When you read this, we will have wrapped two great Rental & Staging Roadshows for 2016, one in New York in July, the other in Monterey, CA in September. If you missed attending, there is good news: in this issue, we’ve brought together some insights from the Video Projection panel that took place at both Roadshows. Both events featured a panel session: Laser Phosphor vs. Conventional Projectors, for Stagers: the Myths and the Realities, where we explored when and how laser phosphor projectors are good for the staging side. At the NYC Roadshow Curtis Lingard from Christie, Barco’s Goran Stojmenovik, and Bret Tracey, Nationwide, discussed TCO (total cost of ownership) arguments for using solid state video projectors as compared with conventional lamped projectors, and whether the TCO math is more applicable to the installed AV world where a projector is on and being used more hours than a stager would use a projector. And at the Monterey Roadshow we reprised the discussion, with a few different players on the stage (including Bill Beck, one of the world’s top laser projection experts). Both sessions looked at the other features of solid state projectors and when the rental & staging user should make the “leap of faith” to LP, with both stagers and projector manufacturers sharing their insight, and dispelling some myths about new generation projectors.
Indeed, one of the hottest growth areas– as far as video projection is concerned– in the past two years has come from the introduction of the laser phosphor (LP) projector. We’ve all heard the TCO argument for LP– the “lamp-free” nature of the new generation laser phosphor projectors mean that there are no lamp replacement costs over the life of that projector. In the feature article here, we’ll look at the purported 20,000-hour duty cycle for the lamp free laser phosphor projector, looking more closely at that math and other issues.
Also in this issue, the always eloquent Les Goldberg discusses, in his column The Comfort Zone, how the same staging team will often end up in the position of supporting a show, for the same customer, year after year. And Goldberg looks at what can be a catalyst for change, “if a producer takes that leap of faith in seeking alternative providers.”
