Choosing the right LED screen for your next event, rental or production is more important than you think, here are a few things to consider:
1. Are you indoors or outdoors?
2. Do you need the LED Panels to look good on camera?
3. Do you need flexible rigging options?
4. Are you wanting a semi / permanent installation?
Answering these few questions will assist in organising and hiring the right screen for the job.
Indoor vs Outdoor
Using an indoor LED Screen product for use outdoors in poor form, the panels are not designed to take the weather, the increase in wind pressure, and the heat of the sun, and being to dull to see in direct sunlight, this can cause a multitude of problems such as:
A poor performing screen
Image cuts out from overheating
Image to dark to view in sunlight
Screen panels get damaged from outdoor environment
People are at risk of a failed structure
People are at risk from electrical hazards
All these points above, if you're not using a product that is fit for outdoor use could go on to cause serious consequences in the future.
Camera and FPS
When deciding on your LED, will any cameras be pointed at it, and for what purpose? Poorly calibrated, low quality and cheap LED screens can cause a great world of troubles.
Image/text is hard to read
Weird lines and scrolling movement
Colours aren't true to life
Flashes and poorly shot camera footage
A cheap screen will cause lots of problems for you, your director, client and post production team, and even mediocre screens when shooting at higher then average FPS will bring out any underlying problems to be very prominent, and we don't wan't to be be that person when the question is asked, "Why didn't we get something that wasn't suitable?"
Rigging, stacking and hanging
So, you've got your screen sorted, now what? Do you need it hung above delegates or people? Is it a high traffic area? Are you wanting to make cool shapes, or funky designs which incorporate the screens panels?
Almost all LED Screens can be hung vertically, its the basic principle of most screens, you look forwards, and the screen is somewhat parallel to your position. But what if you want it so its on the roof? Or lots of people will be walking around it such as an outdoor activation, or trade show, perhaps you are wanting to break the screen up and do some funky design for your conference stage look, or band set.
Check with your LED Screen supplier to ensure their screen is capable of being used in the way you intend it, then if its outdoors, ensure whoever is building the structure to hold it, has an engineer to sign off on the actual design of the structure (this is different to a report on the materials used to create the structure), this can cost you a little extra, but it ensures that in the event of a catastrophe, freak storm or someone who got their licence from a cereal box, covers any risk on you, the equipment and most importantly your delegates and the public.
Long term hire
You've got all of your ducks in a row, you know how its being hung, how big it is, where and its design, but how long do you need it? A good question to ask is, can your screen be monitored remotely? A good LED screen supplier/hire company will have systems in place to ensure even when they are not onsite, the screen can be checked, monitored for faults, and even turn it on, off or change its brightness and even what's on the screen remotely.
This will give you confidence that the LED screen will be always doing exactly what you want it to be doing, and not looking like a freak of nature, having a spaz attack with a strobe light. It also allows you the freedom to run your screens at different brightness's throughout the course of your hire, this means when its bright, so is the screen so people can clearly see it, and when its dark your audience isn't feeling like they are looking into the sun.