A typical LED display is composed of many LED panels, which are sometimes used as a form of lighting or illumination rather than for display. Two classes of LED panels exist: conventional LED panels, which use discrete LEDs, and surface-mounted device (SMD) panels. Conventional panels are the more common of the two, especially for large outdoor display screens. In this type of LED panel, clusters of red, green, and blue LEDs are grouped together to form numerous square-shaped pixels.

SMD technology is usually used to construct an LED display which for use indoors. LED screensthat utilize SMD also use red, green, and blue LEDs to A typical LED display is composed of many LED panels, which are themselves are sometimes used as a form of lighting or illumination rather than for display.form pixels, which are mounted on computer chips or very small circuit boards. These pixels are each very minute, with individual LEDs that are smaller than a pinhead. The main practical differences between the two are the decreased maximum viewing distance with SMD, as well as the slightly decreased brightness. These both make SMD the better LED technology for indoor applications.