Does your product need to display information? Besides the expensive, strictly rectangular LCD display, did you know you can also use an LED display to show information? This article walks you through the key considerations. In daily life, the most common LCD displays are full-color TVs and computer monitors, as shown in the example below:
Table of Contents
Advantages of Full-Color LCD Displays
- The content inside the display area of an LCD display can change continuously. For example, a 55-inch TV (the display area) can play an entire episode on Netflix (continuously changing content).
- An LCD display can show fine, detailed images. Common resolutions today reach 4K or 1080P.
Case Study – Two Elevator Display Applications: LED Display vs. LCD Display
However, not every application needs all the functions of an LCD display. Take the elevator floor display and the up/down status display as an example. The figure below shows two display applications, and the table compares the functions of display [1] and display [2]:
| Compared item | LED display [1] | LCD display [2] |
| Function A | Shows current up/down status (arrow + animation) | Shows current up/down status (arrow + animation) |
| Function B | Shows current floor | Shows current floor |
| Function C | X | Shows date and time |
| Other | Two-color display (red/green) | Single-color white display |
For an elevator display, the information that matters most is A and B; C is only an add-on. If the product’s overall development cost is meant to stay low, choosing an LED display with a lower unit cost than an LCD display is a smart way to reduce cost while still presenting the necessary information.
From the example above, we can draw the following conclusion. If the product designer extracts the content the product must display and replaces the LCD screen with an LED display, what are the pros and cons?
Pros and Cons – LED Display vs. LCD Display
Advantages of LED displays over LCD displays
- Lower product unit cost and development cost compared with an LCD screen.
- Like an LCD screen, it can show numbers, English letters, or simple dot matrix graphics.
- Compared with an LCD screen, an LED display can easily reach outdoor-visible brightness without extra cost.
Disadvantages of LED displays over LCD displays
- The position and size of the displayed information cannot be changed freely.
- For example, with display [2], changing the top-to-bottom order to A-C-B, or removing C and resizing A and B, can all be done easily. Display [1] cannot be adjusted that flexibly.
- An LED display cannot show very fine and very small text or graphics. In the elevator example, the two areas that show digits (B) differ greatly in level of detail.
This article explained how to plan the information on a product and use an LED display in place of an LCD display, which may reduce the cost of the display module and the related development cost. The actual savings depend on the displayed content, size, quantity, and drive requirements. OPTO PLUS LED is a Taiwan LED display manufacturer with many years of experience. Besides manufacturing, we also provide design advice for LED display mass production. If you have any questions, please contact us through the contact form or at sales@opledtw.com.
FAQ
An LCD display is usually about 40% more expensive than an LED display. In addition, an LCD display is bulkier and fixed in a rectangular shape, which makes it unsuitable for every product design.
The main advantage of an LCD display is its high flexibility. It can change the content within the display area at any time, such as playing an entire video episode on a TV; show very fine images at 4K or 1080P resolution; and freely adjust the order and size of the displayed information.
In applications that do not need all the functions of an LCD display, using an LED display can effectively reduce cost. The advantages of an LED display include lower cost, since both the product unit cost and the development cost are lower than an LCD screen; display capability, since it can show numbers, English letters, or simple dot matrix graphics; and high brightness, since it can reach outdoor-visible brightness at a lower cost.
The main limitation of an LED display is that the position and size of the displayed information cannot be changed freely. It also cannot show very fine and tiny text or graphics the way an LCD can.
When a product only needs to show simple, fixed information, you can consider replacing the LCD with an LED display. This article uses the elevator display as an example: the information an elevator mainly needs to show is the floor and the up/down status, while functions such as date and time are only add-ons. In this case, choosing a lower-cost LED display meets the requirement and saves cost.
Further Reading on RGB LED Design
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