What is the viewing distance for LED wall?

LED Solutions, LLC

When selecting a Direct View LED video wall, the most fundamental decision a customer must make is what pixel pitch to choose. Pixel pitch (or just pitch) is a measure of the physical distance, in millimeters, between pixels in the LED video wall. A 2 millimeter (2mm) pitch LED video wall has 2mm distance between the centers of any two adjacent pixels.

Pixel pitch directly determines pixel density (the number of pixels in a given screen area) and pixel density, in turn, directly determines recommended viewing distance (the distance away from the video wall that a person must stand in order to have a satisfactory viewing experience). The finer (smaller) the pitch, the closer the acceptable viewing distance. The larger the pitch, the further away a viewer must stand in order to have a good viewing experience.

Today, fine pitch LED video walls are considered to be within the range from 0.7mm to approximately 2.9mm. Standard pitches are considered to be approximately 3mm and larger. Pitch also directly influences cost – as pitches and viewing distances decrease, pixel density and costs increase. For the best value, it’s important to know the average viewing distance for the application, then select the finest pitch required for that application and viewing distance.

Viewing Distance Calculation

In the end, acceptable viewing distance is whatever a customer perceives to be acceptable. There are, however, methodologies used in the industry to determine acceptable viewing distance in a more objective way:

Visual Acuity Distance

Visual Acuity Distance (sometimes referred to as “Retina Distance” as popularized by Apple Inc.) is a formulated calculation of the distance a person with 20/20 vision must move away from an LED video wall in order to no longer distinguish individual pixels.

10x Rule

The 10x Rule is a shorthand method for quickly calculating an approximate estimate of the Visual Acuity Distance.

Average Comfortable Viewing Distance

The Average Comfortable Viewing Distance is the estimated viewing distance that most people will find the video wall’s appearance acceptable. This estimation is based on a large number of real world installations. Average Comfortable Viewing Distance is subjective and can be impacted by a number of variables including a person’s eye sight, application, resolution of content and type of content (e.g. video vs spreadsheet).

Viewing Distance Chart

This Viewing Distance Chart lists the calculations for Visual Acuity Distance and Average Comfortable Viewing Distance related to pixel pitches from 0.7mm to 10mm.

Pixel Pitch(millimeters)

Visual Acuity Distance(feet / inches | meters)

Average Comfortable Viewing Distance(feet / inches | meters)

0.75mm

8ft 6in | 2.58m

4ft 3in | 1.29m

1.00mm

11ft 3in | 3.44m

5ft 8in | 1.72m

1.25mm

14ft 1in | 4.30m

7ft 1in | 2.15m

1.50mm

16ft 11in | 5.16m

8ft 6in | 2.58m

1.75mm

19ft 9in | 6.02m

9ft 11in | 3.01m

2.00mm

22ft 7in | 6.88m

11ft 3in | 3.44m

2.25mm

25ft 5in | 7.74m

12ft 8in | 3.87m

2.50mm

28ft 2in | 8.60m

14ft 1in | 4.30m

2.75mm

31ft 0in | 9.45m

15ft 6in | 4.73m

3.00mm

33ft 10in | 10.31m

16ft 11in | 5.16m

4.00mm

45ft 1in | 13.75m

22ft 7in | 6.88m

5.00mm

56ft 5in | 17.19m

28ft 3in | 8.60m

6.00mm

67ft 8in | 20.63m

33ft 10in | 10.31m

7.00mm

78ft 11in | 24.07m

39ft 6in | 12.03m

8.00mm

90ft 3in | 27.50m

45ft 1in | 13.75m

9.00mm

101ft 6in | 30.94m

50ft 9in | 15.47m

10.00mm

112ft 10in | 34.38m

56ft 5in | 17.19m

Simon Lan

LED screens will play a vital role in the digital era, with vast potential in various industries. We'll innovate and optimize our LED screen solutions, expand application areas, invest in R&D, and provide clients with better visual solutions, dedicating ourselves to driving healthy industry development and creating business value. We believe in the bright and promising future of the LED screen industry through cooperation and joint efforts.