Surface-mount technology (SMT) is a method for producing electronic circuits in which the components are mounted or placed directly onto the surface of printed circuit boards (PCBs). An electronic device so made is called a surface-mount device (SMD).
Dual in-line package is an electronic component package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of electrical connecting pins. The package is through-hole mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB) or inserted in a socket.
DIP LED screen is one of the old designs of LED if compared with the new technology of SMD. But it is also one of the most durable and stable solution for outdoor led display. SMD led display is an new technology these years and it becomes more and more popular now due to its better picture quality and higher resolution.Following are the differences, advantages and disadvantages of them for your reference.
Advantages of DIP and disadvantages of SMD
1. For DIP that each pixel is made of three independent color(RGB) LED bulbs. Each bulb have two long feet. The long feet are inserted into PCB pad, so after through-hole soldering that there will be seldom cold soldering problem. The SMD LED display has short feet and the led lamp was mounted on the PCB pad which is more easier to cause cold soldering problem than the DIP one.
2. The long feet enable the led bulbs do better performance on heating dissipation. Better heating dissipation means long life time for led displays. So DIP LEDs would be more durable than SMD one from long run.
3. The DIP LED lamp size is big, it allows the led screens present higher brightness. Usually normal brightness DIP led displays can reach 7,500nits while the high brightness one can reach more than 10,000nits. Normally for outdoor SMD led display that the brightness is around 6,000nits.
4. DIP led screens consume less power if compared with same specifications SMD. Usually the power consumption of DIP LED displays is 1/3 less than the SMD one.
Advantages of SMD and disadvantages of DIP
1. Because the size of the DIP led bulb is big and each pixel is made of 3 bulbs, so there is no space allow the DIP led display to reach the pixel pitch smaller than 10mm. Currently for the DIP LED displays usually only have p10mm, p12mm, p16mm and p20mm pixel pitch available. But SMD LEDs are small and can be placed closer together. Closer placement results in higher resolution. The pixel pitch of SMD led displays can be made from 0.9-10mm.
2. The viewing angle of the DIP LED display is smaller if compared with the SMD one. It only supports H120° and V60° while the SMD LED displays viewing angle is wide which can reach H160° and V160°. So if you have sharp viewing angle requirement that SMD LED screens will be a good option.
3. The production efficiency and manufacturing cost is higher for DIP, as there are 3 bulbs for each pixel, insert one pixel onto the PCB for DIP module will be at least 3 times slower than work for SMD one. And they are a lot of new advanced SMT machines which can proceed the SMD mounting processes much fast than DIP. This is one of the reason that there are less and less manufacturers produce the DIP LED displays now.
4. Generally the cost of the DIP led display is higher than the SMD if based on the same specification and pixel pitch.
In general that they both have advantages and disadvantages. If your outdoor fixed installation project requires high brightness and more durable application then you may choose DIP LED displays. If you require higher resolution and wider viewing angle then SMD LED would be a good option. For indoor application, the viewing distance is shorter and usually we seek for the best picture quality and no need very high brightness, so the SMD led screens would always be the best option.