How to Avoid Over Specification and Under Specification - Corporate Initiatives

Introduction

LED display is not yet widely understood as technology, so sometimes rudimentary mistakes can be made in specification that detracts from the outcome. This brief discussion paper is an attempt to redress the situation by explaining some the principles involved.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS TO SPECIFY?

Component Quality

The quality of diode itself can vary greatly in cost and build quality. LED display used in mission critical applications where immediate intervention is not an option need diodes that are more durable.

Pixel Pitch

This is the most misunderstood of all specifications and therefore the major focus of this white paper. There have been many dollars wasted by people not understanding how to approach this aspect.

Brightness

Brightness levels can always be toned down but never turned up beyond their limit. So if you are locating a screen outdoors in direct sunlight, it has to be bright enough to compete with that direct sunlight. That’s why highway billboards use the brightest displays. Going too bright indoors, on the other hand, can be an unnecessary expense.

Colour Agency

Anything that involves advertising has to get this specification right. Corporate colours are really specific.

Protection Level

Outdoors you need product that can successfully weather the elements. However this is now also now becoming a specification issue indoors, especially for screens located in bars and other hospitality areas.

Ease of Installation/Maintenance 

All screens need maintenance, so the speed at which this can be performed becomes a specification issue. So too is the feasibility and speed of installation in the proposed display location.

Noise Level

Anywhere within earshot of people should be fanless and silent.

Finish/Surface

The rough pitted surface of standard LED displays is not usually an issue outdoors, except when used in close proximity to sports action (AFL players have actually sustained injury due to safer surfaces not being specified). Indoors, however, it is now an issue because there is now a smooth alternative that is easier to keep free from dust and can also be used for touch interaction.

Getting the Pixel Pitch Right

Why is getting the pixel pitch specification so important? Because it is so fundamental to determining cost and size.

In order to maximise the value delivered by your pixel pitch specification, you need to understand this simple principle, the space between pixels actually comes at a negligible cost as it merely comprises of inexpensive metal and plastic. Nominating a higher pixel pitch that is needed is an all too common practice. It either results in spending more money than necessary or ending up with a smaller screen that is less adequate for the task.

Managing Pixel Pitch by Viewing Distance

Viewing distance is the most common factor. There is no point, for example, in nominating a 10mm pixel pitch for a stadium scoreboard, if the closest viewing distance for most viewers is 150m on the other side of the ground. A screen located on a freeway bridge, on the other hand, is another matter as motorists will drive underneath at a viewing distance of 10 or 15 metres.

The same principles apply with the deployment of finer pitch screens indoors. Controlling the viewing distance by height or other means can make a difference in pixel pitch specification possible that provides a screen twice the size for the same money.

The number of pixels will ultimately determine the price, not the size of the screen.

Managing Pixel Pitch by Content Choices

If every artist’s canvas featured photo realism, what a diminished world of art we would experience. Digital canvases should be approached the same way. Much larger screens can become economic if creative parameters are set on the content that allows for far less pixel density. Some of the world’s most interesting LED display projects would not have been possible had photo realism been a design prerequisite.

A deliberately pixellated image allows a much larger surface area to be used.

Abstraction can make the number of pixels less relevant, enabling much larger screens that suit the space to become economically viable.

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Information sourced from Corporate Initiatives