In this issue of The Involve AV School, Jon Garaway, education account manager at NEC Display Solutions leaves no doubt as to the benefits of laser projection:
By 2020, 74% of all >5,000 ANSI lumens installation projectors will be laser light source based.* The case behind this is compelling – laser offers reliability, consistent brightness, long life and minimal maintenance adding up to an undeniably low Total Cost of Ownership. What’s more, once it’s installed, you don’t even need to think about it for another 20,000 hours of operation!
Compare two equivalent projectors, one laser-based (NEC PX803UL) and one lamp-based (NEC PX750U); over a period of 20,000 hours, an operational cost saving of more than 13,000€ is possible. Alongside this, the initial purchasing price of lamp vs. laser based models is remarkably similar.
Universities have in the past been forced to allow a considerable budget toward lamp replacement and in a resource stretched sector this is increasingly difficult to ring fence. Additionally, often located on high ceilings in lecture halls and auditoriums, projectors are very difficult and costly to access for maintenance. With no lamp change and no filter cleaning required, neither of these resource-sapping issues need be part of the TCO equation any longer.
I’ve taken the liberty of quoting my customers who are already convinced of the benefits of laser:
At the University of Bath, NEC laser projection is utilised across a large part of its general teaching areas to standardise its quality offering to staff and students and reap the benefits of compelling TCO credentials. ‘We’re really concerned with long-term reliability and predictability, we want whatever we specify now, to behave exactly as we designed in 5 years’ time’, explains Rob Hyde, AV service manager. ‘Using laser technology has been a deliberate choice of ours. We chose to use it because it provides a consistent platform, one which allows us to change the way we consider the Total Cost of Ownership in our teaching process. Its long lasting consistent performance means we can more effectively plan for our future requirements. ’
Delivering teaching material with perfect image quality and natural looking colours, laser offers students an eye pleasing viewing experience. With flexible brightness adjustment, it perfectly adapts to ambient light conditions. Students at City, University of London remain stimulated and motivated in an auditorium flooded with light: ‘The lecture space is well lit with natural light yet the laser projection really is very impressive with rich colours and high resolution imagery,’ explains Ricci Fothergill, media systems developer. ‘Since the projectors are installed high up, with laser technology, we don’t need to worry about access for maintenance since they don’t need lamp or filter replacements.’
Convinced?!
*Futuresource
