Projectors or flat panels in new construction

[Hallman, Steve]

Hello:

We are working on designing a new building which will be completed in 3 years or so. The equipment will go out to bid in 2 years but need to put the infrastructure in place now for plan approval. The architect has hired an AV consultant who is recommending projectors in the classrooms.  Each flat classroom seats between 65-90 and has dual images behind the instructor console and then two mirror images/confidence images on the back wall. Given we are so far out, I was wondering what people thought about 96" monitors vs 4 laser projectors. I have my opinions, but other people feel strongly both ways about fan noise, image quality, replacement costs etc.  They are going to mounted fairly high, so touch screen and interactive boards are not part of the equation. 

Feel free to respond to the group or me individually if you recently have gone through this debate and what was decided. 

Thanks

Steve

Steven Hallman

Director- Academic Technologies

Kenan-Flagler Business School

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

919-962-9979

[James Saltzman]

Steve,

School of Medicine is in the final stretch of new Med Building, same process you are experiencing.  Occupancy March 2023.  Feel free to reach out for all the pitfalls of Architects, Consultants and Planning departments.  We went AV over IP, speaking of Infrastructure changes.

James Saltzman

Academic Technology Services

Manager of AV Systems and Instructional Media Services

UNC School of Medicine IT

[Donald E Newman]

The fact you have multiple displays makes a single failure less of a show stopper, but …

Small bright laser projectors can be replace on short notice with fewer staff and easily shipped for repair.  You can get a hand cranked display lift/moving cart and/or contract for quick local support with local repair facility nearby for heavier delicate displays.

Projector models stay more consistent than display models, which seem to change monthly.  This can make swaps slightly more complicated from a control programming perspective.

 

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[Angela Cook]

We had this question come up recently.  The architect was actually the one pushing it.  Once we did a cost analysis and talked about replacement and down time (we have advance replacement with projectors but not the monitors), the decision was to go with projectors.

Angela D Cook

Director of Academic Technology  

University Services IT Academic Technology

207-780-5737

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[Donald E Newman]

… to be fair we’ve had very few displays fail.  Probably less than 1%/year for the smaller professional models we have as secondary display in many labs.

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[Kevin Ficker]

Hi Steve,

I'd be most concerned about reducing image size when going from projection to monitors. I'd imagine the projector screens would be larger than 96", and depending on the size of the room and the content being shown, that extra size may be needed for the furthest viewer.

Additional note, fan noise and maintenance needs are substantially reduced on most modern laser projectors, even large venue ones. Many models do not even require filter maintenance (assuming the room is reasonably clean).

Best,

Kevin Ficker, CTS

ClassTech Programmer

NC State University
OIT Classroom Technology
Campus Box 7109

919-515-9991
kevin_...@ncsu.edu

go.ncsu.edu/classtech

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[michae...@gmail.com]

Steve,

I have to agree with Kevin in that LED projectors are much better than old-school lamp projectors. Two projectors I could see being used in the space: the Epson EB-PU2010B or Panasonic  PT-RCQ10B, both have 4K w/ pixel shifting (not true 4K, 99% of people can't tell a difference. Research for yourself on pixel shifting if you'd like) and both have relatively low audible noise 43db-30db range. Each projector and lens would be under 20k, then another ~10k for a screen, so a little more than high quality 96" display (Planar or Christie Digital).

My first thought after reading the summary and seeing that it is flat room with up to ~90 students, I would be worried that the 96" display size is not big enough. So my first thought was not should it be projectors vs 96" display but rather projectors or a video wall. But it sound like there will be multiple rooms, so I doubt a video wall could be purchased for each room.

Then reading that the displays/projector screens would be "fairly high", installing 96" displays higher than 4' would not be fun considering they are typically close to 200lbs. If one breaks or needs service how easy would it be to service the display, take it down and replace it? If projectors are used, how easy would it be to service the projector, take it down and replace it? Just questions to ponder in consideration of the space. In my mind, 1 or 2 techs could take down a projector with a tall ladder (Little Giant), but to take a display off a wall would take a minimum of 4 people and depending on how tall it is mounted may require scaffolding or even possibly a scissor lift.

Just some thoughts to ponder on. Hope this helps.