LED screens

[vibedisco]

Im interested in investing in an LED screen to use as a mobile backdrop to a DJ rig at the weekends (swirly patterns and text etc) and targeted advertising on weekdays and ive been looking at various solutions but one of them is the cabinet style led panel. Ive been quoted $9,480.00 for 4x 1msq pitch of 10mm inc flightcase, control system and delivery. ($2,800.00 delivery from china)

 

This is my first quote for an LED solution and I wonder how it sits compared with others.

 

I wonder how easy it is to rig led screens to a simple goalpost trussing, how long it takes to setup and if theres any limitations to this kind of lighting effect/video projection.

 

Each cabinet weighs 50kg so im also looking for a lighter weight alternative if there is such a thing.

 

If anyone has experience working with led screens I would be greatfull for any tips or things to lookout for in a quote/spec or general advice.

[sleepytom]

this post should be in the video section really...

 

I wouldn't get anything from a Chinese company, as the quality is low and you will not be able to get spares.

4x1 meters is a very small screen, you won't be able to display much readable text on a 10mm screen of that dimensions.

 

have a look at the Pixled products - they are affordable (for LED anyway) have proper ongoing support with spare parts being no problem. They are light weight products which are ideally suited to the kind of low key rigging solution that your talking about.

[musht]

Chinese are capable of supplying anything at least as good as a Western made item, it may not be a lot cheaper by then though.

 

2800 USD , take it thats airfreight , surface would be lower cost, remembering duty and VAT on top, hard to classify 200Kg of LED screen as gift.

 

With 6 Grand+ GBP to look for a video solution, would have thought there is a choice of fairly bright projectors at that sort of money, even throwing in a screen would give you potential image size lot bigger than 4 x2m

[sleepytom]

Chinese are capable of supplying anything at least as good as a Western made item, it may not be a lot cheaper by then though.

No they are not.

 

Anyway most "Western made" LED screens are produced in china. The point is that they are designed in Europe by people who understand what a service contract is.

If you buy a screen from any of the big European manufacturers then you know they will support it, they will be able to supply matched spares which are made from the same batch of LEDs, you can replace a panel or section of panel and have exactly the same performance from the new section as the older panels. Processors will be tried and tested designs with manuals available in the English language, if you need assistance you phone up someone in Belgium who speaks English and knows the product inside out.

 

ALL the generic Chinese screens which I've seen have been crap, the rigging is poorly thought out, the power connectors are illegal, processors have Chinese menus (or chinglish at best). Image quality is bad or really bad.

 

The price you've been quoted there is wrong by an order of magnitude. Expecting such a cheap screen to be anything other than poorly made garbage with no support shows a total lack of experience with LED screens. Look at the prices of the products listed at http://www.ac-et.com/video/products/led-screens.asp - this should give you an indication of the ball park to be thinking in.

 

£6000 is bearly going to get you a decent video projector, nevermind an LED screen!

[musht]

Chinese are capable of supplying anything at least as good as a Western made item, it may not be a lot cheaper by then though.

No they are not.

 

 

Bit like all Londoners are Southern Wan***rs then ;-)

 

Think what forget about Chinese is they now have a developing internal market , where standards and expectations may be er, different...

 

They also have a whole lot of Chinese market specific silicon that only appears to have support in Chinese, that I have encountered.

 

Your point that 6K is not going to buy LED video worth having is well made though.

[AHYoung]

interupting the borderline racism for a moment, id recomend that you dont bother with the led screen and buy 4 samsung 460 UX panels This will give you around the same screen size and about ten times the resolution at 700cd/m2 which is fairly bright. The panels have built in video wall functions allowing a 2/2, 4/1, 3+1 t shape etc {as do most pro LFDs} and the bezels are fairly slim but within your budget youl get something that looks the part and will connect to anything you want Vga, video, HDMI without any processor, just a 4 way Da. They do a Tower version that comes with a base and they interlock, or you can go for something like a unicol stand which will be more flexible, but whatever you go for panels or led, its going to weigh half a ton once its cased and has proper support, id not be building it myself either....

[sleepytom]

Chinese are capable of supplying anything at least as good as a Western made item, it may not be a lot cheaper by then though.

No they are not.

 

 

Bit like all Londoners are Southern Wan***rs then ;-)

 

I'm no longer in London, I'm still a southern ###### though! :unsure:

 

I agree though that the Chinese can make very high quality stuff (eg most of the European LED panels that they produce) But I also know that these European manufacturers who have setup factories in China have to employ Europeans to manage the quality control. China does have its own internal market now, and maybe things are changing and their homegrown products will improve in quality, but at the moment they cannot be recommended if your intending on using them in the UK, where we have European H+S standards. A screen is basically worthless if some H+S bloke can tell you to take it down as you don't have legally recognised power connectors or the correct structural loading documents or wind load test reports.

 

Its not racist to suggest that the Chinese have different manufacturing standards, it's the result of very very different cultures. In China everything is very very new, there are whole cities which look like open fields on google earth because the photo is a year and a half old. One consequence of this is that long term durability and ongoing service is not something that the local manufacturers really regard as important. You can see this in the open sewers round the feet of new skyscrapers as much as you can see it in the dubious quality of their LED products.

 

Health and Safety is not a big issue in china, look at the way that they built their Olympic stadium. I don't think it is racist to regard our European H+S standards as higher than the Chinese. I personally am very thankful for the years of dedicated work by trade unions to bring an end to dangerous working practices across Europe. I hope that China will adopt some of our principles soon, for the sake of their workers and the public at large. However until they do you simply cannot expect products produced for the local market to be safe and usable in Europe.

[vibedisco]

thanks for the suggestions so far. I appreciate that to purchase chinese without any hands on is a risk in some cases but I dont think its fair to discount all exported goods. in the case of a large investment like this though where H&S could be a crippling factor in the european market it would be wise to think carefully.

 

As an alternative has anyone had any hands on use of the newer type of LED curtains? and can anyone vouch for or against them or is the same problems apparent in these as well?

 

http://www.djkit.com/product.php?id=6332&cat=331

[paulears]

Those Samsungs for comparison work out around 12 grand for 8 to make 4x1m, but resolution wise, are hugely different beasts!

 

I think it's fair to point out that PLASA this year had dozens of Chinese screens of all shapes sizes and resolutions, so as there's plenty of choice now, buying from China is now an economic decision really. Cheaper, but with less backup. However, didn't this exact same thing happen when UK based budget discount warehouses started up. You bought from your local shop at a higher price if you were worried about service afterwards, or potential trade ins. If, however, you just wanted price - then a visit to the discounters was in order. You knew that if you wanted spares or service it would be difficult - but it was consumer choice, and I see this as the same now we're dealing with China. It's a gamble. I'm happy with people slagging off China sourcing - much of what they say is 100% accurate, however, it's still a viable source, given some thought.

 

On the spares front, it's worth noting that the shelf life as a current model of electronics is now the shortest it's ever been. How many times have you taken a product back to the retailer you bought it from and been given a totally different product in exchange rather than a repair? In the good old days, manufacturers supplied dealers with spares packages, enough for maybe 10 years of normal service life. Those days are gone. Getting even a simple part for a one year old piece of kit means a wait, and sometimes there just aren't any spares available.

[ceecrb1]

Dealing with china is a complete gamble if you´re not experienced in it.

 

We buy all our LED screen from china. BUT from one specific company, they are the company that did all the LED Screens for the olympics and the LED floor in the opening ceremony...

They aint cheap like other "true chinease" screens.

 

Just remeber. You get what you pay for.

 

last weekend I also met up with my friend from HK that I havnt seen for 18 years.. shes working in the HK exhibition centre so knows a little of our world.

She explained to me that even if you go to factories, you will be SHOWN a demo (if you touch, you buy. end of) of the "original product" with its lables removed.. you agree to buy, then they fabricate their copies and that is what you receive. They see a demo as a case of demoing the "effect" the object will have, not a demo of the object.

[sleepytom]

Another important note is that 4x1 meters is a tiny little LED screen. Its also an odd shape.

 

To make money from owning LED it is important to have the flexibility to be able to offer larger systems. The way this is done traditionally is by sub hiring the extra screen + processing. This is ONLY possible if you have screen which comes from a known manufacturer who is popular with hire companies. Finding extra panels of Lighthouse, Barco, Mitsi or Pixled is quite easy. Finding extra panels of your superdiscount Chinese oneoff screen will be impossible.

 

TBH it sounds like Plasmas or LCD screens would be far better suited to the OP. Maybe with some colourweb or something if he wants the modern LED backdrop look.

[ceecrb1]

+1

[sleepytom]

XL are selling off some LED for good prices..

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPubli...dd5ddef7b3ebb4d

[Pete McCrea]

Another important note is that 4x1 meters is a tiny little LED screen. Its also an odd shape.

 

To make money from owning LED it is important to have the flexibility to be able to offer larger systems. The way this is done traditionally is by sub hiring the extra screen + processing. This is ONLY possible if you have screen which comes from a known manufacturer who is popular with hire companies. Finding extra panels of Lighthouse, Barco, Mitsi or Pixled is quite easy. Finding extra panels of your superdiscount Chinese oneoff screen will be impossible.

 

A big 1+ for that.

 

We're dealing with a prospective client, who wants to buy a screen for use over about 20 weeks a year. We've suggested that they buy from a reputable manufacturer, then we'll rent it back off them and use it for our gigs, and also opens up cross hire. We've got some great pricing out of several manufacturers for good products, but they still want to buy from a chinese company, and not actually save that much. What they will lose out on is the hire from us, which could well nairly pay for their investment.

 

I won't touch an 'unbranded' LED screen if they buy it, I'll continue to use the people we've used in the past and they'll have a product that could have earned money sitting costing them money.

 

Another option to look at are Christie's MicroTiles. PM if you want a demo or more information.

[KDD]

just to add to the question wether or not to buy from china.

 

I would honestly think hard before letting my money out of my hands on a 6k product from china, yes it is cheaper than buying from a known manufacturer but as other have pointed out is its reliability, spare parts, lifespan, and importantly will it make you a profit or will you be lucky to make the the investment back.

 

I know of a chap who has bought a video cloth curtain which I think is a P25, its good, easy(well kind of) to set up, weighs only 80kg, for 4mx2.5m flexi screen and looks very good up and running. he has been lucky he can repair himself and cleverly enough ordered parts with it.

he has manage to make his investment back just about but will be lucky if he sees a return.

 

Pay that bit more get a branded reliable product, which has on going support, and the flexibility to expand buy subhiring, it makes sense, and will even make u a profit, rather than a liability.