The Penn Group 
LED walls have gone from “something mega-churches and concert tours use” to “something every church, corporate venue, restaurant, and event space is considering.” The prices have dropped. The quality has improved. And the visual impact of a bright, vibrant LED display compared to a washed-out projector is something that, once you see it, you can’t unsee.
LED walls are a significant investment, and getting the size wrong — too small, too large, or the wrong pixel pitch — means you’ve either wasted money or delivered a disappointing result. Unlike projectors, you can’t just swap a lens to change the image size. An LED wall is a physical structure, and the decisions you make before purchase are the ones you live with.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to size an LED wall correctly for your space, including pixel pitch (what it is and why it matters), viewing distance calculations, recommended sizes by venue type, indoor versus outdoor considerations, content resolution requirements, and realistic budget ranges.
Let’s start with the most important concept.
What Is Pixel Pitch, and Why Does It Matter?
Pixel pitch is the distance, measured in millimeters, between the center of one LED pixel and the center of its nearest neighbor. It’s expressed as a “P” value — P1.5 means 1.5 millimeters between pixels, P2.5 means 2.5 millimeters, P4 means 4 millimeters, and so on.
Here’s what you need to know: a smaller pixel pitch means more pixels packed into the same physical area, which means higher resolution and a sharper image at close viewing distances. A larger pixel pitch means fewer pixels per area, which means lower resolution — but the panels are significantly less expensive.
The key insight is that pixel pitch only matters relative to viewing distance. Standing three feet from a P4 display, you’ll clearly see individual pixels and the image looks grainy. Standing thirty feet from that same P4 display, it looks perfectly sharp because your eyes can no longer distinguish individual pixels. This is the same reason a billboard looks great from 200 feet away even though it would look terrible up close.
Choosing the right pixel pitch means matching the resolution to how close your nearest viewers will be. Spend too much on an unnecessarily fine pitch, and you’ve wasted money on resolution nobody can see. Go too coarse, and your front-row viewers are staring at visible pixels.
Viewing Distance: The Most Important Factor
There are two key viewing distances that determine your pixel pitch selection.
Minimum viewing distance is the closest anyone will be to the display. This determines the finest pixel pitch you need. If your front row is 10 feet from the display, you need a pixel pitch that looks clean at 10 feet.
Optimal viewing distance is where the majority of your audience sits. This is the distance you should optimize the display for.
The Rule of Thumb
A widely used guideline in the LED industry relates pixel pitch to comfortable minimum viewing distance. Multiply the pixel pitch in millimeters by approximately 8, and you get the minimum comfortable viewing distance in feet. So a P2.5 display has a minimum comfortable viewing distance of about 20 feet, and a P4 display has a minimum comfortable viewing distance of about 32 feet.
For a more precise minimum viewing distance where individual pixels begin to disappear, multiply the pixel pitch in millimeters by approximately 3.3 to get the distance in feet. This gives you the absolute minimum — closer than this, and the pixel structure becomes visible.
Pixel Pitch Selection Guide
| Pixel Pitch | Min Comfortable Distance | Best For | Relative Cost |
| P1.2 – P1.5 | 10 – 12 feet | Conference rooms, lobbies, close-viewing displays | Very High |
| P1.8 – P1.9 | 14 – 16 feet | Small to mid venues, corporate boardrooms, smaller churches | High |
| P2.5 | 20 feet | Mid-size churches, theaters, event venues | Moderate-High |
| P2.9 – P3.0 | 23 – 24 feet | Mid to large churches, auditoriums | Moderate |
| P3.9 – P4.0 | 31 – 32 feet | Large churches, large event spaces, concert venues | Moderate-Low |
| P4.8 – P5.0 | 38 – 40 feet | Very large venues, outdoor events | Low |
| P6.0+ | 48+ feet | Outdoor signage, stadiums, long-distance viewing | Lowest |
For most indoor church and corporate applications, P2.5 to P3.9 is the sweet spot — fine enough to look sharp from typical seating distances, but not so fine that you’re paying for resolution nobody can appreciate.
Sizing Your LED Wall by Venue Type
Churches
The most common question we get from churches is “how big should our LED wall be?” The answer depends on your room dimensions, seating layout, and how you plan to use the display.
For lyric display and sermon graphics, the general rule is that text should be readable from the farthest seat. The minimum recommended height for a primary display is roughly one-sixth to one-eighth of the distance to the farthest viewer. If your last row is 100 feet from the screen, you want a display that’s at least 12 to 17 feet wide to ensure comfortable reading.
For a worship environment where the LED wall is the primary visual element, bigger is almost always better — within reason and budget. A display that commands the room creates immersion. A display that’s too small for the room feels like a TV on a big wall.
Here are our recommended starting points for churches by seating capacity. For small churches with 100 to 200 seats and a room depth of roughly 40 to 60 feet, we recommend an 8 to 12 foot wide display at P2.5 to P3.0 pixel pitch. For mid-size churches with 200 to 500 seats and a room depth of roughly 60 to 100 feet, a 12 to 18 foot wide display at P2.5 to P3.9 works well. For large churches with 500 to 1,500 seats and a room depth of roughly 80 to 150 feet, go with an 18 to 28 foot wide display at P3.0 to P4.0. And for extra-large churches with over 1,500 seats and a room depth exceeding 120 feet, 24 to 40+ foot wide displays at P3.9 to P4.8 are typical.
Many churches opt for a multi-display configuration — a center screen for primary content flanked by two side screens for lyrics or IMAG (live camera feeds magnifying the people on stage). This provides better sight lines for people seated at the sides and allows different content on different screens.
Corporate Meeting Rooms and Conference Centers
Corporate environments typically have closer viewing distances and higher expectations for image clarity, which means finer pixel pitches. A boardroom where the closest viewer is 8 feet from the display needs P1.5 or finer. A training room or medium conference room where the closest viewer is 12 to 15 feet away works well with P1.8 to P2.5. A large conference or ballroom where the closest viewer is 20 or more feet away can use P2.5 to P3.0.
Corporate LED walls are increasingly replacing projection systems and large flat-panel TVs because they eliminate the bezels of multi-panel video walls, they look great in any lighting condition without needing to dim the room, and they can be configured in any size or aspect ratio.
Restaurants, Bars, and Entertainment Venues
In hospitality settings, LED walls serve as both functional displays (for menus, sports, entertainment) and as design elements that define the atmosphere of the space. The viewing distances are often mixed — some guests are very close, others are across the room — so the pixel pitch needs to accommodate the closest viewers.
For a bar or restaurant with viewers as close as 6 to 10 feet, P1.5 to P2.0 is recommended. For larger entertainment venues, P2.5 to P3.0 provides a good balance. The size depends entirely on the design intent, but LED walls in hospitality are often 6 to 15 feet wide and serve as a focal feature of the space.
Event Venues and Theaters
Rental and fixed-installation LED walls in event spaces need to be versatile. The most common approach is a modular system that can be configured for different events. Typical sizes range from 12 to 30 feet wide, with P2.9 to P3.9 being the most popular pitch for multi-purpose venues. These displays need to look good for both a seated gala dinner (closer viewing) and a standing concert (farther viewing with more movement).
Indoor vs. Outdoor Considerations
Indoor and outdoor LED walls are fundamentally different products, and this distinction affects your budget, installation approach, and product selection.
Indoor LED walls are designed for controlled environments. They have lower brightness ratings (typically 800 to 1,500 nits), finer pixel pitches (since viewers are closer), and are not weatherproofed. They’re lighter, thinner, and less expensive per square foot than outdoor equivalents.
Outdoor LED walls need to battle sunlight, rain, wind, and temperature extremes. They have much higher brightness (3,000 to 8,000+ nits) to remain visible in direct sunlight, coarser pixel pitches (P4 and up, since viewing distances are greater), full weatherproofing with IP65 or higher ratings, and structural mounting that can withstand wind loads.
An outdoor LED wall typically costs two to three times more per square foot than a comparable indoor product. If your application is outdoor, budget accordingly.
Semi-outdoor applications — like a display visible through large glass windows, or a covered patio — are a middle ground. You may need the higher brightness of an outdoor panel but the finer pitch of an indoor product. These applications require careful product selection.
Content Resolution Requirements
Your LED wall’s total pixel count determines what resolution content it can display natively. This matters because stretching low-resolution content to fill a high-resolution display looks soft, and feeding high-resolution content to a low-pixel-count display wastes processing power.
To calculate your wall’s native resolution, divide the display width in millimeters by the pixel pitch to get horizontal pixels, and divide the display height in millimeters by the pixel pitch to get vertical pixels.
For example, a 16-foot wide by 9-foot tall display at P2.5 pixel pitch has approximately 1,950 horizontal pixels and 1,097 vertical pixels — very close to a 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution. This means standard HD content will look crisp and native on this display.
A quick reference for common display sizes and pixel pitches: a 12-foot by 7-foot display at P2.5 gives you roughly 1,463 by 853 pixels. A 16-foot by 9-foot display at P2.5 gives you roughly 1,951 by 1,097 pixels. A 20-foot by 11-foot display at P3.0 gives you roughly 2,032 by 1,118 pixels. A 24-foot by 14-foot display at P3.9 gives you roughly 1,875 by 1,093 pixels. And a 32-foot by 18-foot display at P4.8 gives you roughly 2,032 by 1,143 pixels.
Notice how all of these land close to HD or Full HD resolution. This is by design — content creation tools, media servers, and streaming platforms are optimized for standard resolutions, so sizing your wall to land near a standard resolution simplifies your content workflow.
For most church and venue applications, targeting a native resolution close to 1920 by 1080 is ideal. If your wall needs to display 4K content natively, you’ll need either a very large wall or a very fine pixel pitch — both of which drive cost up significantly. For the vast majority of applications, HD content on a properly sized wall looks excellent.
Budget Ranges
LED wall pricing varies significantly based on pixel pitch, panel brand, indoor vs. outdoor rating, and installation complexity. But here are realistic budget ranges for installed systems, including panels, mounting structure, processing, and installation.
| Display Size | Approximate Installed Cost |
| 8 x 4.5 feet (small) | $5,000 – $40,000 |
| 12 x 7 feet (medium) | $15,000 – $70,000 |
| 16 x 9 feet (large) | $15,000 – $110,000 |
| 20 x 11 feet (x-large) | $20,000 – $120,000 |
| 24 x 14 feet (xx-large) | $35,000 – $115,000 |
| 32 x 18 feet (massive) | $40,000 – $180,000 |
These are broad ranges because panel pricing varies by manufacturer and quantity, mounting structures range from simple wall-mount frames to complex flown systems, video processing requirements depend on content complexity, and installation labor varies based on access, height, and structural requirements. The Penn Group leverages price savings for our clients by manufacturing our own line of LED Wall called PENN LED.
A few important notes about these numbers. Prices have been trending downward over the past several years, and that trend is continuing. What cost $150,000 three years ago might cost $90,000 today for equivalent or better quality. Cheap LED panels from unknown manufacturers are tempting but risky. Color consistency, dead pixel rates, long-term reliability, and support availability are all concerns with bargain panels. We’ve replaced more than a few “great deals” that failed within two years. Don’t forget the supporting infrastructure: video processors, content management systems, cabling, power circuits, and potentially structural reinforcement all add to the total cost.
Common Sizing Mistakes
After installing LED walls in churches, corporate venues, restaurants, and event spaces across seven states, here are the mistakes we see most often.
Going too small. This is the most common mistake. A church installs a beautiful LED wall that’s sized perfectly for lyrics and sermon graphics — and then realizes it looks tiny and underwhelming compared to the wall behind it. When in doubt, go bigger. An LED wall that fills the visual space creates immersion. One that’s too small creates a distraction.
Choosing pixel pitch based on spec sheets, not viewing distance. We see churches install P1.5 panels when their closest viewer is 30 feet away. That’s like buying a 4K monitor for someone who sits 20 feet from their desk — the extra resolution is invisible and the extra cost is real. Match your pitch to your actual viewing distances.
Ignoring the structural requirements. LED panels are heavy. A 16 by 9 foot wall can weigh 800 to 1,500 pounds depending on the panels. Your wall or structure needs to support that weight safely. If you’re planning to fly an LED wall from a ceiling grid, you need a structural engineer to verify the load capacity. This isn’t a step you skip.
Forgetting about content. An LED wall is only as good as what’s displayed on it. If you install a gorgeous wall but don’t invest in quality content — well-designed lyrics templates, engaging backgrounds, properly formatted camera feeds — you’ve built a canvas and forgotten the paint. Budget for content creation or a content subscription service alongside the hardware.
Not planning for maintenance. LED walls are reliable, but they’re not maintenance-free. Individual modules can fail, power supplies eventually wear out, and calibration drifts over time. Plan for periodic maintenance and keep a small inventory of spare modules (your installer should provide these) so a single dead module doesn’t ruin the visual experience for weeks while you wait for a replacement.
Making Your Decision
An LED wall is a multi-year investment that will define the visual identity of your space. The right wall — properly sized, properly pitched, and properly installed — will make your room feel modern, engaging, and professional. The wrong wall — too small, too coarse, or poorly installed — will be a daily reminder of a missed opportunity.
Here’s our advice for making the decision. First, start with your room dimensions and viewing distances, not a budget number. Know what size and pixel pitch you actually need before you start comparing prices. Second, see it in person. Photos and spec sheets can’t convey the visual impact of an LED wall. Visit an installation, attend a demo, or ask your integrator to bring sample panels to your space. Third, plan for content from day one. Budget for a content management system, design templates, and potentially a subscription to a background content library. Fourth, work with an experienced integrator. LED wall installation involves structural, electrical, and video processing expertise that goes well beyond hanging a TV on the wall. This is not a DIY project. Fifth, think about the next ten years. LED technology continues to improve and prices continue to drop, but the wall you install today should serve you well for eight to twelve years. Buy the right product now rather than planning to replace it in three years.
Let’s Talk About Your Space
The Penn Group has designed and installed LED walls in churches, corporate venues, restaurants, and event spaces across Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kentucky, Florida, and Texas. With our house brand PENN LED we bring the expertise to ensure your wall looks stunning on day one and stays that way for years.
If you’re considering an LED wall for your space, we’d love to hear about your project. We’ll visit your venue, assess your viewing distances and structural requirements, recommend the right product and size for your application, and give you a clear, detailed proposal with no surprises.
Reach out to The Penn Group today and let’s bring your space to life.
