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If you are deciding on a lightbox banner vs roller banner, the deciding question is whether your design needs its own light. A roller banner is the right choice when the exhibition hall is well lit, you have no power on the stand and you want something light and cost effective: ours start at £64.95 ex VAT. An LED lightbox banner is worth the extra cost when the hall is dim or crowded and you need your brand to be the thing people notice from the aisle, and you can book a power socket for it.
Every figure below comes from products in our own range so you can compare like for like. Prices are ex VAT and were checked on our live product pages on 7 November 2026.
Lightbox banner or roller banner at a glance
In short, a roller banner stand wins on price, weight and setup time, and a lightbox banner wins on how bright your design looks. This table uses our 850mm wide versions of each.
| Roller banner | LED lightbox banner | |
|---|---|---|
| Price from (850mm wide) | £64.95 ex VAT | £276.95 ex VAT |
| How the print is lit | By the hall lights | LEDs behind the fabric |
| Print material | Vinyl, rolled into the base | Backlit fabric in a frame |
| Power needed | No | Yes, a mains socket |
| Weight | 2.9kg to 5kg | 5.6kg to 15.5kg |
| Setup time | Under a minute (Mosquito) | Under ten minutes (Illumigo One) |
| Best for | Bright halls, tight budgets | Dim or busy halls |
The two look similar from a distance. Both are tall, narrow displays about 850mm wide and 2m high that stand at the edge of your exhibition space. A roll up banner is a vinyl print that rolls into an aluminium cassette base and is held up by a supporting pole, which makes it easy to transport. A lightbox banner is a frame with LEDs inside and a fabric graphic panel pushed into its edge, so the light shines through the print from behind.
When a lightbox banner gets your brand seen
A lightbox banner earns its cost when your design would otherwise be lost. That usually means a hall with low or uneven lighting, an evening event or corporate events in a hotel ballroom, a stand without its own spotlights, or crowded spaces where every neighbour has a roll up of their own. A lit print gives off light rather than reflecting it, so it stands apart from the printed signage around it and makes a strong first impression from further down the aisle.
Our Illumigo One portable LED lightbox is the cheapest way in at £276.95 ex VAT. It uses a roll-up LED panel that comes with its LEDs already fitted and is ready in under ten minutes with no tools. It is lit from the front only, so if people will see the back you can add an unlit stretch fabric print there. The power cable enters under the frame, so several can stand edge to edge as one wider exhibition display.
For a sturdier frame, the Glopix LED light box 2000 x 850mm is £557.95 ex VAT. It has a 120mm deep white PVC frame with the LEDs pre-installed, a 240gsm backlit polyester print by dye sublimation, a B1 fire rating, a carry case and a one-year warranty excluding the graphic. You can see the whole range of LED lightbox banners in one place, from tall portrait frames to wide landscape ones.
- Best for: dim halls, evening events and busy rows where your design needs its own light.
- Best for: stands with a power socket booked, and a professional display you will reuse at multiple events, from a shell scheme to a full exhibition stand.
When a roller banner is the better choice
A roller banner is the better choice whenever the hall is well lit, you have no power, or you need several displays on a small business budget. Most halls, conference rooms and reception areas are bright enough for a printed design, and there a well-designed pull-up does the job for a fraction of the price. Its portability is the other big plus: it is the easier one to carry, put up and take down on your own.
Our Mosquito roller banner 850mm is £109.95 ex VAT. It weighs 3.02kg, has twin twist-out feet and a three-part bungee pole, and is up in under a minute, which is about as easy setup as it gets. Your design is printed on 440gsm vinyl with water-based latex ink, and it comes in a padded bag. If it needs to withstand the wear and tear of weekly use, the Barracuda roller banner 850mm at £189.95 ex VAT is built for heavy use, with a wide base, levelling feet and a telescopic pole that adjusts the visible height up to 2.21m for rooms with low ceilings. The cheapest is the Expovision 850mm at £64.95 ex VAT and 2.9kg, and the Rhino range is sold on its durability, with an anti-curl, anti-glare print.
- Best for: bright halls, tight budgets and anyone setting up alone.
- Best for: buying several displays at once, or a stand with no power booked.
Power, weight and setup for each banner
The practical difference is that a lightbox banner needs a mains socket and a roller banner needs nothing at all. At a trade show, power is often an extra on shell schemes: our exhibition stand costs research found only 7 of 26 shell scheme rate cards include a power socket, and 4 list electrics as an extra charge. Electrics also have their own order deadline, which in our exhibitor deadlines research had a median of 31 days before opening across 14 events, ranging from 11 to 56 days.
In a well lit hall, roller banners could do the same job for far less. Weight and setup follow the same pattern. A roll up banner is one unit: you pull the print up out of the base, hook it to the top of the pole and it is done. A lightbox banner comes as a frame kit in its case, and you join the frame, fit the LED panel where it is separate, press the fabric into the channel and plug it in. Ours are all tool-free, but plan on ten minutes rather than one. The Mosquito weighs 3.02kg against 5.6kg for the Illumigo One, and our double sided LED lightbox has a packed weight of 15.5kg with a wheeled case.
If you want some of the effect without the lightbox price, a 50W halogen spotlight made for roll up banners, sold with two bulbs, is £67.95 ex VAT. It fits on the pole of a roller banner, and you can add a second light for a double sided one. It lights the front of the print rather than shining through it, so the look is different from a lightbox, and it still needs a socket.
Graphic and print quality compared
A roller banner is printed vinyl seen by reflected light, and a lightbox banner is backlit fabric that the light shines through, so a lightbox looks brighter and more saturated in a dim hall. Both give high-quality graphics with modern printing, and the difference is the light. On a roller banner the banner material decides the look. Our standard 440gsm vinyl has a lightly textured surface for short campaigns and everyday events, and for bright lighting, or if you want it to stay flat for longer, we offer a premium vinyl with a light-blocking back and a smoother face.
On a lightbox, the print is a fabric sleeve with a silicone edge that pushes into the frame, so it sits tight and flat with no visible fixings. Where it is edge-lit, as on our double sided LED lightbox, large areas of one flat colour can show slight differences in brightness, so a busy, colourful design works best. The frame is the part you invest in: changing your message for the next show only means a new printed graphic, not a new frame, which gives a lightbox real versatility over several years.
Whichever you choose, keep your logo and main message in the top half, where people can see it over the heads of visitors in the walkway. Either one will promote your business well if the design is simple. Every order includes FREE artwork design or proofing. Send us your own artwork to check before print, or our design team will create it at no extra cost, and the artwork guidelines cover file setup.
Price of a lightbox banner vs a roller banner
A lightbox banner costs a good deal more than a roller banner of the same width: like for like, the Illumigo One at £276.95 ex VAT is about two and a half times the Mosquito at £109.95. At about 850mm wide, our roller banners run from £64.95 to £189.95 ex VAT and our LED lightboxes from £276.95 to £557.95 ex VAT. The gap is the frame, the LEDs and the power supply, which you keep and reuse.
So a lightbox gives a better return on investment for a display you will use at many shows or keep in reception or retail stores, and a roll up is the cost-effective option for one-off events or when you need several at once. There is FREE UK delivery on orders of £200 or more, so a single lightbox qualifies on its own. If you are comparing roll ups on price and build, my guide to a budget vs premium roller banner goes through the differences.
How we compared them
This is a desk comparison of published product data, not a hands-on test. We took the specs and prices from our own live product pages for four roller banners and three LED lightboxes on 7 November 2026, picking the versions about 850mm wide so they compare like for like. The figures on power and electrics deadlines come from our own published research, linked where they appear. Weights are as each product page lists them, which for some is the boxed shipping weight.
Which one to choose for your event
Choose by the hall, the power and how often you will use it. Here is how I would decide.
- Choose a roller banner if the hall is bright, you have no power booked or you need several displays on a tight budget.
- Choose a pull up banner if you set up alone, travel by train or need it up in under a minute.
- Choose a lightbox banner if the hall is dim, the event runs into the evening or your row is full of printed signs.
- Choose a lightbox banner if it will stand in your reception or shop for months, where the frame is used every day.
- Choose a roll up with a spotlight if you want some extra light but cannot stretch to a lightbox.
You can compare our full range of roller banners in one place. If you are weighing lit and unlit displays for the rest of your stand, see fabric vs LED exhibition stand and illuminated vs standard exhibition counter, and for a fabric alternative, roller banner vs tension banner.
Frequently asked questions
Is a lightbox banner better than a roller banner?
It is better at being seen in a dim or busy hall, because the design is lit from behind. A roll up is better on price, weight and setup time, and needs no power. In a bright hall with no socket booked, it is the better buy.
Is a lightbox banner the same size as a roller banner?
They can be. Our Illumigo One is 850mm wide and 2010mm high, and our Mosquito is 910mm wide at the base and 2105mm high. The lightbox is deeper, at 390mm with its feet, against 285mm for the Mosquito.
Does a lightbox banner need power at an exhibition?
Yes. Every LED lightbox needs a mains socket, so book electrics with the organiser before their deadline. Our research found only 7 of 26 shell scheme rate cards include a power socket, so check your stand package first.
Can I use a lightbox banner outdoors?
Our LED lightboxes are made to be used indoors, and so are the Mosquito, Rhino and Barracuda. For an outdoor event, look at an outdoor roll up such as the Expovision Outdoor, which has feet and ground pegs.
