# Is the LED Panel being replaced by the curtain?



## envoy (Nov 28, 2012)

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking of investing in an LED display sometime down the road.
My question is: Should I Look towards an LED curtain instead of a panel?

Reasons: flexibility, portability and of course, PRICE.

Any suggestions from LED technicians will be greatly appreciated.


Thank you.


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## ruinexplorer (Nov 29, 2012)

I would say that it really depends on how you intend to use it. With LED panels, you have the option of a variety of arrangements of the tiles. Can you get the pixel pitch you require in a curtain? What type of environment will you most often be using it in (indoor/outdoor)? I could probably come up with a dozen more questions, so what is your goal?


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## envoy (Nov 29, 2012)

The goal is to use the LED curtain in place of a standard display, indoors or out.

I believe and I maybe mistaken, curtains come in as narrow as 18.75mm and as far as eviromental, I've seen curtains used on outside venues.
Variety of arrangement can go both ways, as the curtain can be shaped and curved. I'm still looking to find what advantage there is between designs.


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## museav (Nov 29, 2012)

envoy said:


> The goal is to use the LED curtain in place of a standard display, indoors or out.
> 
> I believe and I maybe mistaken, curtains come in as narrow as 18.75mm and as far as eviromental, I've seen curtains used on outside venues.
> Variety of arrangement can go both ways, as the curtain can be shaped and curved. I'm still looking to find what advantage there is between designs.


Think about trying to achieve 1920x1080 resolution, a 18.75mm dot pitch curtain would apparently have to be 118' wide and 66.4' high. So you can see how whether you are displaying full motion HD video versus something like abstract patterns, a simple graphic or large font text may affect what is practical and appropriate.


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## envoy (Nov 29, 2012)

museav said:


> Think about trying to achieve 1920x1080 resolution, a 18.75mm dot pitch curtain would apparently have to be 118' wide and 66.4' high. So you can see how whether you are displaying full motion HD video versus something like abstract patterns, a simple graphic or large font text may affect what is practical and appropriate.




Thanks for the input, but what I'm trying to figure out is: What advantage an LED display panel has over a LED curtain.


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## josh88 (Nov 29, 2012)

envoy said:


> Thanks for the imput, but what I'm trying to figure out is -what advantage an LED display panel has over a LED curtain.



well brad is telling you. The advantages will be different depending on what you want to do as far as images. One advantage Brad points out that the panel has over a curtain is that it doesn't have to be 118'X66.4' to get to 1920x1080 resolution and you noted that curtains can be shaped. So there are some advantages that may or may not matter depending on what your end goal is.


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## envoy (Nov 29, 2012)

josh88 said:


> well brad is telling you. The advantages will be different depending on what you want to do as far as images. One advantage Brad points out that the panel has over a curtain is that it doesn't have to be 118'X66.4' to get to 1920x1080 resolution and you noted that curtains can be shaped. So there are some advantages that may or may not matter depending on what your end goal is.



Understood. I'm looking at 3m x 4 m (Aprox 9.84 x 13.12) as far a size is concerned.
In terms of resolution, I would adapt my presentation to what's viewable.

However, I believe in terms of pricing/rental ROI, replacing my LCD projectors will be pie in the sky.


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## museav (Nov 30, 2012)

envoy said:


> Thanks for the imput, but what I'm trying to figure out is: What advantage an LED display panel has over a LED curtain.


What advanatge does a framing hammer have over a sledgehammer? The answer in both cases seems very likely to be tied to what you are trying to do and in the case of projection versus LED walls versus LED curtains there could be a number of factors involved based on the specific application.


envoy said:


> Understood. I'm looking at 3m x 4 m (Aprox 9.84 x 13.12) as far a size is concerned.
> In terms of resolution, I would adapt my presentation to what's viewable.


Is that practical? With a 18.75mm pixel pitch a 4m wide by 3m high LED curtain would apparently be something like a 214 x 161 pixel resolution, roughly 1/9 (1/3 vertically and 1/3 horizontally) the resolution of 640x480 VGA graphics or NTSC/PAL composite video. Can you do what you want with that resolution? Perhaps so if you are trying to create some background color or some very simple abstract patterns but if you are trying to display graphics, text or video that may depend on the image quality that is acceptable.

Perhaps related to that is that if you are displaying graphics text or video then there will likely be a minimum and maximum distance from which those can be effectively viewed. The maximum distance may depend on the overall image, or character for text, size but the minimum viewing distance may depend on the pixel pitch. According to some of the manufacturers of LED curtain walls the optimal viewing distance for a 16-20mm pixel pitch display would be somewhere around 30-40m while the recommended minimum viewing distance would be around 14-20m. Again, the specifics of the situation may be a factor in whether that works for your applications.


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## len (Nov 30, 2012)

Because panels are smaller pieces, they can be joined in more different ways. But a curtain is easier to program (assuming just using one) than multiple panels. I doubt that most curtains have the same resolution as panels. And that's just a couple factors. So each has its strengths.


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## envoy (Nov 30, 2012)

Thank you, Len, I apperciate your response. The resolution factor (pixel pinch) between them is worth looking into, again thanks.


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## metti (Nov 30, 2012)

A set of factors that you also have to consider has less to do with the specific advantages and disadvantages of each set of products and more to do with your market. What sort of events do you do? Will the ROI even work out enough to pay for either of these extremely expensive pieces of equipment? Will you clients pay more than they would for a projector? If not, will you save enough in labor or other costs to send this equipment out for the same rate as a projector? Who will be setting this equipment up? Setting up a projector by yourself is generally not difficult whereas setting up a wall is nearly impossible. What will this be hanging from? Will the rigging point generally available to you be sufficient to rig a whole wall? Where is the content coming from? Will you be using stock media server content which is typically optimized for higher resolution displays? Will you be often or even ever working with a video designer who will demand a certain level of resolution? What sorts of venues will this be going in? How big is the audience and how far away from the screen will they typically be? What other display products are available in your market? Will you be able to subrent additional panels of a particular type to meet larger jobs and/or will you be able to get income from this purchase when you are not using it by subrenting to other companies?

I think that you are going about this a little bit backwards. Rather than finding products and comparing them in a vacuum, you need to look at your business and then pick the product that is going to make you the most money. That might be a curtain, that might be a hard wall, that might be a roll up wall, that might be more projectors, or that might be nothing at all if your market cannot actually support additional video acquisitions of this magnitude.


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