LED Performance Benchmarks
The LED industry hides true performance behind three surface specs — brightness, pixel pitch, and refresh rate. The numbers that actually decide on-camera quality and 5-year service life are driver IC, scan ratio, grayscale bit depth, diode bin, PCB stack-up and wafer thickness. This page is the open reference.
Driver IC catalogue
Every driver IC commonly shipped in commercial LED cabinets, with bit depth, maximum scan, PWM type and Aurora's notes on real-world use. If a supplier won't name the IC family on their datasheet, that is the answer to your question.
| IC | Manufacturer | Bit depth | Max scan | PWM | Aurora's note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MBI5153 | Macroblock | 16-bit | 1/32 | Common-cathode capable | The broadcast workhorse — what to look for in any "3,840 Hz" claim. Standard for V-SPEC class cabinets. |
| MBI5252 | Macroblock | 16-bit | 1/64 | PWM+ | Cleaner low-grayscale than 5153 — used in COB fine-pitch (LUX class). First-row colour stays neutral at 1% brightness. |
| MBI5353 | Macroblock | 14-bit + dithering | 1/64 | Common-cathode | Energy-saving variant. ~12-bit visual fidelity in practice; suitable for outdoor billboard, not broadcast. |
| ICN2153 | Chipone | 16-bit | 1/32 | Standard | Cost-down alternative to MBI5153. Acceptable for non-camera applications; verify low-grayscale colour shift before committing to broadcast. |
| ICN2266 | Chipone | 14-bit | 1/16 | Standard | Frequently mis-sold as "broadcast grade" — the 1/16 scan limit is the giveaway. Aurora rejects this IC for any camera-facing application. |
| SUM2030 | Sumacro | 16-bit | 1/32 | Standard | Common in Chinese-domestic OEM cabinets. Aurora benchmarks every batch against MBI5153 reference data. |
| FM6353 | Fine Made | 14-bit | 1/32 | Energy saving | Outdoor-billboard staple. Power efficient but not specified for camera work or fine-pitch indoor. |
| XM11206G | Xinmao | 16-bit | 1/28 | Standard | COB fine-pitch driver used in Aurora COB-PLUS modules. 1/28 scan delivers 7,680 Hz refresh at 16-bit depth — verified in Aurora's LDM15012SFP-COB-PLUS-L module performance report (scored A+, 92/100 overall). |
LED diode catalogue
The diode brands most commonly shipped in commercial LED globally, with manufacturer-published bin grade and L70 ranges. Manufacturer L70 figures are stated under their own published test conditions; real-world life depends on drive current, ambient temperature and cabinet thermal design. Aurora policy: A-bin or A+ only. B-bin is rejected at factory acceptance regardless of price.
| Brand | Origin | Common SKUs | Bin grade | L70 | Wafer | Aurora's note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationstar | CN — Foshan | NS3535, NS2727, NS1010 | A / A+ | 100,000 hrs | 9 mil (std) | Aurora's primary diode for V-SPEC outdoor and LUX fine-pitch. |
| Kinglight | CN | KG3535, KG2727 | A / A+ | 100,000 hrs | 8–9 mil | Tight bin-grade control. Used on selected V-SPEC SKUs for parity with Nationstar. |
| Cree (Wolfspeed) | US | CR3535 (legacy) | A+ | 100,000 hrs | 10 mil | Premium specification on request — typically reserved for tendered broadcast and high-end retail builds. |
| Epistar | TW | ES3535 | A / A+ | 100,000 hrs | 9 mil | Common Taiwan-die alternative; equivalent on-spec to Nationstar in our internal LED Analyser tests. |
| Refond | CN | RF3535 | A / B | 80,000–100,000 hrs | 7–9 mil | Aurora policy: A-bin only. B-bin is rejected at FAT regardless of price. |
| San'an | CN | SA1515 (COB die) | A | 100,000 hrs | varies (flip-chip) | Common COB chip-on-board die. Aurora pairs only with controlled-impedance 6-layer PCBs. |
PCB stack-up reference
PCB stack-up is a primary determinant of whether a cabinet still works reliably past year five. Lower-spec 4-layer 1 oz construction can pass factory test then warp or crack via barrels under repeated thermal cycling. 6-layer 2 oz construction with controlled impedance gives the data pairs the headroom they need to hold receiving-card integrity over a longer service life.
- Layers
- 6-layer
- Copper
- 2 oz outer, 1 oz inner
- Surface finish
- ENIG (gold)
- Impedance control
- Controlled on data pairs
Required for COB and fine-pitch ≤ P1.5. Resists warp, holds receiving-card data integrity past 5 years.
- Layers
- 4-layer
- Copper
- 2 oz outer
- Surface finish
- ENIG
- Impedance control
- Controlled
Standard for outdoor and indoor SMD. The 2 oz copper is what stops thermal cycling cracking the via barrels.
- Layers
- 4-layer
- Copper
- 1 oz
- Surface finish
- HASL or OSP
- Impedance control
- Uncontrolled
Acceptable for short-term and price-led projects. Aurora discloses this transparently on the GSR datasheet — many competitor "professional" cabinets ship at this grade without disclosing it on the datasheet.
Receiving-card matrix
| Card | Max load | Frame buffer | Aurora use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novastar A8s Plus | 2.6M px | 14-bit | Workhorse for V-SPEC outdoor — common AU-stocked spare. |
| Novastar A10s Plus | 6.5M px | 16-bit | High-density rooms and centre-hung scoreboards. |
| Novastar MRV560 | 512k px | 14-bit | Legacy support for installed base. |
| Colorlight i9 | 4.6M px | 16-bit | Used on selected LUX SKUs for HDR pipelines. |
| Linsn RV908 | 655k px | 16-bit | Reserved for retrofit projects matching existing Linsn senders. |
What's in our cabinets
Aurora's own range-by-range spec stack mapped to the same parameter columns we use to evaluate every competitor cabinet. No hidden chip families. No unstated bin grades.
- Driver IC
- MBI5252 (16-bit, 1/64)
- Diode
- Nationstar / Kinglight A+
- PCB
- 6-layer, 2 oz, ENIG, controlled impedance
- Package
- COB / SMD 1010
- Driver IC
- MBI5153 (16-bit, 1/32)
- Diode
- Nationstar A
- PCB
- 4-layer, 2 oz, ENIG, controlled impedance
- Package
- SMD 2727 / 3535
- Driver IC
- ICN2153 (16-bit, 1/32)
- Diode
- Refond A
- PCB
- 4-layer, 1 oz, HASL
- Package
- SMD 3535
Specifications verified at factory acceptance using Aurora's in-house MLED LED Analyser — automated testing for brightness uniformity, contrast, gamma, PQ, colour gamut and refresh fidelity. Full pass/fail protocol documented at /about/factory-testing-protocol.
Scan rate scoring matrix
Aurora's internal scoring rubric for scan ratio as a sub-score within the overall module performance grade. The scan ratio sub-score feeds into the composite 100-point module grade alongside refresh rate, grayscale bit depth, diode quality and PCB stack-up. A lower scan denominator (more rows lit per frame cycle) scores higher; compensation via fast PWM is noted but does not substitute for row duty cycle in the grade.
| Scan ratio | Sub-score (of 100) | Grade | Typical application |
|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 1/16 | 95 / 100 | Excellent | Standard indoor / mid-pitch — maximum row duty cycle, easiest to drive uniformly. |
| 1/17 – 1/27 | 90 / 100 | Very Good | Upper-range COB fine-pitch with advanced driver PWM compensation. |
| 1/28 – 1/32 | 82 / 100 | Good | COB-PLUS fine-pitch sweet spot — e.g. LDM15012SFP-COB-PLUS-L (XM11206G, 7,680 Hz, 16-bit). Achieves camera-quality output with high-frequency PWM. |
| 1/33 – 1/48 | 72 / 100 | Acceptable | Budget fine-pitch or small-format modules. Needs very high PWM rate to avoid banding on camera. |
| ≥ 1/49 | 60 / 100 | Poor | Not specified for broadcast or camera-facing applications. Aurora rejects this range for V-SPEC and LUX. |
Verified module performance data
Published scores from Aurora's internal module performance assessment — a 100-point composite grade across driver IC, scan ratio, refresh rate, grayscale bit depth, diode spec, PCB stack-up and thermal/environmental rating. Only modules that pass all eight mandatory parameters and score ≥ 80 are cleared for standard range production.