diy alternatives to lcd displays price

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Looking to take your project to the next level in terms of functionality and appearance? A custom LCD display might be the thing that gets you there, at least compared to the dot-matrix or seven-segment displays that anyone and their uncle can buy from the usual sources for pennies. But how does one create such a thing, and what are the costs involved? As is so often the case these days, it’s simpler and cheaper than you think, and [Dave Jones] has a great primer on designing and specifying custom LCDs.

The video below is part of an ongoing series; a previous video covered the design process, turning the design into a spec, and choosing a manufacturer; another discussed the manufacturer’s design document approval and developing a test plan for the module. This one shows the testing plan in action on the insanely cheap modules – [Dave] was able to have a small run of five modules made up for only $138, which included $33 shipping. The display is for a custom power supply and has over 200 segments, including four numeric sections, a clock display, a bar graph, and custom icons for volts, amps, millijoules, and watt-hours. It’s a big piece of glass and the quality is remarkable for the price. It’s not perfect – [Dave] noted a group of segments on the same common lines that were a bit dimmer than the rest, but was able to work around it by tweaking the supply voltage a bit.

We’re amazed at how low the barrier to entry into custom electronics has become, and even if you don’t need a custom LCD, at these prices it’s tempting to order one just because you can. Of course, you can also build your own LCD display completely from scratch too.

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I always finding it interesting when a new customer of ours calls to let us know that they can find cheap LCD displays, the same LCD we supply, for almost half the price. After all, cheap LCD displays are the same no matter where you purchase it. Right?

Let me assure you that the phrase, ‘You get what you pay for’ is just as true for LCD displays as it is for insurance, fine jewelry, car repairs and open heart surgery. You will always be able to find a lower cost product or service, but many times you are not comparing apples to apples.

When I was in college I was as close to broke as one could be, but I needed a ratchet set to make repairs on the car. At first, I looked at the Craftsman brand of tools. They were steel, not Aluminum with a life time guarantee that any Sears store would honor. Then, I found another ratchet set at a drug store. It was next to the school supplies and hair products. The drugstore"s tool set was 1/3 of the cost. They were cheap, but hey, I am not a full-time mechanic; why invest in something I will only use a few times?

After talking to a friend at school who highly suggested spending the extra money and investing in the quality, I knew the choice to make. I bought smart instead of cheap and to make a long story short, 20+ years later my Craftsman tools are going strong. They have survived rain, grease, and teenagers. Not so ironically the drug store doesn’t exist anymore and I’m confident their products wouldn’t either had I purchased them long ago.

I now have an attitude that you need to look at each purchase as either an ‘investment’ or expendable item. Identifying an item as expendable is not bad, but you need to choose what is and what is not expendable. For me paper towels, razors, duct tape are all expendable items; whereas reading glasses, car tires, and smoke detectors are an investment.

There is a reason why some things cost more, you are buying the quality and support that come with the set of wrenches or tires or whatever the product. It may sound a bit capitalistic, but if the manufacturer is not making a solid profit, then there is a good chance they will not be around in a year to support you.

The word “cheap” is so polarized in that in one instance you can revel in the victory of finding that super low price and yet simultaneously it is no victory at all if someone looks at your product and says, “Wow, that looks cheap.” So, let’s talk about Cheap LCD displays.

The long and short of it is that LCD’s are in investment. In many cases, they are the most expensive component in your product, but you need to balance that with the fact that they are also what the customer looks at the most. If you are building a hand held device that measures the PH of pool water, it’s a safe bet that people will be looking at the display far more than the battery compartment on the back of the unit. The cheap LCD display may save you a fraction of what other suppliers are quoting, but what is it costing you? Return customers. Good online reviews. Word-of-mouth advertising.

There is a rule of thumb statistic that says it costs a company 7 times more money to earn a new customer, than it does to keep a current customer. So why would you save 20% or even 40% off the cost of an LCD and in return lose your current customers. The savings will not offset the increased advertising cost to bring in new customers.

There are three main fluids used in a monochrome LCD module. They are TN, STN and FSTN. Each fluid has its own niche in which it operates well. One of the main factors impacted by the different fluids is acceptable viewing angle of the display.

TN, twisted nematic, is the lowest cost fluid and has the smallest viewing angle. That means that as you rotate the display farther from center, it will become harder to read. A mistake would be to assume that a TN display is junk; rather, it serves as an excellent unit for a very specific set of products.

FSTN, film super-twisted nematic displays, are on the other end of the spectrum. They are more expensive than TN and STN, but it offers a sharper contrast and a much wider viewing angle. If you are building a portable device that measures radiation, you want to make sure you can see the numbers on the display from as wide of viewing able as possible. Using a TN in the application may save you as much as 15% on the cost of the display, but is this type of product an investment or expendable?

LCD displays are quite diverse when it comes to the temperatures in which they can operate well. Some even have as much and more than 100 degrees window of successful operation. There are three main temperature ranges of an LCD unit:Normal temperature (indoor temps—think of your living room)

The cost difference between normal temp and ultra wide temperatures can be as much as 30%. Therefore, identifying the appropriate temperature range is critical to have the best device for the best price.

Take for instance one customer of ours who needed the display to work properly on oil rigs near the North Pole. Their product monitors the safety equipment on the rig. Is it worth spending the extra $5 on a display that can survive working in all conditions? Is the LCD display an investment or expendable?

We live in a global economy where various jobs and services have been outsourced. Many of these suppliers can provide cheap products, but often with that savings comes hidden costs. These costs are often to the quality of the product and the service you receive.

When a supplier is promising you the cheapest deal out there, you need to make sure that you are again dealing with an apples-to-apples comparison. Make sure that they aren’t saving you money by offering you a display that has the cheapest temperature range or the narrowest viewing angle, especially when those aren’t what will suit your product and your situation. They may just be choosing the cheapest alternatives of all the many options available, all to have you wind up with a unusable or inferior product. Then, you not only have a product you aren’t thrilled about but you face the problem of shipping the product back to the foreign country from which it came. This is not a convenient way to deal with the fallout from the “cheap” product! There is a real advantage to buying a product that has American support and part of that advantage is simply the convenience of speaking the same language and being within one shipping day apart from your customer support.

Another primary issue—and one that has become a sensitive topic in recent years with widespread outsourcing—is service. When you are calling for help with an issue, the likelihood is that you are already a little frustrated and just want the customer service representative to solve your problem with a quick, clear, and intelligible 2 minute conversation. When you spend a painstaking 20 or 30 minutes trying to explain the problem and understand the representative after you already spent 20 minutes in a phone tree or on hold waiting to talk to someone that is an intolerable situation.

We understand that frustration and at Focus Display Solutions we offer uncompromising customer service and we provide it in a way that we would want to be served. We strive to pick up the phone on the first ring. We can talk to you about the products from a knowledge based on years of experience and not from a script that someone else wrote to troubleshoot only the most common problems. When you call us you talk to humans, not machines. We offer personal service to get the product right the first time and we do it in a way that works with your personal style.

Some customers want to talk on the phone, some only like email. We cater to both. And by the way, we do not believe in the weekly ‘email blast’. This may have been helpful at one time, but when you receive 50 to 100 emails a day. You don’t need to read about, “A one day sale on yellow/green LED backlights. Call today and mention savings code 123!”

The engineer took our price and specs and called back a few days later saying that another LCD vendor came in with a similar product that would cost in the low $5 range. Red flags immediately went up in my mind. Something was not right about this cheap LCD display. The display was similar, but upon inspection there were some ‘strings’ attached.

This is critical if you plan to build your product for the next few years. You will need to purchase more of these exact LCD displays in the future. When that time comes and you find out that the LCD modules are discontinued, you are in deep trouble. Your only option is to redesign your product for the current LCD.

Redesigns are not only very costly, but they also take a good deal of time. All this time your assembly lines are stalled and your sales people have nothing to sell.

Keep in mind that if you plan to repair your customer’s product, it is critical to have a supply of the original LCD. You cannot use a new LCD in an old product in the same way you cannot use a VHS tape (for those of you over the age of 20) in a blue ray player.

A simple tip is to do a little research on the product. Google can be your best friend. When someone offers you a screaming deal on a cheap LCD display, type in the part # and manufacture into Google; you may quickly find out why the prices are so cheap.

There are companies that contact us to buy our surplus/returns. These companies are providing a valuable service by keeping displays out of the landfills. If you need to be able to purchase the exact same LCD in the future, stay away from refurbished units. Once they are gone, there are no rain checks. Many of these displays can be found on eBay and other online auctions.

FOB means Freight On Board. In other words, when it comes time to pay the freight bill, how much will it cost? Are you paying to bring in the parts all the way from the Far East? Or does the quote include the cost to bring them to your door step.

Focus Displays Solutions prefers to include the cost of the freight of those component parts from the Far East to Chandler, AZ. This way the customer only has to pay for the shipping from Arizona to their location.

That engineer quickly realized that asking the three critical questions makes all the difference in the price of the product! Getting cheap LCD displays is not always a mistake, just remember to ask questions and really think through whether this is an investment or an expendable item.

Video walls deliver the wow factor and imbue commercial office space with that modern look associated with cutting-edge companies. Video walls display content in a way that is unique and captures the attention of target audiences.

You can absolutely still create such displays on a budget without breaking the bank, though. This article will provide you with a general overview of what a video wall for a commercial enterprise might cost, from a very simple video wall to a much more elaborate setup. This will help you narrow down the size, style, and price range that fits your needs and budget.

The overall costs of a video wall depend largely on size, processor, type of display technology and quality of video mounts, as well as ancillary costs like installation, making video walls one of the most customizable pieces of technology you can install.

Now, one more note before I start breaking down options and prices. When I talk about video walls, I’m not referring to buying four TVs from a big box store and hanging them together. TVs are problematic as video walls for a number of reasons. Their bezels are usually larger and have logos, they’re usually not bright enough to serve as commercial displays, and they can’t meet the demand of 24/7 usage. You’ll hear me discuss LCDs and LEDs, but when I do, I’ll be referring to monitors, not TVs. It’s an important distinction.

While blended front projections and rear projection cubes are viable options for video walls, LED and LCDs are the most common display technology used for video walls.

Generally, LEDs are more expensive than LCDs (for models that deliver the same image quality), making the latter the budget-friendly choice. The major tradeoff is the LCD’s bezel lines for the line-free LED array.

When viewed from a distance, LED displays deliver a large seamless image presentation that’s ideal for stage presentation screens, corporate branding, and digital signage use cases. Using the correct pixel pitch makes LED display deliver a picture-perfect image that’s free of bezels or lines; however, they are not great for close viewing, though that is improving.

For simple video walls, a basic 2×2 high-quality LCD unit can cost as little as $4800, while larger, more elaborate setups with more advanced features (touchscreen capabilities) can go as high as $30,000.

You also need to consider the cost of mounting hardware and installation. A 2×2 mounting kit costs around $650, freestanding mounting kits go for $2,500 while complex sliding rails for very large displays can cost as much as $100,000. There are cost-effective options for enterprises on a budget as well as elaborate setups for companies who want to pull out all the stops.

A 1.2mm pixel pitch LED video wall costs approximately $2K sq./ft. This figure translates into $200K for a video wall with 160” x 90” outside dimensions. This includes the mounts, panels and installation costs without taking into account the cost of infrastructure, installation and programming and other ancillary costs (like tax and shipping).

While LEDs are more expensive than LCDs, they lend themselves to more customization in terms of size and shape, with the added benefit of being bezel-less.

It’s best not to scrimp on mounts. You should choose a mount that is sufficiently rigid to prevent sagging and able to provide alignment adjustments in all axes when needed. Most importantly, use mounts that permit front serviceability of individual panels. This prevents the need to remove other panels to service just one failed panel, thus reducing the cost of maintenance and repairs.

There is also a new motorized video wall mount that allows monitors to be serviced without even touching them. I’ll discuss this more in a future post.

Video processors handle video rotation, layering, or windowing of content and other custom effects. Depending on the content to be displayed and how it will be displayed, video processors can easily become the most expensive component of the video wall. The cost depends largely on the number of simultaneous layers displayed on the wall at a given time and the number of physical inputs and outputs required. Processors can range from $15k to $80K, depending on complexity.

For very simple video walls, you can purchase processors that cost far less. However, you should always go for good quality processors since low-quality ones may produce slow videos that will ruin the effect of your displays.

Now, some video wall monitors actually have tiling built in, so basic functionality already exists within the displays themselves. So if what you are displaying is very simple and straightforward, you may not even need a processor.

Also, custom content needs to be created (or scaled to fit) for video walls that don’t come in standard resolutions like 1080P, 2K,4K, etc. You might want to avoid such non-standard walls since it can be quite expensive to create such custom content. Instead, try to use a video wall layout that maintains standard aspect ratios. For LED walls, this means a 16:10, 16:9, or other cinema aspect ratios while LCD arrays should come in 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, and other standard array sizes.

With the wide range in prices of video wall components, processors, mounts and other ancillary fees, companies can afford to build a video wall, no matter their budget constraints. While DIY installation costs can help reduce costs, it isn’t advisable. You should always look for reliable, high-quality vendors and installation experts to help you create the ideal video wall for your business.

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Liquid Crystal Displays or more commonly known as LCDs are one of the most common electronic components which help us interact with an equipment or a device. Most personal portable equipment and even gigantic industrial equipment utilize a custom segment display to display data. For many portable consumer electronics, a segment LCD display is one of the biggest contributors to the overall cost of the device, hence designing a custom segment display can drive the cost down while also utilizing the display area in the most optimum manner. These displays have the lowest cost per piece, low power requirements, and a low tooling fee too.

At first thought, designing a custom segment LCD might look like a Herculean task, but trust me that it is easier than it seems. In this article, we have summarised and compared the display types and available technologies which are required to construct a custom segment LCD. We have also provided a flowchart that can act as a step-by-step guide while you design your own custom LCD. We have also provided the process we followed, a require gathering sheet we used for communicating our needs to the manufacturer, and a few other data and the quotation we received from the manufacturer.

Icons: A silhouette of any shape can be placed on the glass which enhances the ability to display data. For example, a symbol of a heart can be made to denote heart rate or an icon for a low battery to show that the battery needs to be charged. Icons are counted as a single pixel or segment and can give a lot more details than similar-sized text.

LCD Bias– It denotes the number of different voltage levels used in driving the segments, static drives (explained later in this article) only have 2 voltage levels or 2 bias voltage while multiplex drives have multiple voltage levels. For example, 1/3 will have 4 bias voltages.

LCDs utilizes the light modulating properties of liquid crystals which can be observed by using polarizing filters. Polarizing filters are special materials that have their molecules aligned in the same direction. If the light waves passing through polarisers have the same orientation as the filter, then the molecules of lights are absorbed by the filter, hence reducing the intensity of light passing through it, making it visible.

In Layman’s language, when an electric current is applied to the electrodes, i.e. to the segment line and common line, it twists the Liquid Crystals w.r.t to the polarizing filter, obstructing the light in that particular area as shown in the figure below. Hence, that area becomes darker and prominent.

A custom LCD is important for maximizing the efficiency of the display area by adding custom symbols and characters. It also helps in reducing the cost and improving energy efficiency of the product. A higher number of custom symbols and specified placement of numerical and alphanumerical characters make the display more informative and readable for the user. This makes it look better than the plain old boring displays we get in the market. Furthermore, we can specify the viewing angle, contrast, and other specifications which can increase durability or give a better value for money for our intended usage.  A typical Custom Segment display is shown below, we will also show you how to design and fabricate the same further in the article.

The LCD display doesn’t emit any light of its own, therefore it requires an external source of illumination or reflector to be readable in dark environments.

While designing a custom segment LCD display, we have the leverage of choosing a lot of parameters that affect the final product. From the color of the display to the illumination technique and color of illumination as well as the type of input pins. Some important considerations we need to take while designing a custom 7 segment display are - the type of display, i.e. positive or negative, illumination method, driving technique, polarising type, and connection method. All these design criteria are explained below:

Positive and negative displays can be easily distinguished by the colour of the background and characters. Some common differences between the positive and negative displays are:

So, which one should you choose? When the displays are to be used in areas with higher ambient light, we should select positive segment LCD display as it has better visibility than negative segment LCD displays without using a backlight.

As we know that LED displays don’t emit any light, hence to illuminate it and make it visible in a dark environment, we can use different methods of illumination. The most common LCD Illumination methods are compared below:

For displays that need to be used for budget-friendly devices that should be small and rugged, LED lights are preferred for the displays due to the high durability and low cost of operations. For high brightness, CCFL and Incandescent lights can be used.

A polarizer film is the most important component of an LCD display, which makes it possible to display characters by controlling the light. There are 3 types of polarizers that can be used in the LCD display, the properties and difference are given below:

If your products need to be used with a switchable backlight, then trans-reflective reflectors are best to be used for front reflectors. If the device has to be used without backlight, then we can select a reflective polarizer for the back-panel as it gives the best contrast ratio.

Displays can be categorized into two types, passive displays, and active display, passive displays are simpler to construct as they have 2 connections at each segment, the conductors comprise of an Indium Tin Oxide to create an image, whereas the active displays use thin-film transistors (TFT) arranged in a grid. The name is due to its ability to control each pixel individually.

If your displays have fewer segments, then static LCD drive is preferred as it is easier to control and cheaper to construct, and has a better contrast ratio. But let’s say that if the number of segments in the display are more than 30-40 then a multiplex LCD drive should be preferred as it has multiple common pins, hence reducing the total number of pins required to drive the display.

Choosing a connector type!!! For the prototyping phase or if you need to connect your LCD display on a Microcontroller directly, a pin type connector is the best and most economical option you have. If you need to connect your LCD display in a final product with a high volume of production which also requires to be extremely durable, but at the same time should not take up a lot of space, a Flex type LCD Connector will work best for you

LCDs have limited viewing angles and when seen from an angle they lose contrast and are difficult to be observed.  The viewing angle is defined by the angles perpendicular to the center of the display towards its right, left, up, and down which are denoted by the notations 3:00, 9:00, 12:00, and 6:00 respectively. The viewing angle of LCD can be defined as the angle w.r.t. to the bias angle at which the contrast of segments is legible.

To improve the viewing angle in an LCD, a Bias is incorporated in the design which shifts the nominal viewing angle with an offset. Another technique is to increase the Voltage, it affects the bias angle, making the display crisper when viewed from a direction.

For example, the viewing angle of a TN type TFT LCD is 45-65 degrees. Extra-wide polarising film (EWP) can increase the viewing angle by 10 degrees, using an O film polariser can make the viewing angles 75 degrees but these come at a cost of reduced contrast.

Anti-glare filters are bonded with the top polarising filters using adhesive. It improves the viewability by re-directing light waves so they don’t reflect back towards the viewer thus reducing glare. Newer materials are capable of reducing the front glare by up to less than 0.3%.

LCD Control chip or LCD driver chips can be mounted on the flex cable, display, or externally on a PCB. The placement of LCD control chip can affect the cost and size of the display. The 2 most common methods of chip placement are-Chip of Board (COB)and Chip on Glass(COG) which are described below:

We planned to design an air quality monitoring system for which we needed a custom segment LCD panel for an air quality monitoring device. Our product needs to display the following data: 2.5-micron and 10-micron particulate matter (PM) suspended in the air; the units should be in parts per million (PPM). CO2 in the air in PPM along with total volatile organic compounds present in the air in parts per billion (PPB). To make the product more usable, we included time in 24-hour format, Temperature in ºC, Battery status, loudspeaker status, Bluetooth status, and Wi-Fi status. And for some personal touch, we also added how good the air quality in the room is by using 3 different smileys.

We realized that it was impossible to provide all these data in a generic LCD available in the market, thus decided to build a custom LCD for our project.

A step-by-step flowchart is shown below to walk you through each and every step of selecting components and getting your custom segment LCD manufactured.

We started by listing down our requirements and drew a mock-up of the display on paper. After finalizing the placement of all the segments and icons on the prototype sketch of the display, we then decided which all icons and segments have to be kept on for the whole time and which needs to be driven. Realizing that there are too many segments, characters and icons, hence we selected a multiplex drive with 8 common pins which helped us bring down the total pins from an estimated 180 pins to less than 40 pins.

Since the device was meant to be used inside houses and offices, which are more often than not well lit and protected from environmental conditions, we opted for a positive mode display. For superior contrast ratio and better viewing angle, we chose a Film Super Twisted Nematic Display (FSTN) with a drive condition of 1/8 Duty and bias of 1/4.

Usually, the displays are mounted at a height of 4.5 feet from the ground, thus the viewing direction was selected to be 12"O clock with an operating frequency of 64Hz. We selected a Transmissive polarizer for the front glass and a reflective polarizer for the rear glass so that the natural light can pass through the front panel and the display can achieve the maximum contrast without the need for backlighting and we opted for the pin type connectors as they are easy for prototyping and are suitable for harsh environment with a lot of vibrations and shocks which best suited our purpose.

In the above image of a custom display design, we sent to the manufacturer, the red lines over multiple characters indicate that all these are considered as a single segment. For the sake of simplicity, we added test like T, S, U, B to denote Text, Symbols, Units, and Battery respectively. These characters were followed by numbers to simplify communication between us and the manufacturer. For example, if we needed any particular text or symbol to remain on, we can easily specify that to the manufacturer by using the corresponding text for that segment.

We mailed our requirements to multiple LCD manufacturers, (you will find a lot of LCD manufacturers on the Internet). Most LCD manufacturers have competitive pricing, and reply within a week. A sample requirement sheet is shown above which a customer needs to fill to specify all the details to the manufacturer.

This is a sample Custom Segment LCD quotation we got from one of the manufacturers. As you can see, the cost is based on the quantity. Higher the quantity, lower the cost. Apart from the cost per quantity, there is one more component called tooling fees. Tooling fee is a one-time fee charged by the manufacturer. It is for the technical design, support, and customization of the product. Customization of PCB or tooling of LCD can drive the tooling price higher or lower.

The tooling time and cost depend on how detailed and accurate designs you sent to the manufacturer. They then send the exact dimensions and technical details of the product they will be manufacturing. Once you confirm the design, they manufacture and ship the product which might take 4-8 weeks to arrive depending on the size of the order and mode of transportation selected.

A custom segment LCD can help you personalize your product while also saving the overall cost of your product. The whole process will take you around 2-3 months, which will include the designing phase, prototyping phase, and getting your custom segment LCDs delivered to your doorstep. Higher ordering quantity will reduce the cost per piece of each unit, thus driving down the cost of your final product.

A video wall is not a one-size-fits-all solution. There are many options to choose from when designing a commercial building video wall display: the size and shape of the digital canvas, what type of content will be displayed and the purpose of the video wall. Operationally, you may focus on desired reliability, maintenance and serviceability of the equipment. Hardware and technology decisions ensure the video wall will deliver both the desired viewing and ownership experience.

One of these choices is deciding between an LCD display or an LED video wall. Continue reading to find out more about the basics, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.

Most people are familiar with LCD technology, which stands for Liquid Crystal Display. These types of displays have a massive presence in this world, used in living rooms to watch movies, fast-food restaurants to showcase menus, airports to show flight schedules, and everything in between. LCD technology was developed in the 1960s and has been used worldwide as a standard for roughly 20 years. It is a tried-and-true technology that has stood the test of time and will be around for the foreseeable future.

On an LCD screen, the panel is illuminated by a light source and works through reflection or transmission of light. Overall, LCD displays have better viewing angles and less glare than LED screens. This technology was designed to be energy efficient and tends to be lighter in weight.

An LCD video wall is made up of multiple LCD panel monitors mounted on a surface to create a digital canvas, which then work together to create a unified experience. They operate 24/7 at a high brightness and have thin bezels that help create a seamless look when the displays are placed next to one another.

Bezel thickness and the brightness rating are among key attributes to consider for an LCD video wall display. Here is what each of these means and why.

Bezel:Bezel thicknesses for video wall displays are measured in “bezel-to-bezel” thickness.This is the thickness of the bezel when two displays are placed next to one another. Displays can be either large bezel or thin bezel.

Nits:Brightness is measured in Nits. A higher Nit value means the display will be brighter. A brighter display is necessary in a room that sees plenty of direct sunlight, or if the intent is to draw in visitors from far away. With LCD video walls, the price of the hardware goes up as the display size and brightness increase, and the bezel width decreases.

The next item to consider is the type of content that will be displayed on your video wall. LCD displays have high resolution screens — modern 4K displays have over 8 million pixels! This means that the content being displayed is highly detailed and crystal-clear. A viewer could stand less than 1 foot away from the screen and be able to see exactly what is being shown on the screen.

Like previously mentioned with LCD video walls, an important consideration in the decision-making process is the type of content that will be displayed on the video wall. LED video walls suffer from image degradation and pixilation from up close, so fine details will be lost, and text will be illegible. If detail from up close is important, LCD displays are much better suited for that situation.Content examples that are well-suited for an LCD video wall:

Video walls add exciting drama and premium value to showcase spaces. It is an investment that adds a perfect eye-catching solution for a busy lobby, conference room, or any other space.

Video walls are relatively new. But LCD technology has had decades of mainstream adoption, and with that comes both familiarity and lower costs. If those are important to you, then an LCD video wall is likely the right choice.

LED video walls are similar to LCD video walls, but the digital canvas is built using LED panels. Individual LED panels can be anywhere from 12”x12” to 36”x18”, which is much smaller than LCD displays. LED panels have a larger presence in this world than most might think—they are found indoors and outdoors at stadiums, arenas, concert venues, airports, and in use as large digital advertisements in iconic places such as Times Square.

The module is a small rectangular board that contains all the individual LEDs (light-emitting diodes).Unlike LCD, there is no glass or color filter on the LED video wall panels. The individual diodes that are placed on the modules produce both color and light.

One of the most impressive features of LED panels is that they can be combined to create almost any shape, without a bezel interrupting the digital canvas. LED video wall panels can be placed on curved surfaces, 90-degree edges, and other non-standard surfaces. The smaller size of the panels in relation to LCD video wall displays means they can fill more space on a surface—they aren’t limited to standard 46” and 55” sizes as are LCD video wall displays.

The most important factor to consider when scoping LED panels for a video wall is what is referred to as “pixel pitch.” The pixel pitch is effectively the distance between each pixel on the LED panel—a pixel pitch of 6mm means each pixel is spaced 6 millimeters away from the adjacent pixel. The smaller the pixel pitch, the smaller the distance is between each pixel, which means there are more pixels per square inch on the digital canvas.

Multiply the pixel pitch by 10 for the idealviewing experience –For example, a pixel pitch of 4mm would require a viewer to be 12 feet away to decipher any details in the video wall, and 40 feet away for the best viewing experience.

Pixel pitch factors into viewing distance. When the pixels are close together, the image is more detailed and can be viewed comfortably by others from a close distance. But when the pixels are spaced further apart, a viewer needs to stand further away to view the image clearly.

Lastly, pixel pitch impacts the price of the LED video wall more than any other factor. For example, a 2mm pixel pitch LED video wall costs significantly more than its 10mm pixel pitch counterpart.

As is the case with an LCD video wall, an LED video wall will add exciting drama and premium value to showcase spaces. LED panel displays don’t enjoy the benefit of decades of mainstream adoption as do their LCD counterparts. However, the technology curve is increasing their availability and lowering their costs. At this time, an LED video wall will have higher upfront costs compared to an LCD video wall. If cost is the main concern, then an LED video wall system will not likely fit into your budget

An LED video wall would be well-suited and cost-justified if the intent of the video wall is to provide an immersive viewing experience from a further distance. This could be content with lots of movement, animation, imagery, and bright colors to draw viewers into your space or provide a unique experience.

Aside from LED video wall cost, there are other factors to consider which could make an LED video wall system the frontrunner for your project. Here are the advantages and disadvantages to consider:

Limitless shapes and sizes:the smaller size of LED panels allows them to be combined to create unique canvases, including curved, 90-degree edge, and other combinations not possible with LCD displays

Video wall systems come in all shapes and sizes. The components used to create the video wall experience vary widely. Consider variables other than video wall cost when scoping out both the content and the hardware. Because these parts and pieces could make or break the captive viewing experience you’re hoping to achieve, or worse, defeat the entire purpose of that video wall.

So if you’re looking to buy a video wall in the next year, talk to us about your plans. We’ll discuss your goals and options to determine what digital video wall package and digital directory elements are right for you. Contact us today to get a free video wall consultation.

Planar® CarbonLight™ VX Series is comprised of carbon fiber-framed indoor LED video wall and floor displays with exceptional on-camera visual properties and deployment versatility, available in 1.9 and 2.6mm pixel pitch (wall) and 2.6mm (floor).

From cinema content to motion-based digital art, Planar® Luxe MicroLED Displays offer a way to enrich distinctive spaces. HDR support and superior dynamic range create vibrant, high-resolution canvases for creative expression and entertainment. Leading-edge MicroLED technology, design adaptability and the slimmest profiles ensure they seamlessly integrate with architectural elements and complement interior décor.

From cinema content to motion-based digital art, Planar® Luxe Displays offer a way to enrich distinctive spaces. These professional-grade displays provide vibrant, high-resolution canvases for creative expression and entertainment. Leading-edge technology, design adaptability and the slimmest profiles ensure they seamlessly integrate with architectural elements and complement interior decor.

From cinema content to motion-based digital art, Planar® Luxe MicroLED Displays offer a way to enrich distinctive spaces. HDR support and superior dynamic range create vibrant, high-resolution canvases for creative expression and entertainment. Leading-edge MicroLED technology, design adaptability and the slimmest profiles ensure they seamlessly integrate with architectural elements and complement interior décor.

Planar® CarbonLight™ VX Series is comprised of carbon fiber-framed indoor LED video wall and floor displays with exceptional on-camera visual properties and deployment versatility, available in 1.9 and 2.6mm pixel pitch (wall) and 2.6mm (floor).

Carbon fiber-framed indoor LED video wall and floor displays with exceptional on-camera visual properties and deployment versatility for various installations including virtual production and extended reality.

a line of extreme and ultra-narrow bezel LCD displays that provides a video wall solution for demanding requirements of 24x7 mission-critical applications and high ambient light environments

Since 1983, Planar display solutions have benefitted countless organizations in every application. Planar displays are usually front and center, dutifully delivering the visual experiences and critical information customers need, with proven technology that is built to withstand the rigors of constant use.

If you’re looking for a less expensive 24-inch monitor, we recommend the Asus VA24DCP, typically priced around $170. It also has a USB-C connection that can charge most laptops, but it lacks features like a fully adjustable stand, and it doesn’t have a USB hub or the ProArt’s great color accuracy.

The USB-C port on the Asus ProArt PA247CV makes it a fantastic 24-inch 1080p IPS display to use alongside a notebook PC. The 65 watts of charging over USB-C means it will charge most laptops, and the sturdy, adjustable stand means you can use the monitor in a variety of configurations. It’s fairly color accurate out of the box, with great contrast and especially nice reproduction of white and grays, so you shouldn’t notice weird tinges of color when staring deeply into your blank Google Doc page. It also has a USB hub that can add four USB ports to your laptop.

For less than $175, the Asus VA24DCP is a capable 24-inch 1080p IPS display that has full USB-C charging at 65 watts. It’s a great basic monitor for those who want something to hook up to their laptop or PC to browse the internet and get some office work done, as its colors look good for day-to-day use, and it has better contrast than many higher-cost monitors. For $100 less than our top pick, you’re giving up a better, more adjustable stand, a USB hub, and some color accuracy, but if those aren’t important to you, this is a nice monitor for a great price.

The Dell UltraSharp U2421E is a 24-inch monitor with a 1920×1200-pixel resolution, rather than the typical 1920×1080. These extra 120 vertical pixels mean a little less scrolling in large documents or spreadsheets, and more room for your apps and games without taking up more space on a desk. The U2421E comes with a higher price than our 1080p picks, but it has incredibly accurate colors, a USB-C port with 90W of charging for high-powered ultrabooks and the MacBooks Pro, and a USB hub that includes an additional USB-C port.

The Asus ProArt Display PA278CV has a great-looking screen with good enough color accuracy for most people and all the ports you need to hook up desktop or laptop PCs. The PA278CV’s stand can tilt, swivel, and pivot the screen and raise and lower its height, its USB-C port can provide enough power to charge most 13-inch laptops, and it comes with a three-year warranty and a good dead-pixel policy. Its QHD resolution (2560×1440) means it isn’t as sharp as a 4K screen, but it’s also hundreds of dollars cheaper than comparable 4K monitors.

The MD271QP has a USB-C connection, making it easy to connect a modern laptop without the need for an HDMI cable or extra dongle. However, you’ll still need to plug in your laptop’s charging cable.

The MSI Modern MD271QP is a simple, streamlined 1440p monitor that’s perfect for laptop users. If you have a laptop with a USB-C port, a single cable will send the image to the monitor and slowly charge your laptop with 15 watts of power. However, you’ll still need to plug in a power cable as well to keep your laptop fully charged. The MD271QP lacks features we liked in the Asus ProArt PA278CV,including a built-in USB hub, granular color calibration controls, and blue-light filtering modes for reading. But if you don’t need to tinker with color settings or those extra USB connections, the MSI Modern MD271QP is a great monitor for $100 less than our top pick.

The Dell S2722QC is a 3840×2160 display that’s great for anyone who watches 4K content or casually edits photos or video. However, if most of your time is spent on general office work or browsing the internet, you don’t really need to spend the extra cash. The S2722QC has a USB-C port with 65 watts of charging, so it can power most laptops except higher-end devices like the Dell XPS 15-inch or the 16-inch MacBook Pros (which are picks in our guide to the best laptops for video and photo editing). For more powerful 4K displays, check out our guide for the best 4K monitors.

Resolution:2560×1440 | Refresh rate: 144 Hz with Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, up to 170 Hz overclocked | Ports: two HDMI in, DisplayPort in | USB-C charging:none | USB hub:two USB-A

The ASUS ROG Strix XG27AQ is a full-featured gaming monitor with HDR, a USB hub, and a robust menu system. The XG27AQ can reach a 170 Hz refresh rate, meaning the picture is updated 170 times per second, making motion in games look smoother and more realistic. We think this monitor is a nice balance between price and premium features like HDR, an overclockable refresh rate, a USB hub, good build quality, and a sturdy stand.

Adding a display to your Arduino can serve many purposes. Since a common use for microcontrollers is reading data from sensors, a display allows you to see this data in real-time without needing to use the serial monitor within the Arduino IDE. It also allows you to give your projects a personal touch with text, images, or even interactivity through a touch screen.

Transparent Organic Light Emitting Diode (TOLED) is a type of LED that, as you can guess, has a transparent screen. It builds on the now common OLED screens found in smartphones and TVs, but with a transparent display, offers up some new possibilities for Arduino screens.

Take for example this brilliant project that makes use of TOLED displays. By stacking 10 transparent OLED screens in parallel, creator Sean Hodgins has converted a handful of 2D screens into a solid-state volumetric display. This kind of display creates an image that has 3-dimensional depth, taking us one step closer to the neon, holographic screens we imagine in the future.

Crystalfontz has a tiny monochrome (light blue) 1.51" TOLED that has 128x56 pixels. As the technology is more recent than the following displays in this list, the cost is higher too. One of these screens can be purchased for around $26, but for certain applications, it might just be worth it.

The liquid crystal display (LCD) is the most common display to find in DIY projects and home appliances alike. This is no surprise as they are simple to operate, low-powered, and incredibly cheap.

This type of display can vary in design. Some are larger, with more character spaces and rows; some come with a backlight. Most attach directly to the board through 8 or 12 connections to the Arduino pins, making them incompatible with boards with fewer pins available. In this instance, buy a screen with an I2C adapter, allowing control using only four pins.

Available for only a few dollars (or as little as a couple of dollars on AliExpress with included I2C adapter), these simple displays can be used to give real-time feedback to any project.

The screens are capable of a large variety of preset characters which cover most use cases in a variety of languages. You can control your LCD using the Liquid Crystal Library provided by Arduino. The display() and noDisplay() methods write to the LCD, as shown in the official tutorial on the Arduino website.

Are you looking for something simple to display numbers and a few basic characters? Maybe you are looking for something with that old-school arcade feel? A seven-segment display might suit your needs.

These simple boards are made up of 7 LEDs (8 if you include the dot), and work much like normal LEDs with a common Anode or Cathode connection. This allows them to take one connection to V+ (or GND for common cathode) and be controlled from the pins of your Arduino. By combining these pins in code, you can create numbers and several letters, along with more abstract designs—anything you can dream up using the segments available!

Next on our list is the 5110 display, also affectionately known as the Nokia display due to its wide use in the beloved and nigh indestructible Nokia 3310.

These tiny LCD screens are monochrome and have a screen size of 84 x 48 pixels, but don"t let that fool you. Coming in at around $2 on AliExpress, these displays are incredibly cheap and usually come with a backlight as standard.

Depending on which library you use, the screen can display multiple lines of text in various fonts. It"s also capable of displaying images, and there is free software designed to help get your creations on screen. While the refresh rate is too slow for detailed animations, these screens are hardy enough to be included in long-term, always-on projects.

For a step up in resolution and functionality, an OLED display might be what you are looking for. At first glance, these screens look similar to the 5110 screens, but they are a significant upgrade. The standard 0.96" screens are 128 x 64 monochrome, and come with a backlight as standard.

They connect to your Arduino using I2C, meaning that alongside the V+ and GND pins, only two further pins are required to communicate with the screen. With various sizes and full color options available, these displays are incredibly versatile.

For a project to get you started with OLED displays, our Electronic D20 build will teach you everything you need to know -- and you"ll end up with the ultimate geeky digital dice for your gaming sessions!

These displays can be used in the same way as the others we have mentioned so far, but their refresh rate allows for much more ambitious projects. The basic monochrome screen is available on Amazon.

Thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal displays (TFT LCDs) are in many ways another step up in quality when it comes to options for adding a screen to your Arduino. Available with or without touchscreen functionality, they also add the ability to load bitmap files from an on-board microSD card slot.

Arduino have an official guide for setting up their non-touchscreen TFT LCD screen. For a video tutorial teaching you the basics of setting up the touchscreen version, YouTuber educ8s.tv has you covered:

With the touchscreen editions of these screens costing less than $10 on AliExpress, these displays are another great choice for when you need a nice-looking display for your project.

Looking for something a little different? An E-paper (or E-ink depending on who you ask) display might be right for you. These screens differ from the others giving a much more natural reading experience, it is no surprise that this technology is the cornerstone of almost every e-reader available.

The reason these displays look so good is down to the way they function. Each "pixel" contains charged particles between two electrodes. By switching the charge of each electrode, you can influence the negatively charged black particles to swap places with the positively charged white particles.

This is what gives e-paper such a natural feel. As a bonus, once the ink is moved to its location, it uses no power to keep it there. This makes these displays naturally low-power to operate.

This article has covered most options available for Arduino displays, though there are definitely more weird and wonderful ways to add feedback to your DIY devices.

Now that you have an idea of what is out there, why not incorporate a screen into your DIY smart home setup? If retro gaming is more your thing, why not create some retro games on Arduino?

Perhaps you’re in the process of picking out a desktop or notebook PC, or already have a laptop computer but aren’t exactly satisfied with the amount of screen real-estate it provides—either way, it’s time to get the 411 on the expansive world of computer monitors so you can find out what product(s) will fit your exact needs.

Formerly known as video display units (VDUs), the earliest monitors first implemented lights for computer engineers to be able to monitor the power state of their components and know whether their devices were working properly or not. As technology has advanced, computer monitors have come a long way in relation to what they can display and how they go about doing so.

To put it simply, the monitor you need to purchase is reliant on what you will mainly be using your computer for, and this can be broken down into three overarching categories: general/business use, professional visuals, and gaming. Not every monitor is created equal, as certain physical features and integrated technologies on a certain product may provide the best results for running gaming applications as opposed to office tools or professional graphic-design/video-editing programs.

It needs to be noted that monitors have their own vocabulary and jargon that you need to understand in order to make an informed purchase. Fortunately, Newegg Insider has a  comprehensive guide for monitor terms you need to know before diving in.

On the surface, screen size may seem to be the only difference between monitors besides brand. Before we get into everything that’s going on behind each display and what your PC may need in order to get the right results, it’s best to introduce the types of monitors as well as the various shapes and sizes they come in.

If you decide to cut costs and go for a lower-end monitor the color(s) you may have had in mind when finishing up a project could turn up quite differently on other screens. Of course, you’ll need to already have a machine that can run programs like Adobe Photoshop or Apple’s Final Cut Pro.

As will be covered in its own section below, gaming monitors may also include “adaptive syncing” technology that virtually eliminates tearing and stuttering by having the monitor match the refresh-rate of frames being pushed out by your graphics card.

Screen size (diagonal measurement) and aspect ratio (width by height) are essential to understanding the unique resolutions you get with ultrawide-display monitors—and we’ll be covering more of that along with the features that absolutely need to be considered when you’re in the market for a new monitor.

Fairly new to the consumer market, the curved-screen craze that started around 2014 with Samsung and LG TVs has made its way to computer monitors. Just like ultrawide monitors, curved monitor displays have extended left-and-right width that curves in towards the viewer. Since its inception, the main purpose of this feature has been to provide more immersion. Ultimately, these monitors can present a higher sense of depth that traditional flat-panel displays cannot.

In a nutshell, high dynamic-range (HDR) content uses the latest color-range technology to simulate true-to-life colors on screen. First used within the field of photography, HDR tech revolves around improving contrast quality, producing darker blacks and purer whites. HDR monitors work great with both professional visual and high-quality gaming applications. Of course, your specs should be up to par and meet the latest minimum requirements for these applications—and to get truly high-speed gaming, you should try to find an HDR monitor with a low response time.

It’s 2019 and the majority of screens you see out in the wild come with touch functionality – but these functions remain relatively rare in the monitor world. Generally, all monitors come with integrated, physical-hardware controls to adjust screen and picture settings. Some touchscreen monitors step it up by providing you with an on-screen, touchable overlay. Most importantly, touchscreen monitors are commonly used for compatible educational and commercial applications. Whether it’s an interactive learning app to help 4th grade students or a POS (point-of-sale) device at a sports stadium’s concession stand, touchscreen monitors may require specific hardware and software to properly work.

On the surface, PC displays are just screens that present various images—but clearly there’s way more here to consider than meets the eye. Now it’s time to go inside the monitor to see how a computer’s display hardware works.

The differences between LCD and LED technology are huge factors in determining what works for your end-goal and budget, and they’re the most common acronyms you’ll come across on computer monitor product pages.

Liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology was first on the scene for TVs but didn’t come to computer monitors until the mid-90s. The name comes from the fact that these displays have screens that consist of two pieces of glass that house liquid in between them. From there, the screen is divided into thousands upon thousands (sometimes millions) of rows and columns, better known as pixels (a term coined in the 1960s to abbreviate “picture element”).

Now, the hardware parts that push out the picture you see on your LCD-monitor screen are known as cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs). These lamps give your LCD monitor a lifespan of about 30,000 hours. Because the technology is older, these products are usually thicker and heavier. Few of them support resolutions above Full HD (1920×1080, width by height), and the color-contrast range may also be limited at times. If you’re concerned about your environmental footprint, the mercury pollution that these monitors may emit is something you will need to properly address at the end of the product’s lifecycle.

On the plus side, LCD displays come at a lower price point and do not suffer from burn-in, a negative effect that occurs if you leave your screen on and the last image displayed remains lightly on the screen—even when it’s turned off.

Technically, LED displays are also LCD monitors since they have the same liquid between their two-piece glass screens. The difference lies within the hardware that’s used to shoot out the image. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are used in place of a LCD display’s fluorescent lamps. Because of this, LED monitors are brighter and consume less power than LCD screens, ultimately boasting a lifespan of about 50,000 hours.

The technology for light-emitting diodes first came about in the early 1960s and were initially only able to produce red color. Of course the color capability of these diodes has evolved, but the efficiency and high level of performance has been consistent. On paper, LED monitors come at a higher price point because of their impressive color contrast and picture quality. If you’re looking for a screen to game on, you’ll have to go LED for the noticeably faster response time compared to LCD displays.

LED technology also makes the majority of these products thinner and lighter for quick and easy portability and installation. The one thing you’ll also have to look out for is that LED monitors have a higher risk of burn-in, so make sure to have a screensaver or turn them off when not in use.

Now that we’ve got an understanding of liquid-crystal displays and the two types of backlighting tech behind them, it’s time to get into the different panel types that LCD monitor screens have and how they relate to your computing needs. Just because certain panel types cost more than others does not mean that more expensive is generally better. It all comes down to which panel type’s features can best serve the tasks of general use, gaming, or professional video/image-editing applications, which will in term depend on color-reproduction technology, viewing angles, response times, and refresh rates.

If you’re a hardcore PC gamer, then twisted-nematic (TN) panels may be your first screen of choice. TN-panel computer monitors boast the highest refresh rates and fastest response times. Being one of the oldest display technologies, TN panels produce picture by utilizing translucent nematic liquid crystals within glass plates, a color filter and two lined filters (one vertical, the other horizontal). Due to the polarizing effect that occurs within TN panels, these types of monitors have the poorest color presentation and viewing angles. On the other hand, these displays are the most-affordable monitors, making them perfect for gamers who have already shelled out a lot of cash for their gaming battlestation.

Again, TN panels should be your panel of choice if you’re looking to get the highest performance from your gaming PC. As of writing, TN panels are the only types of monitors that can support a refresh rate of 240Hz, which means if your system and graphics card can generate and push out 240fps, the monitor in turn will match and refresh 240 frames per second, creating the fastest and smoothest visual gaming experience on the market.

Compared to TN panels, in-plane switching (IPS) panels house and emit the best vi