Displays: Commercial vs Domestic

[Sheridan]

We're looking at putting a few 65-85" displays in various rooms - for use instead of projectors. They are most likely going to only be used 4-6 hours a day.

 

With that in mind, has anyone here used domestic displays for this? I know every supplier will almost insist in commercial ones for heat/features/warranty etc, but when the domestic ones are 1/8th the price I think its worth the risk?

 

They will basically show VGA/HDMI input and don't need anything too fancy so commercial grade displays seem like overkill.

[Katy]

Nowhere near that screen size but we use domestic LG 42" screens for our digital signage with no problems, and at 1/8th the price even if you do have to swap one out you're still saving a fortune.

 

(The model we use even has features to disable the button on the screen from doing anything but turning the display on)

[Sheridan]

Nowhere near that screen size but we use domestic LG 42" screens for our digital signage with no problems, and at 1/8th the price even if you do have to swap one out you're still saving a fortune.

 

(The model we use even has features to disable the button on the screen from doing anything but turning the display on)

 

Cheers, ours will be mounted too high to fiddle with anyway!

 

I reckon we can get 4 65" screens for half the cost of one of the commercial ones. I know the commercial ones are better suited to airports/hotels etc where they are on 24/7 but ours would be probably equivalent usage to home use, just during the day.

[Oaktech]

The problem will be warranty... Most screens have a timer in the firmware somewhere, if it fails and you send it back they will probably refuse the warranty based on it being used for a length of time that is unfeasible in domestic use.

 

My last place decided to go to PC world and buy 3 50" panasonic screens rather than the NEC commercial displays I recomended, they all failed within 6 months and the warranty was refused as they'd been on 24/7. Somehow I was the bad guy!

 

If it turns out that buying 3 domestic screens to get the lifespan of a commercial one is still more economical than buying a commercial one in the first place, go for it.

[Katy]

We have ours set to turn off automatically after 8 hours, so they just get turned on at 8:30am and last the day, stops them being switched on burning the screen out 24/7. Average it out over the year with the fact they're off during holidays and you probably won't look like it's used too much to be domestic (I must have mine on 6 hours a day at home, more at weekends)

[Sheridan]

The problem will be warranty... Most screens have a timer in the firmware somewhere, if it fails and you send it back they will probably refuse the warranty based on it being used for a length of time that is unfeasible in domestic use.

 

My last place decided to go to PC world and buy 3 50" panasonic screens rather than the NEC commercial displays I recomended, they all failed within 6 months and the warranty was refused as they'd been on 24/7. Somehow I was the bad guy!

 

If it turns out that buying 3 domestic screens to get the lifespan of a commercial one is still more economical than buying a commercial one in the first place, go for it.

 

Yeah the warranty is the main sticking point, but as @Katy has mentioned we would have them on a power off cycle after a period of idle to reduce the number of hours. They would effectively be on standby for 3/4 of the 24 hour period.

[FN-GM]

I have also seen consumer Samsung and LG screens get screen burn for being on for long periods of time. Another issue to consider.

[RLR]

We've kitted out a lot of rooms now with tvs. We went with domestic ones as the price increase for commercial was too large. We've had no issues so far and our Junior School have had them for over a year now.

[Oaktech]

The other thing to consider is do you have a TV licence? Some schools don't and using a domestic TV with a tuner rather than a commercial display without can get you into hot water.

[FN-GM]

The other thing to consider is do you have a TV licence? Some schools don't and using a domestic TV with a tuner rather than a commercial display without can get you into hot water.

 

It doesn't matter if it has a tuner, as long as you're not using it.

[Oaktech]

It doesn't matter if it has a tuner, as long as you're not using it.

 

Unless the rules have changed in the last 4 years that's not what the TV licensing people said to my previous employer...

[FN-GM]

Unless the rules have changed in the last 4 years that's not what the TV licensing people said to my previous employer...

 

They are wrong. You can have a tuner in a device as long as you're not using it. You are paying to receive the reception, if you're not using it you're not receiving. If you're not using it then it is classed as a monitor. People have CCTV, Game Consoles, DVD players etc connected to them without a licence.

[Sheridan]

The other thing to consider is do you have a TV licence? Some schools don't and using a domestic TV with a tuner rather than a commercial display without can get you into hot water.

 

We have a TV license for the school - but they would be exclusively connected via vga/hdmi anyway

 

Does screen burn still happen with LCD/LED screens? I know it used to be an issue with the plasmas in the early days.

 

Probably not a big issue as these would be showing moving images/slideshows etc rather than a single static image.

Edited March 8, 2017 by Sheridan

[Katy]

Does screen burn still happen with LCD/LED screens? I know it used to be an issue with the plasmas in the early days.

 

Yes, but you should be fine with moving images and even so it takes a long time to happen. Only one of ours with burn in so far is the IT office screen (which is a 10 year old LG I brought in from home) as it's just got a text list of helpdesk tickets on maroon background rather than slides playing through. Even then you only notice if you kill the Xibo client and go to Windows desktop.