Hello Forum,
I thought I would chime in. I don't post much and am not able to always keep up much with the discussions on this site. But, I was aware that in some cases, neon signs would win. Among many things contributing to this comparison, for certain size signs (channel letters and cabinet signs), neon's light distribution is more favorable at this time; further, it is a more mature technology than LED. While I am not an LED advocate, but rather solve LED design problems, I would say that LEDs, with proper design implementation can match neon's light distribution performance for many flat signs. But the key is having the right optical, electrical, and thermal designs, as well as solid-performing LED modules that only some vendors offer.
So my prediction is that over time, LED designs will improve and replace more and more neon signs. But neon may still have some applications - why? Because, well, it is neon! Perhaps more on this later.
Nisa Khan