Large LED Light Display

[Cliff Patrick]

I was wondering what the largest LED light display anyone has done. I have someone who is interested in building a wall approximately 13' long and 42" high. The wall will be built of 2x6'es and have oak plywood veneer on both sides. They are wanting to put 3 pieces of acrylic in it that is approximately 4' wide and 42" tall and have it lit from the wall. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Dan Hintz]

I've been down that road before... you're going to need high-brightness LEDs, and I don't mean the T1-3/4 "high brightness" units found in front panel displays, I mean the 5-25W units that require heatsinks and open air to prevent damaging them. You'll also need optics to narrow the beam and get as much into the panel as possible.

[Doug Bergstrom]

Actually you can use new thin light tape and it works great at any size. We light cans and large signs all the time with LED's. That is all we use now, and you do not need heat sinks. They are very cool and if you have 5-6" of depth they work great.

[David Fairfield]

Um, whatever you guys are talking about, it sounds really interesting. But I'm completely in the dark. Can somebody enlighten me with some photos.

Sorry for the puns :rolleyes: but I'd really like to see photos!
:)
Dave

[Dan Hintz]

Actually you can use new thin light tape and it works great at any size. We light cans and large signs all the time with LED's. That is all we use now, and you do not need heat sinks. They are very cool and if you have 5-6" of depth they work great.
Doug,

Are you talking about channel lettering or edge-lighting large panels? A 4' high panel typically won't have good light uniformity when lit from such a distance with standard strip LEDs. With heavy etching (i.e., large logos), the center of the panel tends to fade away.

[Cliff Patrick]

Thanks guys for the input. I will do some checking with your ideas/suggestions and let you all know. I will also put a picture of the finished product once completed. It won't be until mid April though.

[Bill Cunningham]

Leds have got to be a lot simpler.. I built one back in the 70's that had the company name (Supreme Divers) across two sections 3' x 8' to fit across a trade show display 16 feet wide.. The face was black plexi drilled to fit a 'scad' of NE-2's all parallel tied together each with it's own individual resistor spelling out the name of the company .. It would have been so nice to have LED's back then...