Pixel pitch and viewing distance

What is pixel pitch?

Pixel pitch is the distance between the centres of two neighbouring pixels, in millimetres. For P3.91 that is 3.91 mm. The smaller the pitch, the more pixels fit in a square metre and the closer you can stand to the screen.

You work out the number of pixels per square metre with (1,000 ÷ pitch)². P3.91 comes to just over 65,000 pixels per square metre, P2.6 to almost 148,000.

The rule of thumb

The minimum viewing distance in metres is roughly equal to the pitch in millimetres. At that distance the pixels just merge into one image. You view comfortably from about twice that distance.

It stays a rule of thumb

The rule assumes ordinary video. Content with small text, thin lines or tables needs a finer pitch. With ambient visuals and large type you can go coarser.

Also look at who stands closest. At a trade show someone walks past your wall at one metre. At a festival stage the audience only starts behind the barrier.

Work it out the other way too

The pitch also decides how many pixels your screen has in total. Divide the width in millimetres by the pitch. A wall 4 metres wide in P3.91 is just over 1,000 pixels wide.

For Full HD, 1,920 pixels wide, you need about 7.5 metres of width in P3.91. If you want Full HD on a smaller wall, you choose a finer pitch.

Examples from the catalogue

The values below come straight from the catalogue.

Open the pitch guide