LED Screen Quote Checklist: What to Check Before You Sign
A line-by-line checklist for reading an LED screen quote: what must be itemised, the specs to confirm in writing, and the omissions that cost you later.
Two quotes for "a 6m x 3m P3.9 screen" can differ by tens of thousands of pounds, and almost none of that gap is a supplier being greedy. It is that they have quoted different things: one includes the controller, cabling, cases and spares, the other quotes bare cabinets and lets you discover the rest.
This checklist is what to read for. Work through it against each quote you receive, and any that cannot answer a line is telling you something useful.
Before You Request Anything
The single most useful thing you can do is send every supplier the same written specification, so the quotes come back comparable. At minimum that means:
- Physical size, and whether it is fixed or you want the nearest sensible cabinet grid.
- Pixel pitch, or the nearest viewing distance if you want the supplier to advise.
- Indoor, outdoor or semi-outdoor, and whether it is a permanent install or moves.
- Whether a camera will ever see it, which sets the refresh rate requirement.
- Where it will be mounted, and whether the rear is accessible after installation.
The Screen Itself
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Resolution in pixels, not just metres | Determines content resolution and controller capacity |
| Cabinet dimensions and grid | Tells you the real size, which comes in cabinet steps |
| Pixel pitch, stated exactly | P3.9 and P4 are quoted interchangeably and are not identical |
| Refresh rate in Hz | Set at manufacture, cannot be raised later |
| Brightness in nits, and how measured | Full white and calibrated output differ substantially |
| IP rating, and which parts it covers | A rated face with an unrated rear is not weatherproof |
| Cabinet weight | Decides whether your structure can take it |
| Power draw, maximum and typical | Maximum sizes the supply, typical predicts the bill |
What Must Be Itemised
If any of these is absent from the quote, it is not free, it is missing. Ask for each to be priced explicitly, even if the answer is that it is included.
- Controller or sending card, with the model named.
- Receiving cards, and confirmation they are fitted in the cabinets.
- Data cabling, cabinet to cabinet and back to the controller.
- Power cabling and distribution, including connector types.
- Rigging, hanging bars or ground support.
- Flight cases, if the screen will ever move.
- Spare cabinets, spare modules, spare data cables.
- Processing or scaling, if your source does not match the screen resolution.
- Delivery, installation and commissioning labour.
- Training or handover, if nobody on your side has run a screen before.
Commercial Terms
- Lead time, and what happens if it slips. Manufactured-to-order screens run to weeks, and a slipped date can miss an event entirely.
- Deposit amount, and what it buys. Confirm in writing what happens if the goods do not match specification.
- Payment schedule, and whether the final payment is on delivery or on commissioning. Commissioning is the better trigger for you.
- Warranty length, and whether it covers parts only or parts and labour.
- Warranty start date: delivery or commissioning.
- Who pays carriage each way on a warranty claim.
- Whether advance replacement is available, so the spare ships before the faulty unit goes back.
- Spare parts availability commitment, and for how many years.
- LED bin matching commitment, if you may extend the screen later.
When Three Quotes Are Not Comparable
Even with a written specification, quotes come back structured differently. Rather than trying to compare the totals, normalise them onto one sheet before you look at price at all.
- List every line item that appears in any of the three quotes, so you have the union of everything anyone thought to include.
- Go through each quote and mark each line as included, excluded, or not mentioned. "Not mentioned" is the interesting column.
- Go back to each supplier and ask them to price the lines they did not mention, so all three quotes cover the same scope.
- Only then compare totals, and expect the gap to have narrowed considerably.
This process routinely turns a supplier who looked twenty per cent cheaper into one who is roughly level, or occasionally into the most expensive. It is worth the hour it takes.
Questions That Reveal More Than the Quote Does
A few things are rarely written on a quote and always worth asking in writing before you commit:
- What is the LED bin grade, and will you match it if I order more cabinets in two years?
- How many spare modules of this exact type do you hold in the UK right now?
- What is the expected production life of this product line?
- If a cabinet fails in month 13, what exactly happens, and how long am I without it?
- Who commissions the screen, and what does handover include?
The answers rarely change the price. They frequently change which supplier you choose.
Verify Before You Sign
Three checks that are cheap now and expensive later:
- Have a qualified electrician confirm the venue supply can deliver the maximum power draw, on the circuit arrangement you actually have.
- Have a competent rigger confirm the structure can carry the cabinet weight plus rigging, with the appropriate safety factor.
- Check the quoted pixel resolution against what your intended source can actually output, so you are not committed to scaling.
The Short Version
If you only do three things: send every supplier the same written specification, insist that every line item is priced even when it is included, and get the resolution in pixels and the refresh rate in Hz confirmed in writing.
Those three catch most of the gap between what you think you are buying and what turns up on a lorry.
Reading Your First Quote?
The complete guide covers specification and planning in depth, with the Excel pixel calculator for checking cabinet counts and pixel totals against anything a supplier sends you.
Get the Complete Guide for £35 →Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I compare quotes that are written differently?
- Send all suppliers the same written specification and ask them to quote against it line by line. Until the quotes describe the same thing, comparing the totals tells you nothing useful.
- What is most often missing from a quote?
- Spares, rigging and cabling, in that order. All three are easy to leave out, all three are needed, and all three tend to be discovered after the budget is approved.
- Should the quote state the resolution in pixels?
- Yes, always. Physical size in metres is not enough, because the pixel count determines what content resolution you need and whether your controller can drive it. Get it in writing.
- What does "IP65" on a quote actually commit the supplier to?
- Less than you might assume, unless it says which parts are rated. Confirm whether the rating covers the whole cabinet front and rear, and what the rating is for the receiving card compartment and any external connectors.
- Is a deposit normal?
- Yes, for manufactured-to-order goods a deposit is standard practice. What matters is what it buys you: confirm in writing what happens to it if lead times slip badly or the delivered goods do not match the specification.