Every outdoor LED quote eventually reduces to one number: cost per square meter, per year, of bright and reliable operation. Here's what actually moves that number — in the order engineers usually get it wrong.
1. Pitch is a distance decision
Rule of thumb: minimum viewing distance in meters ≈ pixel pitch in millimeters.
| Pitch | Viewing distance | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 4mm | 4m+ | storefront, street-level media |
| 5mm | 5–8m | sports venues, events |
| 6.67mm | 8–15m | building facades, plazas |
| 8mm | 15–40m | highways, industrial parks |
Going finer than the site needs is the single most common way to inflate a quote — pixel count scales roughly with the inverse square of pitch. An 8mm screen carries ~14,400 px/m²; a 4mm carries ~57,600. Four times the driver ICs, four times the cost, zero visual benefit at 30 meters.
2. Scan ratio is the hidden electricity line
Scan ratio is how much of the panel is driven at any instant. Going from 1/4 to 1/2 scan cuts peak current per LED for the same brightness, which means cooler cabinets, lighter load on the PSU, and measurably longer diode life.
It's rarely on the spec sheet, and on a 16-hour-a-day screen it's a real line item over a five-year contract.
3. Brightness has to be judged in direct sun
Budget 8mm panels often cap at 5,000–5,500 nits. That's fine for shaded sites and marginal for open roads or west-facing facades. If the site gets full afternoon sun, >7,000 nits is not overspec — it's the difference between readable and washed out at 3pm.
4. Rear service vs. front service
If the cabinet isn't rear-service, every module swap on a facade means scaffolding to the front face. On a 60m² wall that turns a 20-minute job into a two-day job. Check this before you check anything cosmetic.
5. Standard cabinet sizes scale cheaply
A common 960×960mm die-cast platform lets a project grow in 960mm increments without re-engineering steel, power runs, or control. Same module size, same PSU brand, same controller across the pitch range means spares inventory stays small and installers only learn one structure.
Reference
Spec tables for the range described above (MuenLED AS Series, 960×960mm, IP65, rear service):
https://www.mlxled.com/product/as8-2s-high-brightness-7000cd-waterproof-led-display-outdoor-led-screen/
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