How to Eliminate or Reduce Moiré Patterns on LED Displays

When using an LED display in control rooms or TV studios, moiré interference may appear on the captured image. This article explains the causes and solutions of the moiré effect and how to choose the right LED display technology to reduce or eliminate it effectively.

Today, LED displays have become mainstream visual equipment in studios and monitoring centers. However, during long-term use, users may observe wave-like patterns or strange colors when the camera points at the screen. These visible distortions are known as moiré patterns on LED display panels.

What Causes Moiré on LED Displays?

The moiré phenomenon occurs when two patterns with spatial frequencies overlap, creating a third pattern visible to the camera.

A traditional LED display screen is formed by an array of individual light-emitting pixels with non-emitting black areas between them. Meanwhile, a camera’s CCD sensor also has weak light-sensitive zones. When these two digital grids interact, moiré patterns form naturally on the recorded image.

In essence, the LED display pixel grid overlaps with the CCD grid, generating wave-like optical interference. This happens especially when both grids have similar pitch or alignment.

How Can Moiré Be Reduced or Eliminated?

Since the moiré effect results from the interaction of the LED display pixel grid and the camera sensor grid, changing their relative structure or alignment can effectively reduce interference.

Adjusting the Camera-to-LED Display Relationship

Film-based imaging does not produce moiré because film lacks regularly distributed pixels. Therefore, moiré is a byproduct of digital imaging. To eliminate it, the image resolution of the LED display in the camera frame must be lower than the spatial frequency of the camera’s sensor.

This means that the captured LED image must differ significantly in resolution from the sensor’s pattern. Once this condition is met, the likelihood of moiré appearing drops dramatically.

Some digital cameras use low-pass filters to suppress high spatial frequencies, reducing moiré but slightly decreasing image sharpness. Others use higher-frequency sensors to achieve finer optical sampling and better results when shooting LED display panels.

Adjusting Camera Settings and Angles

1. Change the camera angle: Slightly rotating the camera relative to the LED display helps reduce interference.

2. Change the shooting position: Moving the camera up, down, or sideways can minimize visible moiré.

3. Adjust the focus: A slightly softer focus reduces the sharpness of pixel-level detail, helping to smooth moiré patterns.

4. Change focal length: Using different lenses or focal lengths changes magnification and spatial frequency alignment, reducing visible patterns on the LED display surface.

How to Optimize LED Display Structure to Prevent Moiré

Because the LED display consists of independent light-emitting pixels, moiré can be mitigated by reducing the brightness contrast between light-emitting and non-emitting areas. In other words, if dark zones can emit light softly, the optical interference becomes much weaker.

So, can the non-emitting areas of an LED display be made luminous? The answer lies in advanced packaging technology.

The COB (Chip On Board) LED display easily achieves this improvement. When compared side by side, COB displays emit a soft, uniform glow like a surface light source, while SMD (Surface Mount Device) displays show discrete bright points.

As shown in Figure 3, the COB LED display technology uses a sealed structure that forms a continuous luminous surface. In contrast, traditional SMD LED displays consist of separated pixel dots. This fundamental design difference enables COB displays to significantly reduce or eliminate moiré interference during filming.

Apexls’s Approach to Moiré-Free LED Displays

Apexls focuses on innovative LED display design to achieve clearer imaging and better camera compatibility. By adopting COB LED display technology, Apexls minimizes the contrast between light and dark zones while enhancing display uniformity.

The result is an LED display for studios that performs excellently under broadcast cameras, delivering smooth, moiré-free visuals even in high-definition shooting environments.

Conclusion: How to Eliminate or Reduce Moiré on LED Displays

1. Adjust the camera’s shooting angle, position, focus, or focal length.

2. Use film cameras, higher-frequency sensors, or low-pass filters when capturing LED displays.

3. Choose COB LED display panels from Apexls to naturally reduce moiré effects and achieve seamless visual presentation.

By integrating Apexls LED display technology, users can enjoy both superior image quality and advanced visual comfort. Through continuous research and optimization, Apexls leads the development of moiré-free LED display solutions for studios, control centers, and commercial broadcasting applications.