“Moiré” Meaning and Pronunciation

“Moiré is a French word meaning “having a wavy or ripply surface pattern”. It is pronounced in the US as “mwarre” or “muh + warre” and loosely rhymes with “the car”.

What is the Moiré Effect?

The moiré pattern or moiré effect as it applies to digital displays is a visual perception that occurs when an opaque pattern with transparent gaps is overlapped with a similar but different pattern or same pattern at a different size or angle. The visual result is a repeating set of unique patterns or colors. This effect is sometimes produced deliberately in photography to capture a special effect, but more commonly it can pose a big challenge by degrading the initial quality of the original image.

How does this impact photographing and videotaping LED display?

In the case of capturing an LED display, the moiré effect is caused by the conflict between the pixel structure of the LED panel and the pixel structure of the photo or video. Since the pixel density of the LED panel is low and the pixel size is larger than the resolution captured by the camera, the moiré effect is almost certain to occur when shooting.

This may be a big challenge when trying to sell LED displays. Due to the moiré effect, an LED screen that looks crystal clear may look like a terrible image.

Ways to get rid of the moiré effect

Fighting against the moiré effect can be tricky, and there is no reliable way to eliminate this phenomenon. However, with trial and error, several steps can be taken to reduce it. Here are some ways to fight the moiré phenomenon:

1.Change the camera angle: Changing the angle of the camera itself will adjust the way the two contrast patterns overlap.

2.Change the focal length of the camera: Changing the focal length of the camera will adjust the resolution of the photo, thereby changing the overlay pattern.

3.Adjust the focus to other areas: move the focus slightly from the pattern to reduce its visibility

4.Reduce the shutter speed: reducing the camera's shutter speed will help compensate for the low refresh rate of the LED screen, thereby reducing the horizontal bar effect.

5.Post-editing images: Moiré fringes will inevitably occur sometimes. Or, what if your picture is great, but the screen doesn’t look good? Fortunately, powerful photo editing software (such as Photoshop) can also work wonders in reducing this effect.