LED Displays 101 (About LED Displays)

Unlike traditional media such as newspaper and magazines, LED displays quickly capture attention with a combination of light, color, motion and graphics that get noticed. They also offer infinite options for creating a brand that gets remembered and, in turn, gets results. For most advertisers, the most important market is the local one. Think of LED displays as local advertising and sales partners that are “on” 24/7, working night and day to attract attention, deliver marketing messages and drive sales. LED displays also cost 40 to 60 percent less per thousand viewers than most other forms of advertising. In fact, businesses can communicate with thousands of people each day for just a few dollars. When purchasing an LED display, it is important to understand a few basic principles that will help you select the right product for your application. The following paragraphs below will present a brief overview of some of these basic principles.

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Pitch (Resolution) | Viewing Distance & Speed | Character Height | Viewing Distance & Time Chart | LED Density | Brightness | Viewing Angles | Hybrid Pixel | Communications Options | Software | Application Gallery

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Monochrome	Greyscale	RGB (Full Color)

Pitch (Resolution)

Resolution, or the total number of pixels in a display, is a very important factor that affects the performance of the sign. More resolution means more LED diodes and more circuits, which usually means better picture quaility. Pitch is the distance (usually in millimeters) between pixels. Pitch is always measured from the center of one pixel to the center of an adjacent pixel. The smaller the pitch number, the higher the resolution quality. Larger the pitch numbers indicate a lower resolution. A pixel can be one single diode, or a pixel can be a cluster of many diodes running off the same circuit.

16mm (Best)	36mm (Better)	89mm (Good)

Viewing Distance and Speed

The distance between your sign and its viewers is the number one factor in determining the type of LED display you will need. Longer distances require less resolution and shorter distances require higher resolutions. In addition, if you are traveling at 55 MPH on a freeway, and the sign is 600 feet away at a truck stop, the text letters must be at least 20 inches tall to be legible. Likewise, if you are standing 60 feet away from a street level sign, the letters need only be two inches tall to be legible. The rule of thumb is that you need 1 inch for every 30 feet of viewing distance.

Character Height

In addition to the discussion of viewing distances, it is important to know that at least seven rows of diodes are required to make one text character. For multiple lines of text, it requires an eighth line as a separator. This means that for each line of text there eeds to be eight rows of pixels, and that those eight rows together measure the required character height. In other words, if you need three lines of ten inch text characters, you need to have 24 rows of 36 mm pitch pixels to get the proper character height. Of course, you can always use a higher resolution display and combine lines to make bigger text letters.

LED Density

LED diode density and pixel pitch are the two most critical factors to determine the quality of resolution and display brightness. LED density of a display is the total number of LED diodes in one square meter. It is calculated by multiplying the number of pixels per square meter by the number of LED diodes per pixel. Our LED display systems have always featured more LEDs per pixel than major competitiors around the world. In other words, our signs have very high LED density. High density displays offer significantly higher brightness and longer display lifespan since you do not have to drive the LEDs on your display hard in order to achieve good brightness level.

Brightness

The Brightness of an LED display is generally expressed by a numerical value in NITs. A NIT is defined as unit of illuminative brighness described as candela output per square meter (cd/M2). The higher the number of NITs, the brighter the display. In general, 1,500 NITs, provides readable text in outdoor daylight, while grayscale and outdoor video require up to 5,000 NITs for acceptable color depth.

Our displays are built with a high-density of super-bright, highquality LED diodes, so our displays typically exceed this standard by a long shot. Contrast ratio is another important factor in overall brightness, and refers to the difference between levels of
blacks compared to the levels of whites in the display. Things like reflective surfaces, glare from the sun, and dimming all affect contrast ratio. To optimize the contrast ratio and overall brightness, our signs features a unique louver system to shade each individual diode from the glare of the sun. The louvers were computer modeled to optimize the view from onlookers below while blocking the maxium amount of sun from all sides. No other system on the market offers this unique, individual diode shading. Together with the high-density array, the Optec sign is truly the brightest product on the market today.

Viewing Angles Diodes can put out a single, narrow beam of light like a flashlight, or they can output a wide array across a room like a light bulb. Diodes output about the same amount of light no matter what type they are—but the “high-beam” diodes with a narrow angle focus more light into one small spot, whereas the “wide angle” diodes spread their light across the horizon. So, if you were to stand in front of a sign made from “high-beam” diodes with narrow viewing angles, you would see an extremely bright sign if you stood directly in front of it, but the minute you walked away from the small spot light of its focus, you would see nothing but black. On the other hand, if you were to build a sign with lots of “wide angle” diodes, you could move around and to the side of the sign, and still see a great image. Optec displays use wide viewing angle diodes, with super wide viewing angles up to 140 degrees. Together with the high-density of diodes, the Optec displays are both bright and have wide viewing angles at the same time.

Hybrid Pixel

Before looking at our product specifications, it is important to understand some of the key technology Optec is offering today. The next few pages will briefly cover some of Optec’s signature hardware and software technology.

With Optec’s unique hybrid pixel technology, each pixel is hot swappable, reducing time and cost to service a display. Hybrid technology also provides a flexible platform to create custom shape LED displays such as curved face displays. With each pixel sticking out instead of attached to the surface, Hybrid pixels have the widest viewing angle and best heat ventilation in the world.

Instead of 1 louver per pixel, each LED lamp on a Hybrid pixel has its own lamp louver which provides highly focused LED light output for superior color contrast, brightness and maximum horizontal viewing angle.

Inside each pixel, there is an individual circuit controlling each LED lamp. Together with Optec’s advanced controller system, we can control brightness/color shadings down to each LED lamp level vs. competitors’ individual pixel shading. The result is better color mix, contrast, higher virtual resolution and longer LED life since we can turn off individual LED lamps when not needed.

Optec uses only the best quality LEDs to manufacture its displays. In fact, Optec is one of the biggest customers of Nichia, who is one of the leading LED manufacturers in the world. Optec also provides more LED diodes per pixel than other competitors. Together with the Hybrid Technology, Optec LED displays simply provide the best brightness, viewing angle, and color in the industry.

Communications Options

Monochrome / RG Series Options

Full Color / Greyscale Series Options

Software

Application Gallery Click on the display models below to view detailed specifications and photos.
Monochrome	Greyscale	RGB (Full Color)

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