Specifying a screen
Work out the right screen size, brightness and mounting position from the room itself, using the same measurements a specifier uses.
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Commercial Display or Television: What Is the Difference?
Commercial displays cost roughly twice what a similarly sized television costs, and the picture quality is not the reason. Here is what you are actually paying for, and when you do not need to.
The differences that matter
| Consumer television | Commercial display | |
|---|---|---|
| Rated daily use | A few hours | 16 or 24 hours |
| Warranty on business premises | Frequently void | Written for commercial use |
| Portrait orientation | Not rated; can void cover | Rated where specified |
| Brightness | For a living room | For retail light, or a window |
| Remote management | None | Scheduled power, input lock, status |
| Input lock | No — anyone with a remote can change it | Yes |
| Life in commercial use | Often short | Designed for the duty cycle |
When a television is genuinely fine
A screen in a staff room that runs for a couple of hours a day. A temporary display for an event. A meeting room screen used for presentations rather than continuous playback. In all of those a good consumer television is the correct purchase and we will say so.
The point at which it stops being fine is continuous use, customer visibility, portrait mounting, or any position with significant daylight. Those are the four conditions that turn a saving into a replacement cycle.
Questions people actually ask
Will a television actually fail if we use it for signage?
Often it will not fail outright; it will degrade. Brightness drops, the panel shows uneven wear where static elements sat, and it becomes the screen that looks tired next to the others. The more immediate practical problem is usually the warranty and the absence of input lock, so somebody changes the source and nobody notices for a day.
Can we mount a television in portrait?
Physically yes, and it is a common false economy. Most consumer panels are not rated for it because the thermal design assumes landscape, and it commonly voids the warranty. If you need portrait, that on its own is a reason to buy a commercial display.
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Start a project
Tell us about the space. We will tell you what belongs in it.
A first conversation costs you nothing and usually takes twenty minutes. Bring a photo of the wall and a rough idea of what you want it to do.
- A written specification you can price against anyone
- The platform we would run, named before you sign
- Hardware and content costed separately, so you can see both
- No obligation, and no pressure to buy screens you do not need