Our Blog

Commercial, Consumer or Hybrid: Understanding HDTV Screens Before You Make a Choice

ou might be seeing all those advertisements for low-cost HDTV screens again — March and April are one of the bet times to buy a residential HDTV screen as stores hold “tax refund” sales to entice customers.

But if you’re evaluating HDTV screens for a video upgrade in your venue, you might be confused by the different levels of quality available. Let JD Systems help you out before you make an HDTV purchase for your commercial space.

Consumer Screens

Consumer screens have limited connectivity options. You can program a universal remote for any consumer screen, but you may not be able to use a commercial grade RS232 controller or something like a commercial Crestron system.

Consumer screens include a built-in tuner and often speakers that provide decent sound quality for home use (although true audiophiles setting up a home theatre system will want to consider 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound, instead.)

Most consumer screens come with a one-year manufacturers warranty, and very few come with a service agreement after the sale, although you might be able to spend more and get an extended warranty.

Commercial Screens

Most commercial HDTV screens, sometimes called monitors, do not have a built-in tuner. Instead, you connect a cable box, DirecTV box, PC, digital signage system or other input via HDMI or Ethernet over the network in order to display content on the screen. This enhances the capabilities of what you can display.

You can also change the display settings to optimize the picture quality based on the source.

Commercial screens all include RS232 control capabilities, but may have additional control options, too.

Commercial screens have advanced cooling capabilities and anti-burn-in features that make them capable of running 24/7/365 when needed. The 2-to-3-year warranty also supports this kind of extended use.

Hybrid Screens

A money-saving option when you need some, but not all, of the features of a commercial HDTV monitor for your hospitality venue, hybrid screens have RS232 control capabilities and an extended commercial warranty, but sell for less money than true commercial HDTVs.

If you’re in the market for new AV systems, you should select a video installer you can trust to recommend the best plasma, LED or LCD displays for your venue.