When choosing a LED sign for your organization you need to ask yourself the following questions:

1. How far away do I want my LED sign to be seen from?
2. How much time will my target audience have to read my LED sign?
3. What kind of messages do I want to communicate to my target audience?

Answering these questions will determine whether or not you get your money's worth out of your LED sign purchase. This is why dealing with a reputable professional is important. A true professional concerned with reputation and a vested interest in your purchase will not sell you a LED sign that is inadequate for your purpose. This will eliminate most of the door-to-door "snake oil" salesmen that seem to be infesting the industry.

How Far?

Look carefully at the location where you want your LED sign to be installed. You want to be sure that your target audience will have the chance to read your complete message before they have passed your LED sign. After all that is the point of the message sign, to convey a message. If you choose the wrong display you will never accomplish the goal of communication.

What Size Letters?

This one is easy. Determine the maximum distance ( in feet ) that you want your LED sign to be visible and divide by 50.

As a general rule an illuminated character is visible for approximately 50' per 1" of character height. This varies with the boldness of the font, but it is a good general rule.

Pixel Matrix
The following sections will explain in more detail the factors that determine these.

Character Size on a LED Sign

This is determined by the pitch of the LED sign. Pitch refers to the vertical distance between the centers of each pixel. A LED sign with 1" pitch will result in a 7" character. Remember it takes 7 x 5 pixels for the standard character. As the pitch increases so should the diameter of each LED pixel. Some companies only spread their LED pixels further apart to accomplish larger characters. The result is a much less legible sign. The better companies increase the diameter of the pixels so there is less dead space in between them. The result is a brighter more legible sign.

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How Much Time?

Travel past the location and determine the starting point and ending point of the visibility of that spot. Note the distance from start to finish and the time it takes to travel that distance. Let someone else drive while you do this. If your target audience is stopped at a traffic light, you will be able to communicate complete messages with a smaller LED sign. If your LED sign is to be viewed by pedestrian traffic the factors still remain the same. How long will it take the average person to walk past your LED sign. How far away do you want them to be able to view it from.?

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How Much Information?

Take a few minutes and consider the type of message that you want to communicate. Write them out and look at them. When programming a LED sign you will want to use abbreviations whenever possible and avoid punctuation marks. Brevity is the key.

LED Pixels

A LED pixel is a group of LED's that form the dots that are used to create letters and numbers, which are referred to simply as characters, or to create graphic pictures. A pixel is usually comprised of a number of LED's.

The Matrix

Matrix is the most important factor in determining the value and cost of a LED sign.
A LED sign is comprised of an array of pixels. These are arranged into horizontal rows and vertical columns. The number of rows and columns is known as the pixel matrix, display matrix, pixel array or the display resolution. The pixel matrix will determine the amount of information a LED sign will display at one time.

The Standard Character Matrix

A LED display will utilize a matrix of 7 pixels x 5 pixels to show standard English characters. There is a condensed font that will show characters in a 5 x 4 matrix however it is less legible than the standard 7 x 5 character. When comparing LED sign do not be deceived by this difference. Many companies will refer to the condensed letter size
when stating the LED sign capabilities. Always check the pixel matrix.

Lines of Characters on a LED Sign

Because a space is needed between lines of characters, it requires eight pixel rows to display a standard row of characters on a LED sign. A LED sign with 16 pixel rows will show two lines of characters. 24 pixels will display 3 lines, etc.

Number of Characters on a LED Sign

Because a space is needed between characters, it requires six pixel columns to display each standard character. Consequently a LED sign with 64 pixel columns will display 10 characters, 80 columns will display 13 characters, etc..

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