There are two main points that determine the cost of an LED video wall—resolution and size. Both are highly dependent on the purpose and need, and are also separate from each other. This is also where major mistakes can be made without considering these points.
First Step: Resolution
When you are driving around, look at digital signs in front of businesses. Some look good and others look horrible. Try to assess them from the same distance away to keep things in context. The better looking screens have a higher pixel count, resulting in higher resolution. It doesn’t matter if it is text or images or live video, the resolution chosen must be driven by one factor—the distance to the first row of viewing seats.
This pixel count is measured in millimetres as the distance between each pixel or single light emitting diode (LED). Street billboards will often have a pitch of 8mm or looser (called “P8”), and look worse the closer you get inside the minimum viewing distance.
In a church or sports bar, if the first seating positions are around 30 feet from the display, a pitch of P2.5 to P3 would look incredibly good. If the seating starts around 20 feet away, a P1.5 to P2 display would be needed. As the pitch number gets smaller, the price gets larger due to the concentration of circuitry and LED pixels.
The First Common Mistake
Often you will hear that it is important to set a budget, but that is the second step because resolution is the most important starting parameter. You measure the distance to the first row of seats away from the display at 20 feet and obtain a quote on a P2 display to properly suit the viewing distance. If the price is not workable, hold off. The idea of a lower price sounds better, but will not do the job. Either move the seats back to increase the viewing distance, or arrange for a larger budget, but don’t compromise on resolution.
Next Step: Overall Size
If resolution is based on the closest seat, overall size is based on the furthest seat. Since LED video walls can be built in a variety of shapes, most applications use a TV shaped rectangular display format with a width to height ratio of 16:9 (the standard for videos and home theater) or 16:10 (commercial presentation systems). For sports bars, 16:9 makes sense if showing mostly televised sporting events. However, for churches and conference presentations, you can form an LED video wall into any size and shape and create content to fit.
The price increases as the display gets larger, but here is where LED video displays are flexible—you can make the display larger later if the budget now does not permit for the perfect screen choice initially. Just add a few cabinets to the side and a few to the bottom and the whole display is now larger.
A Third Step: Display Geometry
Depending on the purpose, a shape other than 16:9 rectangular is totally fine. For example a sports bar might show a television broadcast, but having some extra display space allows the bar to create ads for specials that fit beside the televised image during the event. In a church application we installed a 60 foot wide screen that is shaped like a fat “T” that allows slides or camera feeds on the arms of the T and a backdrop image and text in the body of the T. LED displays can also be curved.
Contact us if you want to explore the factors in your environment and your LED video wall options.