The Basics of Rigging LED
If you have ever seen a video online of a stage collapsing or an LED wall wobbling back and forth…
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LED Wall Panels, in most cases, are manufactured overseas. In today’s digital world, it is relatively easy to bypass a known manufacturer and go straight to the factory to get reduced prices on similarly spec’d LED panels. While that might save you some money up front, it generally results in problems down the road.Each LED Wall Panel is made up of one or more modules that house the LEDs. Each module will have a few thousand LED’s chips on them. And each LED chip has three colors, red, green and blue. Doing the math, a single panel can have 100,000 LEDs or more.
And every single red LED has to match every other red LED. Every single green has to match every other green. Every single… ok you get it.
In the production of LED chips, there is a certain “variation” allowed in the colors of the LEDs. One of the major differences between a THOR LED wall panel and one from an overseas “pop up” brand is how tightly the tolerances are for LEDs that fall outside of the specification.
COLOR MATCHING OR BINNING OF LED WALL PANEL LEDs
Binning is the process of sorting LEDs by certain characteristics like color. The color we call red is really made of waves of a certain wavelength. There is a range that we will recognize as red. But when two reds are next to each other, we can actually tell if one is a bit shorter in wavelength than the other. In the QC process for the LEDs, each red of the same wavelength goes into a “bin” to be used with other matched reds. This is further complicated in that all three colors (red, green, and blue) must all match other colors in the bin.
The tightness of the acceptable color range increases the color quality across the LED wall panel and ALL THE OTHER PANELS in the same LED wall. With many overseas products, each LED panel may have good internal color matching, but from panel to panel there is a color shift, making your whole LED wall slightly off from panel to panel.
COLOR SHIFT ON LED WALL PANELS
One of the other characteristics that LEDs are sorted on is Color Shift. LED’s have an operating power range. Too little power and the LED will not turn on, too much and it will blow. Within the range, however, the LED’s wavelength can vary based on the amount of power applied. A high-quality manufacturer like THOR will ensure that the colors are consistent across a wall no matter how much power is applied.
LED WALL PANEL LED LIFE SPAN
Every LED has a lifespan. They will, at some point, fail.
When looking into an LED wall panel, take note of the expected life of the LEDs. One way a company can save money on LEDs is by producing them with lower life expectancies. Your application is definitely a huge consideration here.
If your LED wall panel is destined for outdoor advertising, it will be on 100% of the time. And be a pain to repair if repairs are necessary. For indoor uses that are only on 10-20% of the time, they will last longer. Find out how long you expect your LED wall panel to last and make sure the LED life span will exceed your expectations!
LED WALL PANEL CALIBRATION
Since each LED wall is made up of many LED panels that have many modules and even more LEDs, calibrating the panels to show the same color range, temperature, and brightness is critical to your wall’s image quality. A reputable manufacturer will calibrate your LED panels so that they match before they are installed in your location. When ordering LED panels from an unknown manufacturer, there is not guarantee that your LED panels are calibrated to look great together in an LED wall.
LED WALL PANEL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR
- That brings us to the last consideration before you purchase LED wall panels from an unknown manufacturer. What happens when you have problems?
- What happens when an LED or multiple LEDs decide to quit working?
- What happens when a module gets damaged on accident?
- What happens if there is a power surge and the power supply or receiving card is damaged?
- If you DO need to replace parts, will the same parts be available to replace?
Purchasing from an established manufacturer like THOR means that you will have access to parts and repair services when the unexpected happens.
There are a number of compelling reasons to purchase your LED wall from an established, tested, and trusted brand. Your LED wall may be a bit more expensive to start, but over time, your investment in quality LED panels will be rewarded. It only takes one LED panel with one dead pixel to distract a viewer from your message.
