Some “manufacturers” promise you they are using 100% Nichia LEDs... but be careful because some of them could not be totally honest with you.

Nichia is one of the leading companies in the LED industry and surely the most awarded... that's why some suppliers try to take advantage of this brand. Here’s the whole story:

The main reason why you should be suspicious is because on the electronic billboards, there are 3 colors – Red, Green and Blue, the primary colors.

So the first question you should ask the potential supplier is: are ALL the 3 colors provided by Nichia, or only one of them?

Indeed, when they tell you they use Nichia LEDs, usually what they actually mean is that they use Nichia for the Green, Cree for the Red and Opto Tech for the Blue.

In order to protect yourself from this fraud I suggest you to take the following steps:

• The first thing to do is to ask the supplier to provide you a proof of purchase of the LEDs from the LED manufacturer. Such document should include the number of order, date of issue and quantity.
  
  In case the potential supplier find any excuse not to provide you with this document, please start to evaluate the situation very carefully.
• The second thing to do is to have Nichia’s experts to perform a test to prove whether you received what you paid for or not. The test has an indicative costs of a few hundreds Euros and you can expect results within a couple of weeks.
  
  You can reach Nichia Corporation’s laboratories at the following contacts:
  
  Nichia Chemical Pte Ltd
  78 Shenton Way, #05-04,
  Singapore 079120
  Tel : +65-63248218
  Fax : +65-63245756

This is the first article of the series titled "LED Screens: Top 10 Tips for First Time Buyers". So if you are considering the purchase of a LED screen for advertising, sport or events, stay tuned.

The next article is about the "Dedicated Proprietary Control System": it actually sounds very professional, but this fancy denomination hides some serious drawbacks that nobody ever tells you, until it's too late...

IF you are considering the purchase of your first LED video wall, then keep reading.

When you face the LED Screen industry for the first time, you are most probably overloaded with technical information, promises and ideas that are passed to you as hard facts.

The series of articles described below will explain how to avoid the most common, painful and expensive mistakes people make when buying a LED screen.

Here’s the summary of what we'll discuss in the next articles:

1. Nichia LEDs… or Not?
   Some “manufacturers” promise you they are using 100% Nichia LEDs... but they are promising the impossible. Here’s why they are lying and how to recognize them..
2. Dedicated Proprietary Control System
   It actually sounds very professional, but this fancy denomination hides some serious drawbacks that nobody ever tells you, until it's too late.
3. LED Screen in Franchising
   Very interesting proposal. If you are a novice in the industry, the low initial investment can be very tempting… but not all that shines is gold! Here’s the nightmares stories of entrepreneurs that already tried it before you.
4. Resellers: Watch Out for their Conflict of Interest
   On the market there are several options if you want to buy a LED screen, but not all are manufacturers... Here’s what you risk when buy from a reseller that has a conflict of interest in providing you the best equipment and how to recognize them..
5. Air Conditioning: How to Solve a Problem at Your Expenses
   Sometimes you might be told that you need to install the air conditioning on the screen, at any cost. While this makes sense in tropical areas, it is un-necessary for moderate climates… so why insisting? Here's how they are trying to solve their problems at your expenses.
6. Prices Drops Dramatically before Closing the Order
   Of course it is normal a little discount to seal the deal, but sometimes you‘ll see prices drop dramatically (over 30%) when you are pressured to close the order. Here's why they are surely cheating you.
7. Best Quality at Lowest Prices, Thanks to Big Volumes?
   Someone claims to use the best components on the market, and still be able to provide the lowest price on the market. Of course this sounds so tempting, and you wish it was true. But when you think about it rationally, this does not make sense. Here’s why it's not possible.
8. The Photo-Book
   This is a classic “hard-sell” technique, used in many Industries. When visiting a supplier, they will show you a photo-book where there are several nice pictures of what they claim to be their product and some ugly pictures of what they claim to be their competitor’s product.
   
   Since this strategy can be counterproductive, it is used only with Customers that are considered less competent, since they won’t notice some incongruences… that we'll explain into details.
9. “I Am the Real Supplier”
   Some companies might claim to be the “supplier” of the company you are dealing with or – as a variant – they might claim (1) to have the same control system, (2) the same software, (3) to have “Italian Heart Inside”, or (4) even to have shares in the competitor company. Here's how to recognize them.
10. Are You Getting the Same Product You Were Shown?
    This is not a selling technique but a real scam, and you could take legal action against it... but prevent is better than cure. Here's how it works: you could be shown (and then purchase) a digital billboard with a smaller resolution than declared. For example, you could be shown a pitch 6/12mm and told that it is a pitch 8/16mm... Here's how you can make sure to get what you saw.
11. BONUS Tip – If YOU Are the Reseller
    In case the reseller is you, be careful and never disclose the name of your final customer until you signed a Non Disclosure Agreement that protects you. Otherwise you risk that the supplier contacts directly the final Customer and you loose the business… This can happen especially in two circumstances: here they are.

Here’s the 10 tips to avoid costly pitfalls that you could regret for a long time. Please stay tuned as the followig articles will go deeper in each of them. If you can not wait, please come and see us or call at +39/011-954-1015 for further info.

Asking how much a LED screen cost, is like asking how much a car cost. Such kind of questions can only have one answer. It depends. On all the following 5 variables:

1- SIZE: do you need a Smart Car or a BMW X5 (i.e. what are the dimensions of the LED screen you want to install?)

2- POWER: do you want to drive it at race circuits or you need it just to do the grocery? (i.e. what's the resolution of the LED screen?). Note for beginners: resolution = distance between the pixels: the closer they are, the better is the image at shorter viewing distances.

3- RELIABILITY: premium car brands use premium materials and are therefore able to provide longer warranties (i.e. so do digital billboard's manufacturers)
Click to Continue

Some people think about LED video walls as a classic tri-vision billboard… just with more than three faces available on each prism.

Now, this is pretty reductive idea of the high flexibility allowed by LED walls. The difference between classic billboards and LED giant screen is the same difference you find between a writing machine and PC!

Think about it. Your LED screens do not only allow you to broadcast 10 seconds advertising spaces 24 hours a day. This is the most basic feature but surely not the only one. With your LED wall you can do much much more.

For example with Euro Display's EDX software for playlist scheduling, you can define different advertising slots that you will sell at different prices: just segment your daily schedule by creating rush-hours slots that gets more visibility and therefore are worth a higher price premium. In this way you differentiate your services by offering customized and time-targeted advertising spaces as it happen in television.

TV spots aimed to create "awareness" are aired when the greatest numbers of targeted viewers are likely to be watching, whereas "direct response" spots are broadcasted when viewers are fewer in number but are more likely to leave their errands to make a phone call.

Following the same concept, you can for example create "weekend slots" that are specifically targeted for discos, clubs, cinemas and restaurants which more likely to benefit from advertising on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. And therefore more willing to pay an higher price for their presence on your LED walls.