LED vs LCD: Key Differences for Commercial Displays

LED vs LCD: Key Differences for Commercial Displays

What is LED?

What is LCD?

Key Differences Between LCD and LED When Used in Displays

Types and Applications for LED and LCD Displays

How to Choose One for Business Use

It’s difficult to pick a side when it comes to the LED versus LCD video wall debate, whether it’s the differences in technology, picture quality or carbon footprint factors. To that end, there are several elements that need to be considered when choosing which solution is most suitable for your needs.

In fact, there appears to be no better time than the current to consider these displays, given that the global video wall market is poised to grow by 11-percent by 2026.

The bottom line is that if you’re in the market for a video wall based on business demands, you’ve probably run into a plethora of confusing information. As the world’s top LED screen and display manufacturer, Unilumin is here to make sense of all the noise and lead you in the right direction for your next conference, trade show or other event.

We’re about to throw a good deal of information at you, so let’s first take a moment to explain why both LED and LCD video walls are a good investment in the first place. To begin with, it should be understood that the age-old suggestion that “bigger is better” holds some truth when it comes to audio/video hardware – a video wall immediately symbolizes that a company is established, and sends a subconscious message that consumers should take the business seriously. Video walls help you stand out and compete with all the other businesses investing in jaw-dropping and eye-catching displays.

We’ll get into some of this in greater detail later on in the blog, but for now, here are things you should consider when determining if a video wall is a good choice for you:

Distance – In a nutshell, the further your video wall is from viewers, the bigger it needs to be in order to make an impact, much like when shopping for a TV.

Content – After you finalize the size of your video wall, your AV integrator can provide you with the exact dimensions and resolution your content needs to be.

Venue Type – An indoor trade show without windows, for example, presents a different challenge than an outdoor venue.

Price – In budgeting for your video wall, make sure to keep in mind that a video wall system is always going to cost more than monitors, projectors or other digital signage.

What is LED?

Once reserved for massive venues like shopping malls and stadiums, LED walls have become much more accessible for corporate events in recent years. An LED wall is comprised of many smaller LED panels, with each panel boasting hundreds of tiny light sources dubbed “light emitting diodes” – hence “LED” – that can change color to create a large, seamless image.

Installers can add panels until an LED wall is as massive as you need it to be.

Unilumin Fun Fact: The Suzhou Sky Screen in China is the world’s largest LED video wall, measuring 1,640 feet long – or about 4.5 football fields.

What is LCD?

An LCD video wall is a large surface built from many LCD screens upon which video or images could be displayed. It’s safe to say you’ve had interactions with LCD screens before – they form the basis of your laptop, TV monitor and more. However, the LCD video wall screens are designed to run longer while boasting thinner edges, known as bezels. Technicians and installers use specialized tools and hardware to stack LCD screens on top of one another, calibrating the wall so that an image is splashed across every screen.

There are also temporary LCD walls, which can be configured for a myriad of sizes and shapes, both large and small, but they typically don’t apex five screens across and five high.

Key Differences Between LCD and LED When Used in Displays

In this section, we’ll take a look at such factors as backlight technology, energy efficiency, color accuracy, viewing angles, contrast ratio, response time, lifespan, thickness and weight, as they relate to use cases for LCD and LED display walls.

To start with, both LED and LCD displays use Liquid Crystal Display technology and a series of lamps situated at the back of the screen to produce the images everyone sees. LED screens use light-emitting diodes for backlights, while LCDs use fluorescent backlights; LEDs can also boast full-array lighting, wherein the LEDs are placed evenly across the entire screen (similar to LCD). However, the important difference is that the LEDs boast set zones, and these zones can be “dimmable” – a process known as “local dimming” primarily in the flat-panel TV world. This implementation can significantly improve picture quality because if a certain portion of the screen needs to be darker, the zone of LEDs can be dimmed to create deeper black levels and improved image contrast.

When it comes to the differences between LCD and LED power consumption/energy efficiency, LED displays require considerably less energy than their LCD counterparts. This is largely due to the aforementioned LED backlighting demanding fewer bulbs compared to LCD, yielding a more efficient energy usage.

LED displays have better color accuracy, contrast and overall brightness than LCDs due to their wider color gamut, with high-end LED video walls able to display a larger percentage of the sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. Some professional-grade LCD applications still offer excellent color accuracy, though, notably those boasting IPS panels. Similarly, LED screens, particularly those using IPS technology, tend to offer wider viewing angles than traditional LCD setups – this means colors and contrast remain more consistent when viewing the screen from different angles.

LED displays, especially those with full-array backlighting, generally offer superior picture quality with better contrast ratios and deeper blacks compared to an LCD display. It is also important, when choosing a display type for a video wall, to consider response time and refresh rate; LED screens typically enjoy faster response times, reducing ghosting and motion blur, while both LED and LCD screens can offer high refresh rates (for example 144Hz or 240Hz).

In terms of lifespan, LED screens tend to have a longer life compared to LCDs due to their more durable backlighting tech – that said, LED backlights typically last 50,000 to 100,000 hours while CCFL backlights in traditional LCDs last around 30,000 to 60,000 hours. And, depending upon your particular application, the factor of thickness must be taken into account, with LCD being thicker, in general, than LED so far as screen/display usage.

Types and Applications for LED and LCD Displays

LED technology has altered the way we interact with our world and devices, from the small indicators on our electronics to the massive displays in public spaces. The pros of this technology, such as high energy efficiency, increased brightness and longevity of LED displays, make it a practical choice for a sweeping range of applications – and this is why they’re found in almost every device we use, ranging from screens and monitors to automobiles, smart items and billboards.

When you’re ready to invest in a video wall type of presentation, consider:

Text display LEDs

Image display LEDs

Video displays

Digital displays

LED lattice image text displays

LCDs are used in a wide variety of applications, including LCD televisions, computer monitors, instrument panels, aircraft cockpit displays and indoor/outdoor signage. LCD video wall applications, such as those available through Unilumin, bring options for different sizes, brightness, configurations and orientations, and combine to create nearly seamless video walls of any size.

How to Choose One for Business Use

When deciding on the best technology for your next video wall project – whether it’s a mission-critical control room, a stunning lobby installation or an engaging retail display – you’re going to have to consider some factors, along with the advantages and drawbacks of different direct-view display technologies for each.

Some things you want to keep in mind include:

Brightness

Seamlessness

Image quality

Viewing distance

Initial cost versus total cost of ownership

If you are still confused about which display to choose, send us an inquiry sales08@avoe-led.com to get a professional solution right away.