Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Why You Should Consider Flat Screens Instead of Projection Units



Written by Joe Sebestyen, District Manager of FLIK Conference Centers. Joe is a member of the Emerging Trends Committee on IACC and serves as a mentor and industry leader for the group of young professionals. Enjoy these cost saving tips about flat screens in meeting rooms!

Recently more companies are considering replacing projection units in smaller meeting rooms with flat screen displays. You may want to consider this as the projection units require ceiling mounts, need lamps replaced and filter cleaned. Flat screens are less maintenance and have good viewing quality, even with available light in the meeting rooms. When you add the lamps, the labor to clean filters, replace lamps and adjust the projection units, it may be worthwhile to consider the flat screen displays. Even if the IT installs are not your responsibility...when you know they are considering retrofitting smaller meeting rooms you may want to mention this option to your client. They may perceive you have their best interest at heart even though you may not be responsible for the IT installations.

Some other thoughts to help you compare the two technologies:

  • Projectors are able to create the largest images. A projector's screen size is also adjustable and can be changed to fit your environment. Flat screen TVs peak at about 70-90 inches.  However you can stitch several flat screens together to make a larger image.
  • Flat screen displays in general are much harder to move from room to room unless you have them mounted on a rack. Without a rack or cart it can be usually a two-person operation. Projection units are easier and safer to transport. If mounted on a ceiling it requires more maintenance to change lamps and filters.
  • Life-span Projectors have lamps that last up to 5,000 hours. They are replaceable and generally cost $199 to $399. Flat screens have a reported half-life of about 100,000 hours. Half-life is the time it takes the light source to fade to half its original brightness. A projector has a shorter lamp life, but the lamp can be replaced multiple times.
  • It would cost $11,500 for 100,000 hours of viewing if your projection units have a life span of 5,000 hours. A high quality flat screen may cost $1,500 for 100,000 hours of viewing. Because of their big image, projectors may provide a more immersive 3D experience than flat screens. 3D quality is good, but is limited by the size of the screen. Projectors provide the most realistic 3D images thanks to the large image they provide.
What's your take - projection units  or flat screen displays?

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