Shanghai HKRI Taikoo Hui Commercial Light Box Project

Prior to working with Higntek, the client encountered several practical problems in previous projects. While existing LED modules theoretically provided sufficient brightness, the assembled lightboxes sometimes exhibited noticeable bright lines directly above the LEDs, dark areas between modules, and inconsistent lighting effects when applied to lightboxes of varying depths. The client’s primary requirement was to create a smooth, uniform lighting surface within advertising lightboxes of different sizes.
At the outset of project discussions, the client emphasized a key concern: no visible LED lines, no hot spots, and no dark areas.

This requirement sounds simple, but in practice, it is one of the most challenging issues in LED backlighting. LEDs are essentially point light sources. When multiple LEDs are arranged behind a diffuser, the final visual effect depends on many factors, including LED spacing, light distribution angle, and the mixing distance between the LED modules and the emitting surface. In our experience, many backlighting projects fail because engineers focus solely on LED brightness while neglecting optical mixing conditions. Brighter LEDs do not necessarily result in better lighting. Sometimes, excessive brightness can actually make uneven areas more noticeable. Click to learn more about our optical design engineering.

In addition to optical performance, the client also required the modules to support long-term operation. Commercial advertising light boxes are typically powered continuously throughout business hours, meaning thermal stability and efficiency directly impact maintenance costs.

The client also requested a modular design. Since commercial projects often include light boxes of various sizes, producing completely different LED boards for each size would increase inventory complexity and production costs. Therefore, our design goal wasn’t simply: “Make a high-brightness LED strip.” Instead, we needed to develop a scalable LED lighting module to adapt to different commercial light box structures.

Challenges and Technical Difficulties.

During the development phase, our engineering team identified three main challenges.

The first challenge was transforming linear LED light sources into a uniform luminous surface.
Simply increasing the number of LEDs would increase costs, power consumption, and heat dissipation pressure. Furthermore, commercial light boxes often have strict thickness limitations. When the internal depth is insufficient, even high-quality LED strips will produce visible streaks. Therefore, we determined that the key was not simply stacking light sources, but optimizing LED arrangement, adapting optical diffusion methods, and optimizing the mixing distance within the light box to improve light distribution.

The second challenge was balancing brightness, efficiency, and thermal reliability.
The client wanted a stunning advertising display, but the modules also needed to operate reliably for extended periods. Increasing the number of LEDs could improve brightness, but it would also increase power consumption and heat generation. The client’s required 1130mm light strip length was relatively long, and insufficient PCB heat dissipation could easily lead to temperature rise in the central area, increased light decay, and color temperature drift. Therefore, choosing a PCB material with high thermal conductivity became crucial.

The third challenge was creating a standardized modular system while maintaining customization flexibility.
The client needed light boxes of different lengths to accommodate various light box sizes, but they didn’t want too many product variations. Therefore, we designed multiple standard lengths and flexible cutting structures so that a single product series could support a variety of applications.