LED wall calculator: questions and answers
What is PixelBid?
A web app that does the engineering and the quote for an LED video wall bid. Enter the pixel pitch and the wall size; it returns the cabinet layout, power circuits, data runs per processor port, viewing distances, drawings and a client quote. It is built for LED integrators, AV integrators and LED rental companies.
Is PixelBid free?
Yes. The calculator at pixelbid.ai/calc works without an account, with up to 5 PDFs a day. A free account adds saved projects and the cabinet library; its documents carry a PixelBid line at the foot. Pro is $39 a month or $390 a year and adds your logo and terms, DXF, the export package and unlimited PDFs. New accounts get 14 days of Pro.
How many LED cabinets do I need for a wall?
Divide the target width by the cabinet width and the target height by the cabinet height, and round each to whole cabinets. A 6 m × 3.4 m wall in 500 × 500 mm cabinets is 12 × 7 = 84 cabinets, and the wall comes out 6.0 m × 3.5 m. PixelBid fits whole cabinets to a target size, resolution or cabinet count and shows the size you actually get.
How do I calculate the power for an LED wall?
Size the circuits from the cabinets' maximum draw, loading each circuit to no more than 80% of its breaker, the continuous-load limit, so the wall never trips. Size the cooling from the typical draw, so the HVAC is not specified for heat the wall never makes. PixelBid counts circuits from the power runs it draws, cabinet by cabinet, and reports peak and typical load and the heat in BTU/h.
How many cabinets can one processor port drive?
It depends on the processor's load per port, the cabinet's pixel count, the bit depth and the frame rate. NovaStar publishes about 650,000 pixels per 1G port at 8-bit and 60 Hz, and fewer at 10-bit. PixelBid works out pixels per port from NovaStar's published figures for the bit depth and frame rate, draws the data runs port by port, and picks the processor from each model's own datasheet.
What viewing distance does a pixel pitch need?
Three distances, each a multiple of the pitch in millimetres, given in metres: about 1× is the closest anyone should sit, 2× is where the trade puts the best seat, and 3.44× is where the pixel structure disappears. For P2.5 that is 2.5 m, 5 m and 8.6 m. PixelBid checks the nearest seat, the centre of the front row, and maps the whole seating block by tier.
Can I export drawings to AutoCAD?
Yes, on Pro: the elevation as a DXF at true size (1:1), on named layers.
Can I quote a rental as well as a sale?
Yes. Rental mode prices by the day or the week, with load-in, show and load-out dates, and lists spare cabinets instead of spare modules.
How is sales tax handled?
Line by line. By default goods are taxed and services such as installation are not, as in California; each line has its own switch.
Which cabinets and processors does it know?
59 cabinets from Absen, Gloshine, INFiLED, Leyard and Unilumin, and custom cabinets you add yourself. 23 NovaStar processors, one of which is recommended for every design.
How do I get help?
Email support@pixelbid.ai. We reply within one business day (US Pacific time). The guide at pixelbid.ai/guide walks through a design step by step, and pixelbid.ai/methodology shows how every figure is calculated.
Which languages does it support?
Seven, for the tool and the quote: English, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Korean, in metric or imperial units.