How Many Lumens Does a Billboard Need? In truth, you need to experiment with your LED billboard lights if you want to get the right appearance and set the correct tone. However, you are probably looking for a rough guide to help you start shopping for LED lights, so here are a few numbers to consider. Replacing Your Halide Lamps When you do a little research online, or when you ask people who know about billboard lights, they will often tell you that the best wattage to get are these: 400W metal Halide lamp 250W metal Halide lamp 250W High pressure sodium lamp If you have been advised that your billboard needs any of these, then you can replace any of them with a 100W LED Lamp. It may sound like quite a lurch going from 400W to 250W down to 100W LEDs, but the light intensity differs in a way that allows you to switch them out for 100W LEDs. This means, if you put the 100W LED where the 400W Halide used to be, it wouldn’t be too dim, and if you put the 100W LED where the 250W Halide used to be, then it wouldn’t be too bright. Considering LUX Ratings If you have a dark surface in a light environment, then these need the most light. In these cases, you are looking at 1000 LUX. Remember that picking out details on a dark surface is difficult without added light, which is why it was so difficult to watch old fashioned TVs outside. If you have a light surface in a light environment, then 500 LUX is needed. You may be tempted to opt for no lights in these cases, but you have to remember that some days there will be clouds in the sky or other environmental circumstances that make the board look darker. Finally, if your boards has a dark surface, but the board is in a dark environment, then 500 LUX is all you need. Remember that even trickles of light are very illuminating when the rest of the environment is dark. Your LED billboard lights need not be all that powerful in this case. How Many LUX is a 100 Watt LED Light Bulb?