LED perimeter board rules What the league lets the wall do.
Leagues write rules for what an LED perimeter board may show, because the boards sit in every camera shot and in every player’s eye line. The Bundesliga’s are the most detailed we found: every advert runs at least 15 seconds, nothing moves faster than 1.5 m/s sideways or 1 m/s up and down, nothing flashes, white is toned down, and the whole wall stops moving for a penalty. This page sets them out next to the volleyball and UEFA rules, and converts each limit into what an operator actually sets.
The rules in one table.
What each document requires of the content and the boards. A dash means the document says nothing on that point.
| Rule | Bundesliga (DFL) | Volleyball Bundesliga (VBL) | UEFA club competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shortest advert | 15 s | 15 s, with 30 s recommended | Not stated |
| Sideways speed | 1.5 m/s at most | 1.5 m/s at most | Not stated |
| Up and down speed | 1 m/s at most | 1 m/s at most | Not stated |
| How speed may change | Constant, or rising or falling evenly | Constant only | Not stated |
| Direction changes | Two per advert at most | Not stated | Not stated |
| Flashing | No abrupt transitions, colour flashes or blinking | No blinking (more than two fades in a row) and no gloss effects | Not stated |
| White | Toned down by at least 10% black | 80% at most | Not stated |
| Video and sound | Not stated | No match footage or film, no sound | Not stated |
| Brightness | At least 5,500 nits at 6,500 K | Should be at least 1,200 nits | 5,500 nits minimum in the Champions League; optional in the other competitions |
| Pixel pitch | 12.5 mm or less, or at least 6,400 pixels per m² | Not stated | 12.5 mm or less in the Champions League, 16 mm or less in the Europa, Conference and Women’s Champions League |
| Penalty kicks | No motion from the ball on the spot until 5 s after the kick | Not stated | Not stated |
The speed limit, in pixels.
A league writes speed in metres per second. An animator works in pixels per frame. The conversion only needs the pixel pitch: a board at 10 mm pitch has 100 pixels per metre, so 1.5 m/s is 150 pixels a second, which at 50 frames a second is 3 pixels a frame.
| Pixel pitch | Pixels per metre | 1.5 m/s sideways | Per frame at 50 fps | 1 m/s up and down, per frame |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.67 mm | 150 | 225 px/s | 4.5 px | 3 px |
| 8 mm | 125 | 187.5 px/s | 3.75 px | 2.5 px |
| 10 mm | 100 | 150 px/s | 3 px | 2 px |
| 12.5 mm | 80 | 120 px/s | 2.4 px | 1.6 px |
| 16 mm | 62.5 | 93.75 px/s | 1.875 px | 1.25 px |
Scrolling the whole perimeter.
A scroll that runs the full length of the perimeter is motion like any other, and the same 1.5 m/s applies to it. Software that sets scroll speed in panels per second needs one more number, the width of a cabinet. On cabinets 1.28 m wide, 1.17 panels a second is 1.5 m/s.
In USM Boarding the perimeter scroll is set in panels per second and starts at 0.5, which on those cabinets is 0.64 m/s, well inside the limit.
Flashing, white, and footballs.
The DFL bans effects that make an abrupt transition, and names two: fast changes from light to dark or back, which it calls colour flashes, and blinking. The volleyball league defines blinking as more than two fades in a row, and bans gloss effects as well.
White gets its own rule because a full-white board at stadium brightness is the brightest thing in the shot. The DFL wants white toned down by at least a 10% black component, which read literally puts pure white (255, 255, 255) out of bounds and about 90%, or 229 out of 255, at the top. The volleyball league caps white at 80%. The DFL also says the colours on the boards must not dazzle the players or officials, or cast colour onto them.
One rule is particular to football. The DFL does not allow a moving football on the boards, or anything that looks like one in shape, size or colour: rolling, bouncing or falling. It judges this from the broadcast picture and from where the players stand.
The penalty-kick freeze.
When a Bundesliga referee gives a penalty, every LED board in the ground has to stop moving from the moment the ball is placed on the spot. It stays still until five seconds after the kick, or until the video assistant overturns the decision. That covers every row of boards and the LED in the upper tier. It does not apply to virtual advertising, which is inserted into the broadcast picture and never seen in the stadium.
For whoever runs the wall, it means a way to halt motion on every screen at once, a rotation that looks right standing still, and someone watching the referee rather than the rundown.
Second rows, mini-boards and camcarpets.
Many grounds have more than one row of LED. The DFL wants every row behind the first to recede visually behind it. On those rows motion may only be vertical, and each advert’s file length has to match the first row’s or be an exact multiple of it, twice or three times as long. Rows that run in step with the first row, which the DFL calls power packs, are exempt from both, and so is a row showing the same sponsor as the first row at the same time.
Two rules have no exemption. Motion on two rows may never run in opposite directions, and in the area the cameras see, no more than two rows may show motion or effects at the same moment. Every other row shows a still image whenever the sponsors differ.
Mini-boards, the small boards behind the goal nets, show still images only: at most two adverts a match, each at least five minutes long. LED camcarpets need the league’s approval first, then run still images of at least 45 minutes, changed only at half-time.
Where the boards stand.
As a rule the DFL wants boards at least 4 m from the touchlines, and on the goal lines at least 3 m between the corner flag and the 9.15 m mark and 5 m everywhere else, allowing for what the stadium’s structure permits.
FIFA puts the same idea as a recommendation in its stadium guidelines: 5 m behind the goal lines and 4 m beyond the touchlines in larger stadiums, 4 m and 3 m in smaller ones.
If your league is not on this page.
The Premier League’s handbook for 2026/27 mentions perimeter boards only for fees, storage and camera positions; it sets no rules for what they show. We found no published LED content rules for the Eredivisie, the Jupiler Pro League or the Scottish Premiership. The UEFA specification covers the hardware, and UEFA’s lighting guide asks only that boards do not upset the camera balance or exposure.
Where a league publishes nothing, the rules usually sit in the broadcast and commercial agreements the club has signed, and the rights holder is the one to ask.
Questions.
- How fast can an animation move on an LED perimeter board?
- In the Bundesliga and the Volleyball Bundesliga, 1.5 metres a second sideways and 1 metre a second up or down. On a board with a 10 mm pixel pitch that is 3 pixels and 2 pixels a frame at 50 frames a second.
- How long does an advert on an LED board have to run?
- At least 15 seconds in both German leagues. The volleyball league recommends 30. Mini-boards in the Bundesliga run adverts of at least five minutes, and camcarpets at least 45.
- Are flashing adverts allowed on LED perimeter boards?
- Not in the Bundesliga, which bans abrupt transitions, colour flashes and blinking, and not in the Volleyball Bundesliga, which bans more than two fades in a row.
- Why do LED boards have to tone down white?
- A full-white board at stadium brightness dazzles players and pulls the camera’s exposure. The Bundesliga asks for at least 10% black in white and the volleyball league caps white at 80%.
- What happens on the LED boards during a penalty in the Bundesliga?
- Every board stops moving from the moment the ball is placed on the spot until five seconds after the kick, or until the video assistant overturns the penalty.
- Does UEFA have animation rules for LED boards?
- Its LED specification has none: it covers pixel pitch, brightness, refresh rate and the playout system. What the UEFA specification asks of the software.
Know a rule we have missed?
If your league publishes its LED rules, send us the document and we will add it to this page.