DISPLAYS: SIZE DOES MATTER

THE IMPORTANCE OF SIZE AND TECHNOLOGY CHOICES WHEN IT COMES TO MEETING ROOM DISPLAYS

In recent years many businesses have migrated towards large format displays, or TVs in their meeting rooms in effort to provide a high tech and modern environment. This adoption is a direct result of consumer electronics in the home but in many cases is an inadequate solution for the meeting room.

This month I had the opportunity to sit down with Carlos Ventura, Branch Manager for EIKI Canada and Jessi Larson, Marketing Manager for Milestone AV Technologies (Da-Lite) to learn about proper display sizing for conference rooms and get insight to what’s happening around the industry for displays in meeting spaces.

FROM EIKI CANADA

When considering a projector there are typically three types of technology to consider:

1. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
2. DLP (Digital Light Processing)
3. LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon)

SOME PROS OF PROJECTORS ARE:

• Image Size: Watching a movie or a sporting event on an 8’ to 10’ wide screen is much more enjoyable than a TV that is half the size.
• Better Viewing Angle: Good image when seated directly in front of TV – but move one seat in either direction and it becomes less than perfect.
• Easier on the eyes: Watching a large image in a dark room on a TV can cause eye strain or headaches because of the extreme brightness; projecting a larger image and spreading the brightness over more area reduces the eye strain.
• Less Space: Mounting a projector on the ceiling and using a retractable screen can take less space, when the screen is not in use it is retracted and hardly even noticeable.

SOME CONS OF PROJECTORS ARE:

• Ambient Light: The biggest problem is the light in the room, no matter how bright your projector is too much light will wash out the image, The lights need to be off and the shades drawn for best results.
• Lamp Cost: Lamp costs are coming down and laser projectors are coming out but at this point the cost of lamps is considerable and should be factored in approx. 1 per year.
• Audio: If a projector has a speaker, it won’t be a good one and some type of audio system needs to be purchased.

FROM MILESTONE AV TECHNOLOGIES

Times and formats change, but projection screens have been around for decades. For years, colleagues have gathered around a large projection screen to collectively view project documents and come up with collaborative solutions. The best way to communicate has always been with a big picture…until large flat panel TVs entered the scene.

Awed by this new technology, people started to try it out in their conference rooms, and the big picture suddenly got a whole lot smaller. The meeting focus went from discussing materials on the screen to not being able to see anything on the screen.

Da-Lite has been designing and manufacturing projection screens for more than 100 years. You may have heard of the term “The Silver Screen?” That phrase originated from Da-Lite’s founder Adele De Berri. As a company with a very long history in AV, Da-Lite recommends taking a thorough look at screen sizing before making any purchasing decisions.

To start, let’s look at the math:

• A room that is 17’ deep needs a 100” diagonal.
• A room that is 20’ deep needs a 120” diagonal.
• A room that is 25’ deep needs a 150” diagonal.

Although flat panel TVs have gotten much larger, they still can’t match these numbers while providing a long-term, economical solution.

It’s clear from speaking with Carlos and Jessi that there are a lot of factors that need to be considered when designing meeting room space and decision making on type of display to suit the room.

Please join us May 19th from 12-1:30pm with representatives from Da-Lite Screen Company and EIKI Canada. https://www.vistacaretech.com/displays-size-does-matter