Appearance
The equipment library
Every real-world part in a LED.FYI design (the panel type and receiver card on a screen, the processor behind a canvas, the switches in your signal chain, the cards in a modular chassis) comes from the equipment library. This page explains what's in it, how its three tiers fit together, and why a project you designed last year still opens perfectly even if the library has changed since.
What's in the library
| Kind | What it describes | Bundled catalog |
|---|---|---|
| Panels | LED cabinet types: pitch, resolution, size, power, weight, shape | 523 panel types from roughly 140 brands, including half, quarter, triangle-corner and round-corner shapes |
| Receiver cards | The card inside each panel: link speeds and published pixels per port | 5 cards: the Brompton R2 / R2+, the Megapixel PX1, and the Novastar A10s Pro / A8s Pro, XA50 and an entry for the rest of the Armor series |
| Processors | Video processors: inputs, outputs, port capacities, chassis slots | 19 models: Brompton Tessera S8/SX40/SQ200, Megapixel Helios, and the Novastar CX40 Pro/KU20/MX/MCTRL/VX/UHD Jr line |
| Switches | Distribution switches: uplink from the processor, fan out to panel ports | 11 models: Brompton QD-S/XD/XD-S/XD-T, Megapixel M4200-10MG/M4250-12M2XF/RS12, Novastar CVT10-S/CVT4K-S/CVT8-5G, and the ROE Visual EOS V2 |
| Output cards | Data-to-wall cards for modular processor chassis | 5 cards: the Megapixel HELIOS 8× 10G fibre and 8× 1G copper banks, and the Novastar MX 1×40G / 4×10G / 8×5G cards |
| Input cards | Video-input cards for modular processor chassis | 16 cards across the Megapixel and Novastar modular lines (HDMI, DisplayPort, 12G-SDI, ST 2110) |
| Trunk cable types | The physical media of processor-to-switch trunk runs | 6 types: Cat6A, Single Mode LC Duplex, Multimode LC Duplex, Single Mode LC Simplex, Multimode MPO 8 Core, 100G FIBER |
The library also carries labeling schemes and mounting systems, which have their own documentation sections.
Behind the scenes
The catalog also carries power-splitting accessories: the Generic True1 Two-fer 20A and Three-fer 20A and a Leviton 15A duplex outlet. You never pick these; when you combine strings onto one circuit, the splitter that circuit needs is added to the bill of materials for you.
It also carries SFP/SFP+/QSFP+ transceiver modules for a bare fiber-cage trunk port: a swappable cage, not a fixed jack, so the picker offers both a multimode and a single-mode module. Several devices carry one: the Brompton XD-S; the Novastar CVT8-5G/CVT10-S/CVT4K-S switches; the modular MX 1×40G/4×10G output cards; and the fixed Novastar CX40 Pro (40G), MX40 Pro/MX30/MX20/KU20 (10G) processors. Every other trunk/uplink port is a fixed copper or fixed fiber jack, no module needed. The transceiver catalog is real, manufacturer-branded parts (Brompton, Novastar, Megapixel), not generic placeholders, and the module picker only ever offers a module whose brand matches the device it's plugging into (see Switches & trunk cables). A module flows into the bill of materials automatically once picked.
Three tiers, one picker
Everywhere you choose equipment, you see a single merged catalog built from three tiers:
| Tier | What it holds | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|
| Community catalog | The public catalog every LED.FYI user shares, shipped with the app and updated online | Everyone |
| Your library | Custom equipment you saved privately | Only you |
| Your organization's library | Equipment your team published for shared use | Your org's members |
There is never a separate "which library?" step: the picker simply lists everything you can use, and newer online versions of a catalog entry replace the bundled copy automatically. The list refreshes on its own after you save or publish custom equipment, and when you sign in or out.
Which copy of a part you get
Two copies of the catalog can exist on your machine: the one built into the app, and the one the app last downloaded. They are both copies of the same online library taken at different moments, so the rule is simply whichever was taken more recently wins:
- Gear that only exists online (what your organization published, or what the community added since your app version was built) has no built-in counterpart, so it is always used, and it stays in the pickers offline once you have loaded it once.
- Where both copies describe the same part, the newer one is used. Installing an app update with newer equipment data therefore corrects a part, rather than being overruled by an older download.
- Being online always wins over both. Corrections published to the library reach you on the next launch with a connection.
If the app has not managed to reach LED.FYI in about a month, the downloaded copy is discarded and the pickers fall back to the catalog built into the app, so you are never quietly served month-old data. See Working offline.
Specs travel with your project
Picking equipment does not create a live link to the library. Instead, the full spec is copied into your project file at the moment you pick it. That embedded snapshot is what drives every readout, wiring calculation, and drawing from then on. The consequences are worth knowing:
- Opening a project never needs the library or a network connection. The specs are inside the file.
- Nobody can break your design remotely. If a community catalog entry is edited (or even deleted) after you used it, your project keeps its own copy and keeps resolving.
- Your own equipment stays current where you'd want it to. When you edit a spec in your personal or org library, the project you have open re-anchors onto the new version in one undoable step. Projects that aren't open keep their snapshot until you touch them.
Online vs. offline
With no connection (or in a build with no cloud configured), the library is exactly the bundled catalog; no network requests are made at all. You can still pick anything in it and still create custom panels, which are embedded into the document. (Processors, cards, switches and receiver cards are added by the LED.FYI team on request, which needs you to be signed in.)
When you're signed in, the picker adds the online community catalog plus your personal and org rows. The last successful fetch is cached in your browser, so org and community equipment beyond the bundled catalog survives reloads and works offline afterward.
Account and plan requirements
Browsing and picking equipment, and authoring document-only custom equipment, are free and work offline. The Equipment library dialog (community browsing, personal and org libraries) requires a signed-in account. Publishing to your org's library additionally requires a Pro or Studio plan. See Accounts & signing in and Plans & billing.
Where you'll meet the library
- Screens: the panel-type and receiver-card pickers in the screen's Inspector. See Choosing equipment and Panel types.
- Processor canvases: the processor picker, and card slot pickers on modular processors.
- Wiring: the Add switch picker, with compatibility badges. See Switches & trunk cables.
- The New Project wizard: panel, receiver card and processor picks while setting up a project.
- The Equipment library dialog (signed in): browse the community catalog, manage your own and your org's equipment.
For developers
The equipment catalog and its calculations are also exposed through a server API for external tools. Access keys are minted by platform administrators; contact the LED.FYI team if you have an integration in mind.