What the transparency figure measures
Transparency is the share of the panel area that stays open instead of carrying LED material. The platform we supply is rated at 62%, with a transmission angle of 130 degrees and a light-bar profile of 3 mm. Those three numbers belong together: a high percentage reached with thick bars and a narrow angle behaves differently from the same percentage reached with thin bars and a wide one.
The 62% figure is measured on the panel, not on the finished installation. Once a frame, a power enclosure and a mounting structure are added, the installed assembly blocks more than the panel does. Ask what the rating covers and state the same basis when you compare two suppliers, because a screen rated on the module and a screen rated on the finished unit are not describing the same thing.
How the effect is produced, and the 5 m rule
The panel uses a louvre structure: light is directed by angle, so the image is formed for the viewer while the space behind the panel stays visible through the open area. The effect depends on distance. The platform is specified for a viewing range of 3 to 50 m, and the image reads best from about 5 m and beyond.
Below that distance the structure becomes visible and the transparency illusion weakens. This is the single most common disappointment with transparent screens: a client approves the idea from a photograph taken across a showroom, then installs it where people pass within two metres. Decide the viewing range for the actual position before committing to the format.
What transparency costs in density
Open area is area without pixels. The transparent platform carries 32,768 pixels per square metre at a 3.91 mm horizontal and 7.82 mm vertical pitch, which is far below a conventional indoor wall at the same nominal pitch. The resolution is adequate for large type, logos and motion seen from several metres, and it is not adequate for dense text or detailed data.
The uneven pitch matters as much as the total count. Horizontal spacing of 3.91 mm with vertical spacing of 7.82 mm means the panel resolves horizontal detail better than vertical detail, so fine horizontal rules and small upright type lose more than bold lettering does. Design the content for the grid you actually have; the grid a solid wall would have given you is not available here.
What transparency costs in light output
Less LED material per square metre means less light per square metre. A transparent panel is the wrong tool for a position that competes with direct sun or with a bright interior behind the glass. Output on this platform is set for the site, not quoted as one number, because the usable result depends on the orientation of the glass, the shading and the light level inside the space.
Ask for the acceptance test to state the conditions. A west-facing shopfront in direct afternoon sun and a shaded atrium window are two different projects, and a screen that satisfies the second can fail the first. Where the brief demands daylight legibility at close range, a solid wall is usually the honest answer.
Where transparency pays for itself
Power is the one specification line where the transparent platform leads. It draws 180 W per square metre average and 400 W at maximum, the lowest figures in the range we publish, because there is far less LED material to drive and far less heat to remove.
That changes two downstream decisions. Electrical supply and thermal management are usually the constraints that shape an installation, and both ease considerably at this draw. For a long shopfront run or a facade where adding circuits is expensive, the saving on the supply side can matter more than the compromise on resolution.
When a transparent screen is the wrong choice
Choose something else when the content is dense, when viewers stand closer than about five metres, or when the screen has to win against daylight. A transparent panel is also a poor fit behind glass that is already tinted or reflective, since the reflection competes with an image that is dimmer than a solid wall by design.
It is the right choice when daylight, sightlines or a landlord's restriction on blocking a window matter more than resolution. Retail shopfronts, showroom glazing, atriums and lobby partitions are the positions where the format earns its cost, because the alternative is either a blank window or a solid screen that closes off the space.
How to compare two transparency claims
Ask four questions and require all four answers on the same basis. What percentage is quoted, and is it measured on the panel or the finished unit? What is the transmission angle? What is the light-bar profile in millimetres? What pixel density comes with it?
A supplier quoting a higher percentage with thicker bars and lower density has not built a better screen, only a more open one. Put all four figures side by side against the viewing distance and the content type, and the comparison usually resolves itself. The full published ranges for every family are on the specifications page.
Key takeaway
62% transparency describes open area, not image quality. Read it with the transmission angle, the light-bar profile and the pixel density, then check the viewing distance and the daylight at the position before deciding whether the format fits.