows from that.
Make a QR code freeA person needs to notice the code, get their phone out, open the camera, frame it and wait for the read. That is comfortably eight to ten seconds, and often more for an older phone or a distracted viewer. A code that appears for three seconds in a rotating playlist is decoration. Either hold the code on screen for at least ten seconds, or keep it persistently in a corner of the layout while other content rotates around it. The second option is almost always the better one.
Brightness, glare and viewing angle all work against you. Give the code a solid light background rather than laying it over video, keep the display bright enough that the pattern does not wash out under overhead lighting, and avoid placing it near the edge of a screen where reflections concentrate. On very large video walls, the practical scanning distance is longer than designers assume — apply the ten-to-one rule to the real distance from the viewer, not from the designer's monitor.
A code that moves, fades, or is placed over playing video will fail: the camera needs a stable image to lock onto. Video compression is a second, less obvious problem — heavy compression smears the fine detail of a dense pattern, particularly on streamed or broadcast content. Keep the code static, keep it sparse by shortening the URL, and if the content is being encoded for broadcast, test the final compressed output rather than the master.
Lift lobbies, waiting areas, queue lines, station platforms and gym floors all give you a stationary audience with time. Menu boards above a till do not, because the person is next in the queue. Screens above head height are hard to scan at an angle, so keep the code in the lower half of the layout. And check the phone signal where the screen actually is — a code in a basement lobby scans perfectly and then loads nothing.
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