Tulsa, OK Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Minimum dwell time
- 8 seconds per message
- Transition time
- 1 second or less
- Daytime brightness cap
- 6,500 nits
- Nighttime brightness cap
- 500 nits
- Off-premise spacing
- 1,200 feet apart
Summary
Tulsa allows digital billboards only as dynamic displays on off-premise outdoor advertising signs in commercial and industrial districts, subject to an eight-second minimum dwell time, brightness caps, and spacing rules under the Tulsa Zoning Code.
The images and messages displayed on a dynamic display must have a minimum dwell time of at least eight (8) seconds and may not contain any movement, animation, audio, video, pyrotechnics or other special effects. ... The maximum brightness level of a dynamic display may not exceed six thousand five hundred (6,500) nits (candelas per square meter) during daylight hours or five hundred (500) nits between thirty (30) minutes after sunset and thirty (30) minutes before sunrise.
Full Breakdown
Tulsa's zoning code treats digital billboards as off-premise outdoor advertising signs with a dynamic display, allowed only in freeway sign corridors within commercial and industrial districts and, for corridor zoning, only through development plan approval. Each image must hold for at least eight seconds with no animation, video, or special effects, and message changes must be instant. Brightness is capped at 6,500 nits by day and 500 nits at night, and displays must include a photocell and a default freeze or blank setting for malfunctions. Off-premise dynamic displays approved since 2009 must sit at least 1,200 feet from any other dynamic off-premise sign facing the same road, and 200 feet from residential districts.
Violations & Fines
Erecting or converting an off-premise sign into a dynamic display without a permit, or violating dwell-time, brightness, or spacing standards, is a zoning violation the development administrator can enforce through permit denial or removal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a billboard in Tulsa have a digital screen?
How long must each image stay on screen?
How bright can a digital billboard be at night in Tulsa?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tulsa
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Digital Billboards in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle digital billboards.