The Difference Between SMD and DIP Led Displays

一、SMD(Surface Mounted Device)Led Display Screens:

1) SMD Led Displays working principle and appearance:

①Packaging structure: The red, green, and blue chips are packaged together in the same bracket to form a tiny, square dot, which is a complete full color pixel unit.

②Installation method: Surface mount technology is used, pads are prefabricated on the PCB board, and SMD Leds are precisely placed onto the pads using a high speed pick and place machine. Reflow soldering is then performed.

③Color mixing principle: Three chips emit light within a single package, and the light mixes internally to form a pixel with uniform light mixing.

2)SMD Led Displays main features:

①High pixel density high resolution: SMD Leds can be made very small, such as P1.25, meaning the pixel pitch is 1.25mm, enabling high resolution and making them suitable for close up viewing.

②Wide viewing angle: Light is emitted from the entire surface of the package, resulting in a very wide viewing angle typically 140° to 160°.

③Excellent color uniformity: The three in one packaging and short light mixing distance result in color consistency far superior to DIP.

④Relatively low brightness: Due to the encapsulating adhesive on the surface of the led beads, the light will be attenuated to some extent, and the brightness is usually lower than that of DIP screens.

⑤High flatness: The led beads are tightly attached to the PCB board surface, resulting in a very flat screen overall, making it suitable for manufacturing curved screens, cylindrical screens, and other irregularly shaped screens.

⑥Water resistance depends on the packaging process: Early SMD screens were not as waterproof as DIP screens for outdoor use, but now, with mature processes such as potting, the waterproof performance of outdoor SMD screens fully meets the requirements.

3)SMD Led Displays main application scenarios:

①Indoor display screens, such as in conference rooms, monitoring centers, and shopping malls.

②Outdoor high definition displays, the vast majority of outdoor high definition displays now use SMD technology.

③Small pitch led displays used to replace DLP or LCD splicing screens.

④Irregularly shaped creative display screen.

二、DIP(Dual In line Package)Led Display Screens:

1) SMD Led Displays working principle and appearance:

①Individual led chip: A DIP led chip is a separate, oval or bullet shaped component with two through hole leads.

②Installation method: Drill holes in the PCB circuit board, then insert the two leads of the DIP led into the holes from the front, and fix them by soldering from the back.

③Color mixing principle: To form a full color pixel, three independent DIP leds one red, one green, and one blue need to be arranged closely together. By controlling their brightness, various colors are mixed.

2)SMD Led Displays main features:

①High brightness: The led beads are exposed, resulting in high luminous intensity, making it the type of led display with the highest brightness currently available.

②Excellent waterproof performance: Because the led beads protrude from the PCB board, a large amount of epoxy resin can be filled, resulting in excellent sealing and making it very suitable for outdoor environments.

③Robust Structure: The ledchip itself has a robust structure, is impact-resistant, and has good stability.

④Low pixel density: Because each pixel requires 3 independent leds, it is physically impossible to make them very dense, resulting in lower resolution. When viewed up close, a noticeable dot-like structure can be seen.

⑤The field of view is relatively narrow: the light is mainly concentrated on the front.

⑥Color consistency: Because it involves mixing colors from three independent leds, uneven color distribution can easily occur after long term use if the leds decay at different rates.

3)SMD Led Displays main application scenarios:

①Large outdoor advertising screen.

②Large screens in squares, stations, and on the exterior walls of buildings.

③For applications requiring extremely high brightness and water resistance.

三、Led Displays development trend:

①Currently, SMD technology has become the absolute mainstream for led displays, both indoors and outdoors. With the improvement of SMD led brightness and the maturity of packaging technology, it has covered most DIP application scenarios. DIP is only considered in cases with extreme brightness requirements, such as ultra large screens under direct midday sunlight or very large pixel pitch.

②In addition, there are newer technologies called COB and IMD, which can be seen as further upgrades to SMD technology. They are mainly used for led displays with finer pitch to achieve higher reliability and better display effects.