Comparison

L.E.D. Lab vs MagicQ Remote Control

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

MagicQ Remote Control

Control your ChamSys lighting console remotely. Adjust focus, color, and test your rig. Edit and update lighting cues, palettes, and groups directly from your device.

Highlights
  • Remote control for MagicQ consoles
  • Pan and tilt focusing controls
  • Rainbow color picker
  • Execute Window for rig testing
  • Edit and update palettes, groups, and cues
Features
Read full description

ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Remote Control ChamSys MagicQ systems provide leading edge control of stage lighting, LED pixelmapping and media systems. The MagicQ Remote enables remote control of MagicQ systems including MagicQ consoles and MagicQ PC Wing solutions. MagicQ Remote supports focusing with pan and tilt controls, colour adjustment using the rainbow colour picker and rig testing through the unique MagicQ Execute Window. Palettes, Groups and Cues can be edited and updated. ChamSys MagicQ software supports up to 102,400 channels (200 DMX universes) and is available to download and use for free from ChamSys website www.chamsys.co.uk. For instructions please use the in app link to the manual; go to Connection, Help and tap the Open Manual button. For bug reports, please submit them to our bugtracker: https://secure.chamsys.co.uk/bugtracker/

Screenshots

L.E.D. Lab4 screens
MagicQ Remote Control4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MagicQ Remote Control at none against L.E.D. Lab's 11. L.E.D. Lab's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (81% vs 63%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. MagicQ Remote Control asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

L.E.D. Lab holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 10 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of L.E.D. Lab's written reviews are positive against 63% of MagicQ Remote Control's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

L.E.D. Lab ships an update every 4 months, MagicQ Remote Control every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on August 17, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
L.E.D. Lab versus MagicQ Remote Control: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterL.E.D. LabMagicQ Remote Control
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (15 ratings) — better4.3 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews81.3% of reviews — better62.5% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.614.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChristopher SchardtChamSys Ltd

Customer experience

L.E.D. Lab

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

MagicQ Remote Control

All ratings10 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral25.0%
Negative12.5%

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
None

MagicQ Remote Control

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is L.E.D. Lab free?
L.E.D. Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MagicQ Remote Control free?
MagicQ Remote Control is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, L.E.D. Lab or MagicQ Remote Control?
L.E.D. Lab is rated higher. L.E.D. Lab averages 4.6 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while MagicQ Remote Control averages 4.3 from 10 ratings.
Do L.E.D. Lab or MagicQ Remote Control have ads?
Neither L.E.D. Lab nor MagicQ Remote Control shows ads.
Which is updated more often, L.E.D. Lab or MagicQ Remote Control?
L.E.D. Lab ships an update every 4 months, and MagicQ Remote Control every 3 months. Most recently, L.E.D. Lab was updated on August 17, 2026 and MagicQ Remote Control on September 7, 2026.

Other comparisons