LED Displays vs. Incandescent Signs
| LED DISPLAY | COLOR INCANDESCENT SIGN | |
| Technology Base: | State-of-the-art semi-conductor. | Conventional light bulbs. |
| Illuminating Life: | 50,000 hours half life. On average 10+ years. |
On average a few thousand hours. |
| Reliability: | High (typical with semi-conductors) Vibration resistant. |
Low (typical with light bulbs) Susceptible to vibrations. |
| Power Consumption: | 1W to 1.5W per pixel, maximum. | 5W/8W per bulb (wedge base). 20W/32W per pixel (4 lamps). |
| Electricity Cost: | 1X | ~10X or more |
| Maintenance Cost: | Preventive maintenance. | Requires regular servicing to replace failed lamps. Costs can easily amount to more than $3.00 per lamp per year. |
| Weight: | Lighter: lower cost for structure and installation. | Heavier: higher cost for structure and installation. |
| Color Shades: | 256 and up | 256 maximum |
| Color Illumination: | Pure and sharp, at narrow-band wavelength. | Impure with painted color, at wide-band wavelength. |
| Resolution Quality: | Excellent - smaller pixel spacing with only one cluster per pixel. |
Poor - larger pixel spacing with 4 lamps required per pixel. |
| Video Display: | High definition at 60 frames/sec. | Low definition at 5 frames/sec. |
| Software: | Off-the-shelf: powerful, easy to use and learn, inexpensive. | By manufacturer: expensive, difficult to learn, not easy to upgrade. |
