Brightness and Visibility
In indoor conditions, LED displays usually require much lower brightness, from 500 to 1500 nits. In indoor LED screens, the pixel density is usually very high, and most products have a pixel pitch of only 2-4 mm. The single pixels are then hardly distinguishable for the viewer when viewing from a close distance, making for a much finer visual display.
On the other hand, outdoor LED displays are used to deal with complex environmental conditions such as strong sunlight, dust, and several changes in weather. In most cases, the brightness of an outdoor LED display is higher, around 2000 to 8000 nits, with some high-end products even reaching beyond 10000 nits.
To ensure visibility, the following measures are usually included in outdoor LED displays:
- High Contrast Design: It involves increasing the contrast between light and dark in the pictures to maintain clear visuals in very intense lighting conditions.
- Color Management Technology: Prevents screen color distortion caused by ambient light through accurate color control.
- Adaptive Brightness Adjustment: This ambient light sensor enables automatic adjustments in screen brightness according to changes in the external light environment.
Some specific examples of brightness:
Brightness of LED Display:
- 500 nits: Applicable for low-light situations, such as conference rooms.
- 1500 nits: Applies to most retail shops or exhibition halls since it offers a brightness level good enough to bear indirect lighting.
Pixel Pitch: 2mm-4mm, High Pixel Density for ensuring clarity in images.
Outdoor LED Display Brightness:
- 2000 nits: The general brightness is also applicable for most of the outdoor advertising screens, which can be visible on the streets or outside shopping malls.
- 5000 nits to 8000 nits: These are used along highways or busy streets billboards.
- 10000 nits: In extreme conditions, large outdoor advertising screens need to be under direct sunlight to keep the screen content clearly visible at all times.
You can read about whether LED screens need backlight here.
Weather Resistance and Protection
Ingress Protection is a standard of measurement that refers to the potential of an LED display to withstand external environmental factors. For most outdoor LED displays, a protection level of at least IP65 is often required to avoid dust ingress and strong water jets, which include heavy rain and bad weather conditions.
The important aspect of waterproof and dustproof is crucial for outdoor LED displays: it has to bear with wind. Places having higher wind speed should also show the structure of displays bearing such high wind at 100 km per hour or more.
Indoor environments usually do not have extreme weather conditions, so wind, UV rays, and moisture are not taken into consideration for screens. Most indoor LED screens have an IP protection rating of IP40 or IP43. Indoor LED displays focus more on image clarity and stability without having to endure the harsh conditions of outdoor environments.
Protection design comparison:
IP Protection Rating:
- Outdoor LED Displays: The requirement is IP65 and above, which can withstand heavy rain, dust, changes in temperature, and so on in complicated outdoor conditions.
- Indoor LED Displays: Generally IP40 or IP43 is enough to block larger particles but is neither waterproof nor windproof.
Temperature Resistance:
- Outdoor LED Displays: It needs to bear the changeable temperature from -40°C to +60°C, making the screen work steadily at any time.
- Indoor LED Displays: 0°C to +50°C, the variation of the environment inside is pretty small, so there’s no need to handle any extreme conditions of temperature when it comes to design.
UV and Wind Resistance:
- Outdoor LED Displays: Most enclosure materials are made from UV-resistant material that helps screens not to fade out under long sun exposure. Along with this, screens also require good wind resistance with a speed of 100 kilometers per hour or above.
- Indoor LED Displays: UV and wind problems do not need to be considered in particular, indoors. Thus, they generally have simpler designs, only for indoor environmental needs.
You can read about how to connect an LED film screen here.
Image Quality and Color
Indoor LED displays are of higher pixel density, usually within the range of 2mm to 4mm. The reason for this is to allow the screen to show more detailed images when it is looked at from close by. Since indoor conditions are usually softly lit, brightness is not something that needs to be too high, and 500 to 1500 nits is usually sufficient to meet the demands.
With the stable ambient light, color accuracy will be higher and colors in the images can be more vivid and detailed to present the details effectively.
- Lower brightness, ranges between 500 to 1500 nits, high-vibrant colors which would meet the indoor environment.
- Higher pixel density, highly detailed images, suitable for close-up viewing.
- Because of stable ambient light, color accuracy is higher. Color consistency is maintained at a high degree of fidelity.
Outdoor LED displays are subject to super-strong sunlight and glare interference; therefore, they must be much brighter to ensure that images are clearly perceived. Normally, brightness ranges from 2000 to 8000 nits, and some high-class products are more than 10000 nits.
Even so, in outdoor screen design, color contrast and color stability are still very important, which can guarantee that the images have enough layering and vividness under extremely strong light.
- Larger pixel pitch, from 6mm to 20mm, offers clear display for viewing over a long distance; the details of the images are not as fine compared to indoor screens.
- Higher brightness, normally from 2000 to 8000 nits, allows clear viewability of images in light conditions.
- High Contrast Design, For dealing with high ambient light, outdoor LED screens raise color contrast in order to ensure the layering of images, not to have colors disappear under sunlight.
- Adopt Dynamic Brightness Adjustment and Color Optimization Algorithm, maintain color consistency, precision in every different lighting condition.
You can read about size of an LED display here.
Viewing Distance and Angle
Indoor LED displays boast higher pixel density—from 2mm to 4mm, which is able to create more detailed images for close-range viewing. The viewing angle is smaller. As such, indoor LED ensures clear images can be obtained from any direction, which is mostly applicable in a conference, shops, or exhibitions, where the audience often stays at 1-5 meters.
Outdoor LED displays have larger pixel pitches, which range from 6mm to 20mm, and are designed for long-distance viewing. The viewing angles of outdoor LED screens are larger to clearly present images from a wide range of angles, suitable for places such as city streets, billboards, or stadiums, with audience distances reaching 5 to 100 meters or more.
| Feature | Indoor LED Displays | Outdoor LED Displays |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel Density | High (2mm – 4mm), suitable for close-up viewing | Low (6mm – 20mm), suitable for long-distance viewing |
| Viewing Distance | 1 meter to 5 meters | 5 meters to 100 meters or more |
| Viewing Angle | Horizontal angle ±160°, vertical angle ±90° | Horizontal angle ±160°, vertical angle ±90° |
| Applicable Environments | Conference rooms, shops, exhibitions, presentations | City streets, billboards, stadiums, building exteriors |
You can read about outdoor transparent LED display here.
Installation Location and Application
Indoor LED displays are used in indoor situations that are temperature- and environment-controlled. They offer great resolution, with color-accurate display effects:
- Conference Rooms: They are deployed for presentations, video conferencing, and the real-time display of information data in high clarity and color accuracy.
- Shops and Retail Displays: Used to showcase product information, advertisements, and promotional content, attracting customer attention and boosting sales conversion rates.
- Exhibitions and Showrooms: Used to display products, artworks, or brand promotions, emphasizing image details and color performance.
- Dining Establishments: Displayed for menus, advertisements, and atmosphere, supporting dynamic updates of menus to facilitate operations efficiently.
- Educational Institutions: Classroom teaching, announcement displays, and information dissemination will increase the interaction of teaching and effectiveness of information transmission.
Outdoor LED displays, used in open or semi-open environments, boast the characteristics of high brightness and resistance to bad weather:
- City Streets and Billboards: Advertisement promotion, public information displays, traffic information, advertisement, and other similar initiatives viewable by more than one million people per day.
- Stadiums and Large Event Venues: This includes live event broadcasting and displaying scores and information regarding the audience. Since thousands of viewers have to be considered under wide viewing angles, this is something that needs to be covered.
- Traffic Signage and Advertising Screens: Installed near highways, subway stations, and bus stops, with clearly visible information displays to reduce traffic congestion and improve the efficiency of public information dissemination.
- Building Facades and Exteriors: These are used for brand promotion and visual attraction, enhancing the building’s modern and technological appearance. Most well-known brands, like Apple and Samsung, advertise with these kinds of displays.
- Public Squares and Outdoor Exhibitions: These are used in the display of multimedia content, event information, and public service announcements to engage the citizenry and increase their participation.
You can read about cost of hiring an LED screen here.
Cost and Power Consumption
Indoor LED displays are much more expensive on unit area because of high pixel density and quality display effects, ranging from $1,200 to $2,500 per square meter.
As it works in an unchanging working condition, the frequency of maintenance would be lower, at an annual maintenance cost about 5% of the whole investment. Normally, power consumption is 300-800 watts per square meter, which would largely depend on the brightness and the time of usage. It uses energy-saving technology with an intelligent controlling system, thus energy consumption would reduce approximately 10%-20% or so.
Outdoor LED displays are much more expensive and consume much more power than indoor LED screens because they require higher brightness and are resistant to bad weather. The prices vary from $800 to $2,000 per square meter, while some high-class products can even reach more than $3,000 per square meter.
Outdoor environments are complicated and more frequent maintenance is required. Annual maintenance costs are around 10% to 15% of the initial investment. The general power consumption ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 watts per square meter due to high brightness requirements. The energy consumption can be reduced by about 15% to 25% if high-efficiency LED modules and intelligent brightness control are adopted.
You can read about advantages of flexible LED screens here.
