Comparison

L.E.D. Lab vs Blackout Lighting Console

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

L.E.D. Lab

Create dynamic visual experiences for LED displays without custom programming. Animate images, videos, and particles, and synchronize them with music or external audio inputs. Ideal for artists, designers, and hobbyists looking to add animated color to various projects.

Highlights
  • Create and animate scenes with images, videos, and camera feeds
  • Animate particle color, velocity, and brightness for LED strips
  • Synchronize visuals with music from your library
  • Audio reactivity for parameter control
  • External control via MIDI, DMX, ArtNet, OSC
  • Color keying and tiling for advanced compositing
  • Supports various LED controllers and external monitors
Features
Read full description

L.E.D. Lab is the quickest, easiest, most powerful way to drive your LED display! Custom programming is no longer required to get up-and-running. It is ideal for artists, professional display designers, architects, VJs, lighting designers, hobbyists, and anyone wanting to add a little animated color to their sculpture, art car, home, business or wardrobe. L.E.D. Lab allows you to create a list of Scenes, which can be played back in order or shuffled. There are currently two kinds of Scenes: ● Pictures Scene - A montage of still images, videos, and live camera feeds is designed. The position, velocity, rotation, size, and coloring of each picture can be animated. You can use your own photos and videos, and the iPad camera. Rendering to odd-shaped displays is made possible with photographically-generated map files. ● Strips Scene - Particles of color are sent down each strip. The velocity, hue, saturation, and brightness of each particle can be animated. Other features include: ● Music - Create lists of Tracks. Each track plays a song from your music library, along with any number of Scenes. You can elaborately choreograph a song, or let the Scenes play in random order. ● Audio Reactivity - Any animatable parameter may be controlled by the amplitude of audio in a specified frequency range. ● External Control - Any animatable parameter may be controlled by MIDI, DMX, ArtNet, or OSC. ● Color Keying - An image, video file, or live video feed can be made selectively transparent, making it easy to mix in with other images. ● Tiling - Any image, video file, or live video feed can be tiled in any or all directions, with adjustable spacing and fade-out. ● Display Modes - Editing can be performed with or without the LEDs connected. The editing UI can also be hidden, allowing operation in a "kiosk" mode. So what kind of LED display can you make with L.E.D. Lab? Some Examples: http://ledlabs.co Any iOS device can be used to play Scene Lists. An iPad is best for full editing. L.E.D. Lab works with the following LED controllers: ● PixelPusher (our favorite) ● Art-Net ● sACN ● DDP/Minleon/TekLights ● RGB-123 ● FadeCandy/FCServer ● OpenPixel It can also display to an external monitor or projector, serving as a VJ app. Extensive help information is provided for the rich user-interface: ● Help Explorer - Displays help text for any knob, slider, button, popup, list, or view inside a magnifying glass you drag around the screen. (See this in the last screen shot.) ● Help Topics - Little chapters to read about some of the more detailed functionalities. ● Help Tutorials

About

Blackout Lighting Console

This professional lighting console app offers an intuitive interface and powerful effects engine for controlling DMX, Art-Net, and sACN lighting setups. It features a vast cloud fixture database, custom fixture creation, and advanced control options for seamless lighting design and execution.

Highlights
  • Cloud Fixture Database
  • Custom Fixture Creation
  • Streamlined Fixture Patching
  • Intuitive Fixture Controls
  • Multi-Cuelist Platform
  • Dynamic Effects Engine
  • Advanced MIDI Support
Read full description

Blackout is a revolutionary professional Art-Net/sACN DMX Lighting Console app for the iPad. Redefine your lighting with our incredibly intuitive interface and powerful effects engine. Features: - Cloud Fixture Database: Access over 44,000 fixture profiles licensed from Carallon, the leader in fixture profile services. - Create Custom Fixtures: Utilize our Fixture Creation Wizard to design your own profiles, perfectly matching your specific lighting needs. - Fixture Patching Made Simple: Effortlessly categorize and label LED fixtures with a streamlined Patch interface, ideal for batch management. - Intuitive Fixture Controls: Adjust parameters with ease in Fixture Controls and experience our NEW multi-dimensional color picker. - Robust Multi-Cuelist Platform: Organize and save lighting looks within Sequences, complete with customizable fade times, delays, and links. - Presets for Quick Access: Save and recall fixture parameters instantly, streamlining batch changes across multiple fixtures through our Favorites. - Dynamic Effects Engine: Explore limitless creative possibilities with our advanced Effects Engine, featuring intensity chases, color loops, and more. - Macro Functionality: Simplify complex lighting tasks into single-button actions for maximum efficiency. - Enhanced Data Visibility: Experience our reworked UI with new view states for displaying data in various formats, aiding quicker analysis and decision-making. - Advanced MIDI Support (Input & Output): Gain tactile control over your lighting with MIDI compatibility, suitable for both wired and wireless controllers.

Screenshots

L.E.D. Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Blackout Lighting Console at 5.0 against L.E.D. Lab's 4.6. Blackout Lighting Console also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). L.E.D. Lab's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. L.E.D. Lab sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Blackout Lighting Console sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Blackout Lighting Console holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 5 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 81% of L.E.D. Lab's written reviews are positive against 76% of Blackout Lighting Console's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

L.E.D. Lab ships an update every 4 months, Blackout Lighting Console monthly. The most recent releases landed on August 17, 2026 and July 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
L.E.D. Lab versus Blackout Lighting Console: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterL.E.D. LabBlackout Lighting Console
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (15 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.3% of reviews — better76.2% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB398 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChristopher SchardtBlackout Lighting Console Inc.

Customer experience

L.E.D. Lab

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral12.5%
Negative6.3%

Blackout Lighting Console

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.8%

In-app purchases

11 purchases

L.E.D. Lab

One-time11
  • Live Microphone$9.99
  • Live Video$9.99
  • LED Display$19.99
Show 8 more
  • External Control$19.99
  • Music$19.99
  • External Screen$39.99
  • Authoring$49.99
  • LED Artist Pack$59.99
  • VJ Pack$79.99
  • Advanced Mapping$84.99
  • Everything Pack$209.99
1 purchases

Blackout Lighting Console

One-time1
  • Basic Plan$799.99

Questions

Is L.E.D. Lab free?
L.E.D. Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Blackout Lighting Console free?
Blackout Lighting Console is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, L.E.D. Lab or Blackout Lighting Console?
Blackout Lighting Console is rated higher. L.E.D. Lab averages 4.6 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Blackout Lighting Console averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do L.E.D. Lab or Blackout Lighting Console have ads?
Neither L.E.D. Lab nor Blackout Lighting Console shows ads.
Which is updated more often, L.E.D. Lab or Blackout Lighting Console?
L.E.D. Lab ships an update every 4 months, and Blackout Lighting Console monthly. Most recently, L.E.D. Lab was updated on August 17, 2026 and Blackout Lighting Console on July 5, 2026.

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