Film, holographic mesh and strip are three different products. Transparency runs 65 to 90 %, brightness 2,000 to 5,500 nits, depth 0.8 to 80 mm — here is which one fits which glass.
Three products are sold as "transparent LED screens", and they are not the same product. Transparency runs from about 65 percent to 90 percent, brightness from 2,000 to 5,500 nits, and depth from 0.8 mm to 80 mm. The difference decides whether a window still reads as a window and whether the image survives daylight. This is a straight comparison of the three constructions, including where each one fails.
A transparent LED screen is not transparent glass. It is a grid of LEDs with gaps between them, and the "transparency" figure is the share of the panel that is open. That single number explains almost every other difference between the three types.
The more open the panel, the more light passes through — and the fewer LEDs there are per square metre, which means less brightness and lower resolution for the same area. The three constructions sit at different points on that curve because the LED is mounted differently in each: bonded to a film, suspended on a mesh, or housed in an aluminium strip. The mounting decides depth, weight and heat, and heat decides whether a panel can sit directly on glass. So when a supplier quotes a transparency percentage, the useful follow-up is not "is that good" but "what does the mounting look like, and how much does it weigh per square metre".
Transparent film is a self-adhesive sheet, about 2.5 mm thick and 1.3 kg per square metre, and it is the most transparent of the three at around 90 percent. It goes straight onto existing glass, is cut to size on site, and needs no frame, no sub-structure and no change to the glazing. For interior partitions, mall glass and rented buildings where nothing may be drilled, that is decisive — film is often the only option that is permitted at all.
The limits are real. Brightness tops out around 2,000 nits, or 4,000 at maximum drive, which is not enough for glass in direct sun. The adhesive layer is also what ages first, so film has a shorter service life than a framed panel, and the seams between sections stay visible on large areas. Specify film for interior or shaded glass, and treat it as a five-year product rather than a fifteen-year one. If a client wants film on a south-facing window, the right answer is the next type, not a brighter film.
The holographic grid is a hollow mesh with the driver moved off the lamp board — the DOC construction — at 0.8 mm thick and about 1.5 kg per square metre. Transparency is 80 to 90 percent and brightness reaches 4,500 to 5,000 nits, so it sits between film and strip on both counts. Because the mesh is genuinely open, heat leaves through the gaps instead of building up behind the panel, which is what allows it to mount close to glazing without a ventilation cavity.
That combination makes it the default for curtain walls and shopfronts where the view through the glass still matters. Its weakness is mechanical rather than optical: the lamps are exposed on the mesh, so a panel at hand height gets knocked during installation, cleaning or a window display change. Above reach that risk disappears. Available pitches are P3.91, P6.25 and P10.4 — P3.91 where the glass is read from three metres, P10.4 for facades seen from across a road.
The strip type houses the LEDs in an aluminium profile frame. It reaches 5,500 nits, the highest of the three, which is why it is the one specified on street-facing glass where daylight lands on the window. It also keeps the lowest transparency, 65 to 80 percent, so the glass reads as tinted rather than clear.
Depth is the cost. The panel is 65 to 80 mm thick and weighs about 4 kg per square metre, it cannot be bent, and it fixes to a frame rather than to the glass — so the fixing detail matters more than the panel. On a shopfront that means a reveal deep enough for the profile, or a slim frame standing proud of the glass. Its advantage over the other two is serviceability: a strip is reachable and repairable in place, which on a busy high street is worth more than a couple of percentage points of transparency. The 3.9 × 7.8 mm pitch is the volume seller, with P2.6, P2.8, P5.2 and P10.4 variants.
Decide from the site, not from the datasheet, in this order. First, can the glass be touched or drilled? If not, film or mesh. Second, does direct sun land on it? If yes, mesh or strip — film will look dim by mid-afternoon. Third, is the glass at hand height? If yes, avoid exposed lamps and go to strip. Fourth, how much weight can the fixing carry? Under about 2 kg per square metre, film and mesh; at 4 kg per square metre, a frame is needed.
Send five things and the choice can be made without a site visit: a photograph of the glass from outside, the width and height of the area, the direction it faces, whether people can reach it, and whether the interior view must stay open. With those, the answer is one of three constructions and a pitch — not a brochure.
One more rule saves arguments later. Never compare the three types on transparency alone, because the most transparent panel is also the dimmest and the shortest-lived. Compare them at the brightness the site actually needs.