Choose an LED video wall by viewing distance first: the minimum comfortable distance in metres is roughly the pixel pitch in millimetres. A 3.9 mm panel suits audiences from about 3.9 m, carries 65,536 pixels per square metre, and runs from $1,104.99 per panel in this range.
The one number that decides everything: pixel pitch
Pixel pitch is the distance between the centres of two adjacent LEDs, in millimetres. It fixes resolution, and through resolution it fixes price, weight and power. Everything else on a specification sheet is secondary to getting this right.
The working rule used across the industry is simple enough to do in your head: the minimum comfortable viewing distance in metres is roughly equal to the pixel pitch in millimetres. A 2.5 mm panel starts looking clean at about 2.5 m. A 6 mm panel needs about 6 m. Closer than that and the viewer resolves the gaps between pixels instead of the image.
For a comfortable rather than merely acceptable image, two to three times the pitch is the range most people use.
| Pixel pitch | Minimum distance | Comfortable range | Pixels per m² | In our range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.25 mm | 1.2 m | 2–4 m | 640,000 | — |
| 1.5 mm | 1.5 m | 3–4 m | 444,889 | — |
| 1.95 mm | 1.9 m | 4–6 m | 263,169 | in range |
| 2.5 mm | 2.5 m | 5–8 m | 160,000 | in range |
| 2.6 mm | 2.6 m | 5–8 m | 148,225 | in range |
| 2.9 mm | 2.9 m | 6–9 m | 119,025 | in range |
| 3.9 mm | 3.9 m | 8–12 m | 65,536 | in range |
| 4.8 mm | 4.8 m | 10–14 m | 43,264 | in range |
| 6.0 mm | 6.0 m | 12–18 m | 27,889 | — |
| 8.0 mm | 8.0 m | 16–24 m | 15,625 | — |
| 10.0 mm | 10.0 m | 20–30 m | 10,000 | — |
Worked example
A conference stage has its front row 4 m from the screen. Pitch should be at most 4 mm, so a 3.9 mm panel is the coarsest sensible choice and 2.6 mm gives margin. Going finer than 2 mm spends money on resolution nobody in that room can see.
Brightness: match the light you are fighting
Brightness is quoted in nits (candela per square metre). The figure you need depends entirely on the ambient light at the screen position, not on the size of the screen.
- Controlled indoor rooms – conference halls, studios, theatres: 800–1500 nits is normal.
- Bright indoor spaces – atria, retail with daylight: 1500–3000 nits.
- Outdoor and daylight-facing: 4000 nits and above, with a published ingress protection rating for the position.
Buying 5000 nits for a dark studio is not a safety margin, it is wasted power and a harder panel to grade.
Refresh rate: only matters if a camera is watching
Refresh rate describes how many times per second the panel redraws. The eye stops noticing well below 1000 Hz, but a camera shutter does not. Low refresh rates produce rolling bands and scan lines on video.
If the screen will ever appear in a broadcast, a live stream or an IMAG feed, specify 3840 Hz or higher. Several panels in this range run 7680 Hz, which gives margin for high shutter speeds and slow-motion work.
Sizing the wall: panels, not pixels
Panel count comes from the cabinet dimensions, never from the pitch. Divide your target width and height by the cabinet size and round up.
Worked example: a 3 m x 2 m wall
With 500 x 500 mm cabinets:
- Across: 3000 / 500 = 6 panels
- Down: 2000 / 500 = 4 panels
- Total: 6 x 4 = 24 panels
With 960 x 960 mm cabinets the same wall takes 4 across (3000 / 960 = 3.1, rounded up) and 3 down (2000 / 960 = 2.1, rounded up), so 12 panels and a finished size slightly larger than the target.
Resolution follows from pitch. That 3 m wide wall at 3.9 mm pitch is 3000 / 3.9 = 769 pixels across. At 1.95 mm it is 1538 pixels across, which is where content production costs start to rise.
Power and weight: the planning numbers
Specifications normally publish a maximum power figure per square metre and an average figure. Maximum is what the electrical design has to carry; average is roughly a third of it in typical content and is what the generator actually sees.
Multiply maximum power per square metre by the wall area for the worst case. A 6 m² wall at 800 W/m² maximum is 4800 W, which is more than a single 16 A / 230 V circuit at 3680 W can carry, so that wall needs at least two circuits before you add any lighting.
Before you hang anything
Weight and load figures on this page are drawn from product specifications and are given for planning only. Load ratings must be verified against the manufacturer’s load table and signed off by a qualified rigger, taking wind loading into account for any outdoor position. Electrical distribution should be designed and installed by a competent person.
What this range actually costs
Here is every LED panel in this store with its published figures, sorted by pixel pitch. Panels priced per square metre say so in the product title.
| Pixel pitch | Pixels per m² | Minimum viewing distance | Comfortable range | Brightness | Indoor / outdoor | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.95 mm | 263,169 | 1.9 m | 4–6 m | not published | Indoor | $2398.99 |
| 1.95 mm | 263,169 | 1.9 m | 4–6 m | 1000 nits | Indoor | $2013.99 |
| 2.5 mm | 160,000 | 2.5 m | 5–8 m | 5000 nits | Outdoor | $3201.99 |
| 2.6 mm | 148,225 | 2.6 m | 5–8 m | not published | Indoor | $1914.99 |
| 2.9 mm | 119,025 | 2.9 m | 6–9 m | 5000 nits | Outdoor | $1672.99 |
| 3.9 mm | 65,536 | 3.9 m | 8–12 m | 5000 nits | Outdoor | $1104.99 |
| 3.9 mm | 65,536 | 3.9 m | 8–12 m | 1000 nits | Indoor | $1298.99 |
| 3.91 mm | 65,536 | 3.9 m | 8–12 m | not published | Indoor | $2992.99 |
| 4.8 mm | 43,264 | 4.8 m | 10–14 m | 5000 nits | Outdoor | $1331.99 |
Processing: what sits between your laptop and the wall
An LED wall is not a monitor. The panels receive data from a receiving card in each cabinet, which is fed by a sending card or video processor. That processor is what maps your source image onto the physical pixel map of the wall.
Three things matter here. The processor has to have enough pixel capacity for your wall, which is why the resolution calculation comes before the hardware choice. It has to accept your source format. And it has to handle scaling, because a 1282 x 769 wall is not a standard video resolution and something has to fit 1920 x 1080 content onto it.
Plan this at the same time as the panels. A wall whose pixel count exceeds the processor's capacity needs a second processor and a split, which changes the cabling and the budget.
Cabinet construction and what it costs you later
Cabinet material decides weight, and weight decides whether a wall can hang and how long it takes to build. Die-cast aluminium and magnesium alloy cabinets are lighter than steel equivalents, which matters twice: once in the rigging calculation and once in the crew hours it takes to assemble a large wall.
Service access is the other construction decision. Front-service cabinets allow modules and power supplies to be changed from the audience side. That is essential when the wall is mounted flat against a wall or a set, and irrelevant when it hangs with clear access behind. Choosing front service when you do not need it usually costs money; discovering you needed it after installation costs considerably more.
Spares are part of the order
LED walls fail one module at a time, not all at once, and a single dead module in the middle of a wall is highly visible. Standard practice is to buy spare modules, spare power supplies and at least one spare cabinet with the original order, because matching modules from a later production batch can differ subtly in colour.
A common planning figure is around five per cent spare modules for a touring wall, less for a fixed installation that is easier to service. Confirm what is available for the specific panel before ordering, since module availability is what determines how long the wall stays serviceable.
Content: the part that is usually underestimated
A wall at 1538 pixels across needs content mastered at that width to look sharp. Upscaled 720p content on a fine-pitch wall looks soft in a way that no amount of processing fixes, and the audience reads it as a cheap screen rather than cheap content.
Budget for content production at the wall's native resolution, and decide early whether the wall carries full-frame video, graphics with transparency, or an IMAG camera feed, because those three have different production pipelines.
Common mistakes
- Buying pitch for the spec sheet rather than the room. The single most expensive error in this category.
- Forgetting the processor. Pixel capacity is a hard limit, not a performance figure.
- Planning power from average rather than maximum draw. The distribution has to carry the peak.
- Ordering no spares. One dead module ruins a wall, and later batches may not colour-match.
- Treating the rigging as an afterthought. Weight per square metre decides the structure, and that decision comes before the order.
Decision criteria
- If your front row is under 3 m, choose 2.6 mm or finer.
- If the screen faces daylight, choose 4000 nits or more and confirm the ingress protection rating for that position.
- If a camera will see the screen, choose 3840 Hz refresh or higher.
- If the wall is indoors and the room is dark, do not pay for 5000 nits.
- If you need a curve, confirm the available lock angles before you size the wall, because the panel count changes with the radius.
- If the budget is fixed, reduce the wall size before you reduce the pitch. An undersized sharp wall reads better than an oversized coarse one at close range.
Where to go next
Browse the full range in Pro LED Screens, or narrow to indoor panels and outdoor panels. The pixel pitch and viewing distance chart is a quick reference, and the LED wall calculator works out panel count, resolution and power from your dimensions.
Sources
- IEC 60529 – degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP code).
- Panel figures in the tables above come from the product data published on each product page in this store.
Frequently asked questions
What pixel pitch do I need for my room?
Match it to the closest regular viewer. The minimum comfortable viewing distance in metres is roughly the pixel pitch in millimetres, so a front row at 4 m suits a 3.9 mm panel and a front row at 2 m needs 2 mm or finer.
How many LED panels make a 3 x 2 m screen?
Divide by the cabinet size and round up. With 500 x 500 mm cabinets that is 6 across and 4 down, 24 panels in total. With 960 x 960 mm cabinets it is 4 across and 3 down, 12 panels.
How bright does an LED wall need to be outdoors?
For daylight-facing positions, 4000 nits is usually the practical minimum and 5000 nits or more is common. Indoor rooms with controlled lighting are normally served by 800 to 1500 nits.
Does refresh rate matter if there is no camera?
Much less. Refresh above about 1000 Hz is invisible to the eye. It matters for cameras, where rates below 3840 Hz can produce visible bands and scan lines on the recorded image.
How much power does an LED wall draw?
Take the maximum power per square metre from the specification and multiply by the wall area. A 6 square metre wall at 800 W per square metre is 4800 W at maximum, which exceeds a single 16 A / 230 V circuit.
Is a finer pixel pitch always better?
No. Beyond what the viewing distance requires, finer pitch adds cost, weight and content production effort with no visible benefit. Size the pitch to the room, not to the spec sheet.
