Guides
The short answer
Measure from the screen to the furthest seat. For slides people need to read, the screen should be at least a sixth of that distance tall. For video and graphics, an eighth. So a back row 24 metres away needs a screen about 4 metres tall for slides, or 3 metres for video.
Start with the back row
The headcount doesn't decide the size. The distance to the furthest guest does. A long, narrow room for 200 people needs a bigger screen than a square room for the same 200.
Measure from where the screen will stand to the back row, then use the rule of thumb below. It's the one AV designers use for projection screens, and it works for LED walls too.
| Back row is | Screen height for slides | Screen height for video |
|---|---|---|
| 12 m away | 2 m | 1.5 m |
| 18 m away | 3 m | 2.3 m |
| 24 m away | 4 m | 3 m |
| 30 m away | 5 m | 3.8 m |
Then work out the width
Most slides and video are made in 16:9, so the width is about 1.8 times the height. A screen 3 metres tall is about 5.3 metres wide.
LED walls are built from panels, usually 50 cm wide, so the size rounds to whole panels and fits your stage. A wall can also be wider than 16:9 as a stage backdrop, with your slides in a 16:9 window inside it.
Pixel pitch: how close can people sit?
Pixel pitch is the distance between the LEDs on a panel, in millimetres. The smaller the number, the sharper the screen looks up close.
A handy rule of thumb: the closest comfortable viewing distance in metres is about the same as the pixel pitch in millimetres. So a 3.9 mm screen looks smooth from about 4 metres back. At most conferences and galas the front row sits further away than that, so pitch matters most in small rooms and for screens beside the stage.
Lift it above the heads
In a seated room, the bottom of the screen should clear the heads of the people in front, so about 1.5 metres up or more. For a standing crowd, lift it higher. On a stage, the stage height does some of the work.
One big screen or side screens?
In a wide room, guests at the sides see a centre screen at an angle. Two side screens, one either side of the stage, give everyone a straight-on view. That's how SAICA's 2022 conference and Deloitte BSides 2025 were set up.
A wide LED wall behind the stage does a different job: it becomes the set, with your branding, walk-on graphics and video. Many events use both, with the wall for the look and side screens for the slides and the camera on the speaker.
What to send us
- The venue and the room, or its size
- The stage size, if you know it
- The guest count and the layout: rows, round tables or standing
- What you'll show: slides, video, a live camera or all three
- Indoors or outdoors (daylight needs brighter, outdoor-rated panels)
Planning an event? Tell us the date, the venue and the guest count, and we'll quote with the full kit list.
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