Planning for a Projector Installation in your conference room, training room or home theatre, etc. ??? Keep the following things in mind while you are at it.

1.       Plan for Projector & AV equipments at the drawing stage itself.

2.       Enlist a AV professional / vendor.

3.       Make necessary provision/infrastructure like cables, mounts, etc. beforehand.

4.       Set aside sufficient budget (not leftover budget) for a good system / equipments.

If you are not technically sound enlist the help of a AV professional or your AV equipment supplier right at the inception of your project and ensure that the required infrastructure like cables, mounts, motorized lifts, power supply provision etc. is done beforehand. Provision like conduits, raceways, etc. should be flexible enough for faulty cable replacement and any additional cables that you may need to install at a later date. Your inaction at doing the above may land you with wiring rework, breakage to your ceiling, walls and floors adding to escalation of your project time & cost. Remember the saying “A stitch in time, saves nine”.

Install good quality, performance cables and make sure the cables are well insulated from electrical and other signal interferences. Also make sure the electric supply for your equipments is clean, stabilised, spike free and with proper earthing. It is essential for the best performance & life of your projector, av equipments.

You can buy costly items like the projector, screen, audio video equipments & accessories at a later date or at the time of completion.

An AV consultant / vendor is probably one of the first person who submits his proposal but is the last one to get the order, mostly with AV project cost scaled down to a fraction of the original proposal. Most companies & individuals tends to give more importance to the décor, aesthetics and the kind of furniture or curtains, color, wall paper in the room rather than the AV equipment which is central to improving your productivity in the office or providing complete entertainment at home.

Don’t call your AV guy just a day earlier when you are about to move into your new office, home and corner him to start & complete your installation in a day. The situation may well be beyond his control (he is not a magician). You may have to live or work with compromises like

·         Fever connectivity, unsatisfactory performance due to insufficient provision for proper cabling.

·         Exposed cabling due to non-provision of concealed conduits, raceways.

·         Breakages, cuts, poorly finished ceilings/walls/floors due to last minute alterations.

·         Equipments with lower specification & performance due to insufficient budget.

·         Project cost & time over-runs.

Your Projector & AV equipments are more important than your décor & furniture (good food is more important than good crockery). Give it top priority & due importance in the whole scheme.

Thanks & Happy Projecting

ProjectorIndia Team

 
Make sure you buy a reputed brand which will ensure proper warranty & service when the need arises. Also make sure you buy projector from a reputed projector vendor and not from those who may be selling projector as a side business or just trading in projectors.

You may find people like your computer, telecommunication, electrical, office supplies vendor or your electrician, civil or carpenter who will be more than willing to arrange, sell or install projector for you at low prices. Beware these people are just there to make some fast bucks, they will direct you to the service centers in case of any problem.

You may argue that the projector warranty is provided by the company, but you may require your vendors assistance in terms of telephonic support if you face operational problems or on-site help for minor problems or logistics & follow up support with the authorized service center incase of projector breakdown and repairs. Only pureplay Projector or Audio Video vendor or integrator will be able to provide the above support because they have the requisite infrastructure, technical staff and expertise.

You may also argue that projectors are simple or easy to use devices that does not require any technical support. True, but you should have the assurance that help is at hand when the unthinkable happens.

Don’t look at projectors as just another device, look at them as investments and don’t skimp on warranty & support costs while buying one. Remember when you pay for peanuts, you get only peanuts. A working projector is worth its weight in gold than a dead one without support at the time of crucial presentation or major video application.

Thanks & Happy Projecting….

 
Let your application decide the type of projector you wish to buy (LCD / DLP / LED).  LCD projectors are more suited for office applications, DLP projectors are good for home theatre & video applications. LED projectors can be used for home or office, they are low on brightness but are very light & ultra portable, they also come LED which have a with very high lamplife.
 
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New breed of LED Projectors from Optoma & LG deliver excellent projection quality with adequate brightness for normal presentation or home theater applications.
Positive features like Light Weight, Ultra portability, High Lamplife, a whole lot of connectivity like USB, Memory card slot, HDMI, VGA with Audio adds to their flexibility. High wattage speakers for sound adds to the fun quotient.
Projectors to look out for Optoma ML500, Optoma PK320, LG HW300G