An LED Wall Is Priced by the Square Metre and Briefed by Viewing Distance

A stand with a large LED wall looks like a single purchase. In practice it is four decisions that arrive together: how fine the picture needs to be, how the screen is held up, how much power it draws, and who makes the content. A builder can only price it properly if the brief answers all four.

Pixel Pitch Follows Viewing Distance

An LED wall is built from modular panels, so it can be almost any size or shape. The detail that matters most on an exhibition floor is pixel pitch, the distance between the LEDs. A smaller pitch gives a finer image when people stand close, and a larger pitch suits audiences further away. Stage Engage, a UK production company, notes that the choice should follow viewing distance, audience size and content, not the highest resolution on offer. A stand where visitors stand a metre or two from the screen reading product detail needs a finer pitch than one where the wall is a backdrop seen from the aisle. Brightness helps in busy halls, and it is also why LED is often chosen over projection where ambient light is high, though projection can still work where light is controlled.

What the Hire Rate Does and Does Not Cover

Dynamo, a UK supplier, publishes indoor hire rates ex VAT per square metre per week: £325 for a fine P1.29 pitch and £220 for a standard P2.06. On a six square metre wall that is £1,950 or £1,320 a week, and the supplier states that delivery, rigging and operation are quoted separately from the panel hardware. Its per-event figure for 6 to 35 square metres of 1.2 to 2.06 mm screen has a median of £520 per square metre, within a range of £260 to £810, a reminder that the basis of a quote matters as much as the number. The published pages do not cover power or an operator, so those need asking for in writing.

Power, Rigging and Content Are Where Quotes Diverge

Power comes from the show’s electrical contractor, and the pricing steps up the later it is ordered, as the electrics post shows. A large screen needs a dedicated supply, so it belongs in the first electrical order, not an onsite request.

Rigging is the other variable. A wall can sit on the floor, be ground supported or hang from the structure, and each route needs different equipment and, at some venues, approval. Stage Engage lists venue access, rigging or ground support and available power among the first things it checks. The exhibitor manual paperwork post covers the structural and safety documents that follow.

Content is the cost most often forgotten. A wall at a non-standard size needs artwork made to fit, and someone has to run it. Dynamo notes that simple loop playback from a USB drive costs nothing extra, while scheduled playback through a cloud system runs £30 to £150 a month.

Put It in the Brief

A useful brief gives the viewing distance, the content type, whether the screen is floor-standing or hung, and who supplies the artwork. Builders can then quote like for like. If a show is coming up and the brief needs shaping, get in touch with Stand Between and we will introduce builders who price screens from that kind of detail.