For owners and operators in the out-of-home (OOH) space, LED screens have moved from “nice-to-have” to “mission-critical.” Whether you’re upgrading a lobby video wall, adding a roadside board, or rolling out a network across venues, the fastest path to ROI is matching the environment (indoor vs. outdoor) to the right hardware, pixel pitch, brightness, and service model.
If you’re new to specifying LED—or you’re standardizing after mixed purchases—this guide distills what actually matters in the field, with practical ranges and decision checkpoints. For detailed product lines and case examples, see the indoor LED screen on Unit LED and the outdoor LED screen on Unit LED pages.
1) Start With the Viewing Scenario (Not the Spec Sheet)
The single biggest driver of pixel pitch, cabinet design, and brightness is where and how the audience watches.
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Indoor: predictable ambient light, shorter viewing distances, stricter aesthetic requirements (seams, color accuracy), more content variety (informational, ambient, brand).
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Outdoor: extreme weather/UV, long viewing distances, high ambient light (direct sun), shorter dwell times, municipal permitting, stricter safety compliance.
A quick rule of thumb for pitch vs. minimum comfortable viewing distance:
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Indoor:
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P1.5 → ~1.5–2 m
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P2.0 → ~2–3 m
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P2.5 → ~2.5–3.5 m
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P3.9–P4.8 → ~4–6 m (retail atriums, arenas concourses)
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Outdoor:
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P3.9–P6 → ~6–10 m (street-level to plaza)
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P8–P10 → ~10–20 m (arterial roads)
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P12–P16+ → 20 m+ (highways, tall façades)
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Guiding idea: choose the largest pitch your minimum viewing distance allows; you’ll reduce cost without sacrificing perceived sharpness.
2) Brightness, Contrast, and Why Nits Aren’t Everything
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Indoor: 600–1,200 nits covers most retail, corporate, and education environments. Above ~1,500 nits can look harsh and wash out color in dim rooms.
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Outdoor: 5,000–8,000 nits is the norm for sunlit façades; auto-dimming at night is essential to meet local ordinances and maintain comfortable viewing.
Contrast is just as crucial outdoors. Look for mask/lamella designs that cut glare, deep blacks, and calibration that maintains shadow detail—your daytime legibility depends on it.
3) Ingress, Structure, and Serviceability
Outdoor deployments live or die on IP rating, drainage, and access:
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Indoor cabinets: typically front-service, lighter frames, fanless or low-noise cooling.
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Outdoor cabinets: IP65 (front) / IP54–65 (rear) with gasketing, conformal-coated PCBs, corrosion-resistant fasteners, and thoughtful cable glands.
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Access: front-service modules reduce catwalk needs; for tall boards, a modular front-service design is a safety and cost win.
4) Side-by-Side Snapshot
| Category | Indoor LED | Outdoor LED |
|---|---|---|
| Typical Pixel Pitch | P1.2–P3.9 | P3.9–P16+ |
| Brightness (nits) | 600–1,500 | 5,000–8,000 |
| IP Rating | IP20–IP43 | IP65 (front) / IP54–65 (rear) |
| Viewing Distance | 1.5–6 m | 6–50 m+ |
| Cabinet/Mask | Fanless, matte masks, color-first | Sunshades, anti-glare masks |
| Access | Front-service preferred | Front or rear; front reduces structure |
| Power Budget | Lower (indoor loads) | Higher; thermal management critical |
| Permitting | Minimal | Often required (sign code, brightness limits) |
5) Content: Plan for Dwell Time and Legibility
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Indoor: longer dwell, lower motion speeds are fine, more detailed typography and gradients.
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Outdoor: 3–6 second read windows, high-contrast text, bold shapes, minimal fine detail. Use motion sparingly—too much lowers legibility and can violate local rules.
Type and color tips (field-tested):
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Minimum letter height ≈ screen height (m) × 60–80 (in mm) for roadside reads.
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Prefer solid fills over thin outlines; avoid low-contrast pastels against bright backgrounds.
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Keep line lengths short; prioritize brand mark + headline + single CTA.
6) Power and Thermal Reality Check
Budget both peak and typical consumption. Many operators now size circuits to typical × 1.6–2.0 rather than nameplate peak, paired with power-limiting and calibrated brightness curves. For outdoor, evaluate:
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Vent path (no recirculating hot air)
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Solar gain on dark façades
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Dust and insect ingress around louver edges
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Smart dimming tied to ambient sensors
7) Structural & Safety Considerations
Outdoor signage triggers wind load calculations, seismic considerations (in certain regions), and safe access for maintenance. Collaborate early with a licensed structural engineer. For wall-mounts, verify:
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Substrate capacity (concrete vs. cladding)
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Galvanic isolation between dissimilar metals
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Drain planes that don’t trap water behind the cabinet
Indoors, check slab loading, anchor spacing, and egress (don’t block fire equipment or signage).
8) Buying Framework: A Short Checklist
A. Define the brief
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Sightline map and minimum viewing distance
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Operating hours and ambient light profile
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Content mix (text-heavy vs. branding vs. live feeds)
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On-site power and data runs
B. Specify the screen
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Pitch aligned to viewing distance
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Brightness with auto-dimming (outdoor) or capped (indoor)
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IP rating (outdoor), maintenance access, module alignment tolerance
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Calibration target: D65, gamma 2.2–2.4, uniformity spec
C. Plan installation
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Structure, wind/seismic calcs, permits (outdoor)
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Cable schedule, breaker sizing, network path (fiber for long runs)
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Commissioning: grayscale + color calibration, ambient sensor tuning
D. Set operational standards
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Content legibility guidelines (font sizes, color contrast, dwell time)
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Quarterly health checks (dead pixels, PSU temps, fan RPM), annual deep clean
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Brightness audits at night to comply with local limits
9) Budgeting: From CapEx to ROI
A simple way to sanity-check ROI on an advertising-driven screen:
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Monthly revenue target = (Ad slots per hour × hours/day × sell-through × CPM-equivalent)
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Operating cost = power (kWh × rate), connectivity, content ops, quarterly service reserve
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Payback horizon = CapEx ÷ (Monthly revenue − Operating cost)
Levers that reliably improve payback: right-sizing pixel pitch, standardized cabinet families, front-service designs (less structure), and content that maximizes legibility (higher sell-through).
10) Common Pitfalls (and Easy Wins)
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Over-spec’d indoor brightness → raised black levels and eye fatigue. Cap and calibrate.
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Under-spec’d outdoor contrast → daytime washout. Choose anti-glare masks and deeper blacks.
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Ignoring service access → costly lifts and road closures. Design for front-service where possible.
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No content standards → pretty animations that don’t read. Enforce typographic minimums.
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Skipping permits → fines and takedowns. Engage authorities early and document nit levels with ambient dimming.
11) Putting It Together
If you map minimum viewing distance, ambient light, and maintenance reality first, the rest of the choices fall into place. For a corporate lobby wall with 2–3 m viewing, a P1.5–P2.0 indoor panel at ~800–1,000 nits with tight color calibration is ideal. For a city-facing board read from 30 m, a P10 at ~6,500–8,000 nits with robust IP65 cabinets, ambient dimming, and front-service modules will minimize lifetime cost and downtime.
When you evaluate vendors, ask for:
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Factory calibration reports and sample grayscale sweeps
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A live demo under your content (especially whites, reds, and skin tones)
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Thermal/power data at your target brightness, not just peak
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A maintenance plan that spells out spare modules, SLAs, and access method
Final Word
LED is no longer experimental in OOH—it’s infrastructure. Treat the specification like you would any capital asset: align technical choices to real-world operating conditions, lock in maintenance access, and enforce content standards. Do that, and your screens will deliver consistent legibility, fewer service calls, and faster payback—indoors or out.