PIXEL PITCH AND RESOLUTION

LED PANEL PIXEL PITCH

The pixel pitch is one of the more important specifications when looking at installing an LED video wall. It determines how far a video wall can be from the closest view and also the price of the LED panels that make up the wall.

The pixel pitch, from a technical standpoint, is the distance between pixels (center to center) on an LED panel. Every LED display has a pixel pitch of some distance, even TV’s and computer monitors. Sometimes you have to get super close, or even use a magnifying glass to see the individual pixels. The closer the pixels are to each other, the crisper the image at closer distances.

Since most LED video walls have a decent distance between the wall itself and the closest viewer, the pixel pitch is greater than on a TV or monitor where you might only be a few feet away. The current standard for most indoor installs like a church or house of worship is in the 2.5mm – 4mm range. If you were installing video wall for use as an outdoor billboard where people are driving by many meters from the signage, the pitch can be fairly large, say 8mm to as high as 19mm.

The higher the pixel pitch, the further a view must be to see the image without seeing the spaces between them.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PIXEL PITCH AND COST FOR YOUR VIDEO WALL

A higher pixel pitch also means more pixel density, or more pixels per panel. And more pixels means more cost. For example, in an LED panel that is 500mm x 500mm (fairly standard size):

• A 5.2 mm pixel pitch LED panel will have 96 rows of 96 pixels, or 96 x 96 and have 9000 total LEDs
• A 3.9mm pixel pitch LED panel will have a 128 x 128 resolution and have over 16,000 LEDs
• A 2.9mm pixel pitch LED panel will have over 28,000 LEDs and a 168 x 168 resolution.

More pixels per panel will mean the view can be closer, but they will also cost more due to more LEDs on the panels. This is an area where more pixels do not mean a certain LED video wall is better. Is just means that people can sit closer to it.

 

VIDEO WALL RESOLUTION

As you can see in the above example, the resolution of a single LED panel is not stellar by todays standards. When our TV’s are cramming in 3840 × 2160 pixels, a mere 168 x 168 doesn’t seem to compare. Because of this, most installations will stack many LED panels together to make up the video wall.

A pretty standard resolution on a computer monitor (WUXGA) is 1920 x 1200. To replicate this on a video wall with 3.9mm pixel pitch LED panels like our EDGE 3.9, you would have a video wall that is 15 panels across by 10 high. That is actually a 1920 x 1280 resolution or 3:2 aspect ratio and a whopping 24 ft x 16ft (give or take a couple inches).

Let’s try it with a 2.9mm pixel pitch. We could go with 10 panels wide by 6 panels high and get a 1440×864 resolution which is very close to a WXGA+ or 1440 x 900 at a 16:10 aspect ratio. Or to get closer to a 1080p, we could do a 14 panel by 8 panel video wall.

If your installation space and closest viewer requirements result in a non-standard resolution, that is where the processor comes in. A great processor will help you scale your video to fit your video wall.

Obviously, the pixel pitch, resolution, space for LED walls in your venue, and price all work together to help you find the right LED panels for your installation. THOR AV has a team of highly qualified and skilled support staff what can help you with any questions you might have. What resolution you need, how many panels, which pixel pitch, etc. Please reach out to us!