Whether you're buying an LED wall to replace projection screens, be a stage backdrop, or for any other creative use - the question of size will almost always be a consideration. 

And while bigger is (almost always) better, it isn't always.

If you go too small due to budget cuts, you might end up with a postage-stamp sized screen instead of what you really need, which can cause your content to be too small for the human eye to see well at the viewing distances in your space.

How Do I Decide on LED Wall Size?

Screen size doesn't live in a vacuum, it's a decision made and impacted by other decisions that you will make, including the pixel pitch. 

The first part of the answer is going to be dependent on the type of application you have - how much space is available for the screen and what type of content is being played on it. 

Every type of content is going to have a minimum amount of pixels that it will need to look correct - for example, we often work with sports bars who want to take a 16:9 screen and split it in 4 different games.  If you want to do this AND still be able to read the score, then you'll want to have close to an HD resolution for each quadrant of the video wall - or a 4k resolution in total at the very minimum.  

For stage-type scenarios, you want to think about how large you want the letters to be on any slides that you may display - you want them to be readable from the back of the room for people who don't have quite 20/20 vision!  In your context, that may be lyrics for a worship service, or points on a CEO's slide deck - but either way, you want them to be legible!

As you start to look at your current space and any current screens you have - ask yourself - is it easy to put text on slides that are too small for the screens to be legible in the back of the room?  Then you should consider a larger screen or secondary screens near the rear of the room if the space is especially long.

How Do You Decide on an Aspect Ratio?

 One of the other "fun" parts about LED walls is that they don't have to conform to the normal 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratios that traditional projectors lock you in to.  This gives you the HUGE advantage of not having to make all of your media 16:9 - if you've ever done a creative size with video projectors, then you know how much light you lose when you aren't using the entire image of a projector!

However, having the ability to free-form your screen size isn't always a win.  If you use graphics or video that is sized for normal screens, then it can look really awkward when it's letterboxed to fit on your "creative-sized" display.

That being said, going extra tall or extra wide with an LED wall can look really great in a lot of circumstances.  Even better, they give you the creative ability to space wall segments outside of a main screen and really extend the screen across your space without breaking the bank!

Just remember - if you are building graphics and slides, you'll have to build it for a non-standard screen size, which can take longer.  It can certainly be fun to have a non-standard sized wall, but you DO have to take the time to build graphics for it, or else it really won't shine as bright as it should!

The long and short of it - if you don't want to spend time building graphics that work for a extra wide or extra tall screen, just stick with 16:9 or similar.  With most LED wall panels and common screen sizes, you can get close to a 16:9 image and make it look really great!

What Else Do I Need to Know?