Finding the best way to display content or visuals at your event can be a difficult process. There are a few different approaches, two of the most popular solutions being LED screens and traditional projection technology. What you might want to do as a marketer may be at odds with your CFO or finance team! In this showdown, I’ll be comparing the benefits and downsides of each approach. Which will come out on top?

Projection

Pros:

• Often a more cost-efficient option; projection can sometimes end up costing half the price of LED screens.
• Projection allows the option of projection mapping, which allows the projection of images on non-traditional surfaces such as buildings or curved surfaces.

Cons:

• Any kind of ambient light (either natural or artificial) will wash out the projected image. Projection is not ideal for a space with many windows or a well-lit expo hall.
• Although projection screens are lightweight, the projectors themselves can be quite heavy. They are also extremely sensitive to movement, making it easy to knock or shake the image out of focus if the projector is not mounted in a secure spot.

LED Screens

Pros:

• LED screens utilize an internal light source, so the image is always vibrant and visible no matter what indoor or outdoor environment they are placed in.
• LED panels can be installed in the floor of your venue. Unlike projection, there will be no shadow on the image as a result of people standing on top of it.
• Modular LED paneling is becoming more widespread and affordable in the industry. This is essentially a lighting-independent solution to projection-mapping.

Cons:

• Generally, LED screens have lower resolution than projections, though LED technology has come a long way in recent years to improve this.
• LED screens can be heavy, making rigging and other logistics difficult, especially at venues with strict rigging regulations.

For cost-effective solutions, projection is still very viable and delivers your content successfully. LED is becoming more flexible and affordable and is a bright, shiny object to some marketers. There is no clear winner in this battle—the correct choice depends on the type of content you’re sharing, where and when you’re sharing it, and what overall spend you want to invest in. In my work, we still recommend both solutions with regularity. Do you tend to lean towards one or the other for your events?