LED Basics 101: Pixel and Pixel Pitch

PIXEL

In the LED sign industry, pixel and pixel pitch are two commonly used terms. Pixel is the smallest controllable element of a picture and is either a grouping of diodes or a single LED. The quality of pixels refers to the population of LED components per pixel.

The red, green, and blue diodes in each grouping make up each pixel. The diagram seen here shows the proximity of each individual diode in two different LED configurations.

PITCH

Pixel pitch is a standard measurement to indicate the resolution of a digital sign based on the spacing of LED clusters/pixels. By definition, pixel pitch is the distance in millimeters from the center of a pixel to the center of the adjacent pixel. The closer the pixels are together, the more clarity an image has.

The images below illustrate how the proximity of pixels affects the crispness of an image. The smaller the pitch, the closer the pixels are together, presenting a more crisp image on the display.