Common LED Terminology + How It’s Often Misused

LED displays come with a lot of specialised language. In practice that language gets bent, shortened, or reused in ways that can be confusing, especially when different suppliers, venues, + builders are involved.

We aren't the terminology police, but we do feel it's important when having technical conversations to highlight a few common terms that tend to cause misunderstandings + what they usually mean in context.

“Panel”

“Panel” is one of the most overloaded words in LED land.

Depending on who you're talking to it could mean:

• a complete LED panel with frame, power, + receiving card
• a single cabinet in a larger wall
• an entire assembled screen

When someone says “panel”, it’s usually worth clarifying whether they mean a physical unit or the whole display.

At Pixelgrinder, a panel is one modular unit that is made up of LED modules, a frame, a receiving card, + a PSU.

“Module”

“Module” is often used correctly, but not always!

A module is typically a sub-component of a panel containing LEDs + driver circuitry, not something that can be used on its own without additional hardware.

When “module” is used to describe a complete panel or screen, it can lead to confusion about scale, pricing, + assembly requirements.

“Resolution”

Resolution is frequently quoted without context.

In LED systems, resolution depends on:

• pixel pitch
• physical screen size
• how panels are arranged

A screen’s resolution isn’t a fixed property of a single panel, it’s a property of the entire configured display. Two setups using the same panels can have very different resolutions, whist 2 setups using modules with different pixel pitches could be the same resolution.

“Pixel pitch”

Pixel pitch often gets treated as a quality score, where smaller is assumed to be better.

In reality, pixel pitch should be considered relative to your use case, with viewing distance, content type, + environment informing the best choice.

A very fine pitch used in the wrong context can be inefficient, expensive, + unnecessary.

“Controller”

“Controller” can mean several different things, including:

• a sending card
• a video processor
• a media player
• software running on a computer
• or something else entirely like a MIDI controller a VJ would use

If something is described as “the controller”, it’s usually helpful to ask what role it’s actually performing in the signal chain. This is not a term we tend to use at Pixelgrinder due to the wildly varied potential interpretations.

“Plug + play”

This phrase gets used optimistically at best.

Some LED systems are relatively straightforward to set up, but very few are genuinely plug + play in the way consumer displays are. Power limits, data mapping, calibration, + physical layout all matter.

When someone says “plug and play”, it often means “it worked last time in a similar setup”, not “this will work anywhere without configuration”.

Regardless of whether your screen was configured perfectly before you take it down to transport to an event, you'll want to allow enough time for completely reconfiguring it once it has been put back up. 

Why this matters

Most LED problems aren’t caused by broken hardware, they’re caused by mismatched expectations or confusion.

Clear terminology helps avoid under or over specifying systems, makes pricing + logistics more predictable, + can reduce friction between everyone involved.

The practical takeaway

You don’t need perfect language, but you do need shared understanding!

If something sounds vague or ambiguous, it’s usually worth slowing down + asking one more question. That small pause often saves a lot of time later.