Two numbers decide whether your content will look sharp or stretched on an LED wall: the resolution the screen actually produces, and the aspect ratio you have to design to. Both come from simple arithmetic, and both are usually calculated too late.
The formula
Resolution is physical size divided by pixel pitch:
horizontal pixels = width in mm ÷ pitch in mm
vertical pixels = height in mm ÷ pitch in mm
Work in the same units and round down to the nearest whole cabinet module, because you cannot have a fraction of a pixel.
A worked example
Take a 4 m wide by 2.5 m high wall at P3.91:
- 4,000 ÷ 3.91 = 1,023 pixels wide
- 2,500 ÷ 3.91 = 639 pixels high
The panel will report roughly 1024 × 640 once cabinet edges are accounted for. Feed it 1920 × 1080 and every pixel of your content is being thrown away by the scaler.
Resolution at common sizes and pitches
| Screen size | P2.6 | P3.91 | P4.81 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 × 1 m | 768 × 384 | 512 × 256 | 416 × 208 |
| 4 × 2 m | 1536 × 768 | 1024 × 512 | 832 × 416 |
| 6 × 3 m | 2304 × 1152 | 1536 × 768 | 1248 × 624 |
| 8 × 4 m | 3072 × 1536 | 2048 × 1024 | 1664 × 832 |
Notice that none of these land on 1920 × 1080. That is normal, and it is the first thing to explain to a client who has handed you a 16:9 video file.
Why LED walls rarely match 16:9
A 16:9 screen at 500 mm cabinet modules would need to be 8 m × 4.5 m, or 4 m × 2.25 m, or another combination that happens to divide evenly. Cabinet sizes are fixed at 500 mm and 1000 mm, so only certain dimensions are buildable.
In practice you do one of three things:
- Build to the content. Choose a wall size that gives you 16:9 or 4:3, accepting a little wasted area.
- Build to the space. Fit the wall to the venue and let the content be re-cropped or re-laid out for that ratio.
- Design to a custom canvas. Most professional content for LED walls is authored at the screen’s native resolution, with safe areas marked.
The third option gives the sharpest result, and it is why the resolution calculation has to happen before the creative brief, not after.
Check the controller against the pixel count
Resolution is also a load figure. A controller is specified in pixels it can drive, not in square metres. A 2048 × 1024 wall needs 2.1 million pixels; a 3072 × 1536 wall needs 4.7 million. Two walls of the same physical size at different pitches can differ by 50 percent in processor load.
Before you commit to a very fine pitch, confirm the controller, the sending card count and the frame rate you expect. A screen that can produce 60 Hz at native resolution is the goal; a screen that drops to 30 Hz because the processor is saturated looks worse than a coarser pitch running properly.
Common mistakes
- Calculating in metres and pitch in millimetres. Convert first. Most errors come from this alone.
- Forgetting cabinet seams. The theoretical resolution assumes a continuous surface; real walls are made of cabinets, and the buildable size is a multiple of the cabinet module.
- Designing content at 1920 × 1080 for a 1024 × 640 screen. The scaler will soften text and thin lines.
- Ignoring the vertical. A wide, short wall has an unusual ratio that catches out templates built for 16:9.
- Choosing pitch from resolution alone. Viewing distance still decides whether the pixels are visible. See our P3.91 vs P4.81 comparison for that side of the decision.
Frequently asked questions
What resolution is a 6 × 3 m P3.91 screen?
About 1536 × 768. That is exactly 2:1, not 16:9, so content needs to be composed for a wider frame.
Can an LED screen display 4K?
Yes, if the pixel count reaches it. A 3840 × 2160 wall at P2.6 needs to be about 10 m × 5.6 m. Below that, a 4K source is being downscaled.
Does higher resolution always look better?
Only up to the point where the viewer can resolve it. Beyond that you are paying for pixels nobody sees, and for a heavier controller load.
How do I calculate for a curved wall?
Calculate on the developed (unrolled) surface, then confirm with the cabinet arc limits. Curved builds lose a little usable area at the joints.
Send the dimensions, we will send the numbers
Give us the width, height and viewer distance and we will return the native resolution, the cabinet layout and the controller requirement. If brightness is also open, read how many nits an outdoor screen needs first.
Browse the rental LED display range or send your brief through the contact page.