Difference between a commercial plasma and consumer plasma

[Amy-StrandVision]

This is a question that we hear often when talking about plasma screens for digital signage.

Many plasma screen manufacturers offer plasma display in two markets, the commercial and consumer. A "big-box" retail outlet sells only consumer plasma TV's. These consumer TV's are built to the same quality standards as commericial TV's but there a few differences.

Consumer plasma's are generally easy to distinguish because they are sold with integrated speakers. Consumer screens also come with a built-in TV tuner. This means that a consumer screen can be connected to directly to a cable or satelite connection with no additional hardware.

Commercial screens don't come with speakers, which results in more of professional look, especially for digital signage. They also require a separate tuner box to display cable or satelite TV. The marketing concept is that commercial users will use this screen for presentations, digital sigange, etc and not watch TV on it.

Commercial screens also come with a commercial warranty, which applies to most business. In some cases, installing a consumer plasma screen in a commerical application can shorten the warranty or void it completely.

Give StrandVision a call if you need help selecting a screen for digital signage!