A first LED video wall rental inventory buy is usually not lock style or nits. It is pitch. P2.6 vs P2.9 vs P3.91 is the shortlist most shops actually stock. Finer SKUs (P1.9, P1.5) are real, and easy to over-order if the first row is 10 m back.
Pitch is millimeters between pixel centers. It is not a quality score. Choose it from the closest seat that still has to look good, then match indoor vs outdoor, cabinet size, and cameras. SFxDisplay ships the same pitches on SFR-S (soft lock) and SFR-H (hard lock). The lock is independent of pitch. Spec both on the PO.
Start with viewing distance, not a catalog number
Use ~1 m of viewing distance per millimeter of pitch as a planning start, then verify the closest seat. P3.91 means about 3.9 m as a “you can live with it” floor. P2.9 is about 2.9 m. P2.6 is about 2.6 m. Churches, boardrooms, and IMAG jobs should treat that number as a minimum, not a comfort target. Comfortable viewing is farther — roughly pitch in millimeters × 10 in feet (P2.6 ≈ 26 ft / 8 m).
Always measure the closest viewer you care about, not the back wall. A concert backdrop at 18 m will look sharp on a rental LED screen P3.91. The same P3.91 in a ballroom with a 6 m first row will show the grid on solid color and small type. That is not a module defect. It is the wrong pitch for that room.
For the full chart (P1.5 through P3.91), see LED pixel pitch by viewing distance. This page is the rental-inventory version: which of the three workhorses to buy first.
| Pitch | Planning start (~1 m / mm) | Typical rental job | Indoor / outdoor |
|---|---|---|---|
| P3.91 | ~3.9 m (13 ft) | Concert backdrop, festival hang, long-throw, trailer / outdoor daylight | Outdoor IP65 workhorse; indoor only when seats are far |
| P2.9 | ~2.9 m (9.5 ft) | Indoor event workhorse: ballroom, expo, gala, mid-size stage | Indoor IP44 first |
| P2.6 | ~2.6 m (8.5 ft) | Closer first row, IMAG, corporate, camera-heavy indoor | Indoor first; cameras sit nearer the face |
These are planning numbers, not a lab certificate. Demo the actual cabinet at the real throw when the job is IMAG or broadcast.
P3.91: outdoor and long-throw workhorse
P3.91 is still the default rental LED screen P3.91 for outdoor daylight and for indoor jobs where the crowd sits far away. Concert backdrops, festival walls, trailer faces, and parking-lot throws live here. Fewer pixels per square meter is the point: lower cabinet cost, lighter processor load, and a face that still reads as a picture from 12–30 m.
Stock outdoor IP65 in this pitch if the book includes weather. Indoor IP44 P3.91 exists, but most shops put the outdoor money here and keep finer pitch indoors. P3.91 loses when the first row is close, when cameras sit 6–8 m from a backdrop, or when the content is lyrics and small logos. If that is half the calendar, it is not the first indoor buy.
P2.9: indoor event workhorse
P2.9 is the indoor rental default. Ballrooms, exhibitions, galas, and most corporate stages have a first row in the 8–12 m band. P2.9 sits on the right side of the 1 m/mm floor for those rooms without paying P2.6 prices across a 6×3 m wall.
If you can only buy one indoor rental LED pitch, P2.9 is usually it. A shop that already owns outdoor P3.91 and needs a second line for indoor weekends should start here, not at P1.5. The tradeoff: a camera 5 m from the wall, or a worship IMAG wall with a 6 m front row, will prefer P2.6.
P2.6: closer first row, IMAG, corporate
P2.6 is the step you take when people sit closer or cameras sit closer. Corporate keynotes, church IMAG, fashion, and indoor LED that has to survive a 20 ft (6 m) front row belong here. The pixel count on a 4–6 m-wide wall is high enough for HD-class IMAG without pretending the wall is 4K.
P2.6 is the wrong first outdoor buy. Daylight wants nits and pitch that match throw. Filling the truck with indoor P2.6 because “smaller is better” leaves expensive stock that a 20 m festival backdrop will not pay for. If the closest walk-by is under 2 m, you are out of this shortlist and into P1.9 / P1.5. That is a different quote.
Do not overbuy P1.5 / P1.9 for a 10 m backdrop
A 10 m backdrop with a first useful seat around 10–15 m does not need P1.5. At that throw, P2.9 and P3.91 look the same on typical video. What you buy with P1.5 is more diodes, more spare modules, more seam work, and a processor driving a canvas nobody in row twelve can resolve.
Keep P1.9 / P1.5 for close indoor rooms and walls people walk up to. For touring inventory, the honest first three SKUs are P3.91 outdoor, P2.9 indoor, then P2.6 if the book is camera- or IMAG-heavy.
Pitch is independent of SFR-S / SFR-H
Buyers mix pitch with lock. They are separate lines on the PO.
SFxDisplay rental cabinets use SFR-S soft connection or SFR-H hard connection locks. Rebuild-heavy indoor books often take SFR-S. Tall hangs, multi-day outdoor, and camera-critical seams lean SFR-H. The soft vs hard connection page covers that choice. You can spec P2.9 on either lock. Do not mix SFR-S and SFR-H in one hang.
500×500 and 500×1000 cabinets exist in these pitches. 500×500 packs and hangs flexibly. 500×1000 halves the cabinet count on the tall axis of a large rectangle. Many shops stock both sizes in one pitch so a 6 m wall is not an odd puzzle. Keep one lock style across both sizes in one hang.
Indoor IP44 / outdoor IP65. Indoor and outdoor cabinets differ in nits, seals, and often thickness. Hang one type. Stock both if the book needs both. IP is not a pitch feature, but outdoor work is why P3.91 still leads the first outdoor pallet.
Refresh for cameras. If clients bring cameras, treat 3840 Hz as a floor and 7680 Hz for concerts, worship IMAG, or broadcast. Write refresh on the same line as pitch. A fine P2.6 with a low refresh still looks like a rolling-shutter problem. Moiré is a lens-and-distance problem as much as a pitch problem — demo the cabinet with the actual cameras.
Which pitch to stock first
A working rule, not a promise:
- Outdoor / long-throw / concert backdrop first → P3.91 (IP65)
- One indoor event line → P2.9
- Closer first row, IMAG, or camera-heavy indoor already on the calendar → add P2.6
- Do not lead with P1.5 / P1.9 unless the rooms are small and people walk up to the wall
If the shop rents more than it buys in year one, still spec the first owned wall from the jobs you will not turn down. A mixed book (weekend outdoor plus weekday ballroom) is two pitches, not one “universal” cabinet.
FAQ
Is P2.6 always better than P2.9? No. Finer pitch helps when the closest seat or camera is close. From 12–20 m on typical video they look the same. P2.9 is the cheaper indoor workhorse.
Can I use indoor P2.9 outdoors? Not as a weather wall. Outdoor needs IP65, higher nits, and the seals that go with them. Use outdoor P3.91 (or an outdoor-rated finer pitch if the throw is short and the nits are there).
Should I mix P2.6 and P2.9 in one hang? No. One pitch per face. Mixed pitches show as a resolution step and a brightness/color mismatch.
Does SFR-S vs SFR-H change which pitch I buy? No. Lock and pitch are independent. Choose pitch from viewing distance. Choose the lock from rebuild speed vs hang stiffness.
How many cabinets for a first inventory? Send a target rectangle (for example 6×3 m or 8×4.5 m), indoor vs outdoor, and closest viewer. We will map 500×500 / 500×1000 counts, a spare-module ratio, and cases. There is no honest universal square-meter price on a blog page.
Spec pitch on the same line as lock and IP
Send closest viewing distance, indoor vs outdoor, hang vs stack, whether cameras will shoot, and a target width × height. We will spec P2.6, P2.9, or P3.91 on SFR-S or SFR-H, 500×500 / 500×1000, IP44 or IP65, and refresh. Start on the rental series page, or contact SFxDisplay.
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[…] Ask for the camera clip with the quote. If you are choosing pitch for a rental wall, start with P2.6 vs P2.9 vs P3.91 and then lock refresh the way you lock pixel pitch: in writing, at the gray you will actually […]
[…] pitch itself, see P2.6 vs P2.9 vs P3.91. For how big the wall should be before you talk about pixels, see church LED wall size and pixel […]