July 14, 2011

By James Wood

Conference rooms need video. With the ubiquity of PowerPoint, Keynote and Skype it’s unthinkable that any modern business conference room would be without the ability to use these tools. And the typical response is to install a projector and screen, however, a whole host of considerations need to be addressed when installing a projector: the ambient light, the screen placement, the projector location and the ability for everyone in the room to see what’s going on. In large settings with controlled lighting and a dedicated audience, a projector is an ideal solution. Most business meetings, however, don’t take place in such an environment.

Conference rooms are more suited to a dozen or so people connecting over ideas in a conversational manner. That conversation is limited when the lights dim for the projector to fire up. Then the screen can be difficult to see when the blinds are open. The orientation of the screen at one end means that people need to adjust where they’re facing and it immediately generates a divide between the perceived audience and speaker roles. Coworkers sit around the conference table and when the lights flip off they are tempted to zone out like they did when they were students in Biology 101.

Instead of installing a projector, install the Planar EP-Series displays in your conference rooms. Choose either a 46-inch or 55-inch screen, which is as large as a projector could produce in most moderately sized conference rooms anyway. The back-lit liquid crystal displays produce their own illumination so turning down the lights won’t be necessary to see your presentation clearly. There’s no chance that you’ll get in the way of the projector beam and block out half of the screen when the image is all up on the wall. The EP-Series displays are light and thin so there’s very little of the room’s valuable space sacrificed to display.

Rather than dividing the presenter from the audience in a conference room, you can use the efficient, cost effective EP-Series displays on two or more walls of the room so everyone in the conference room can see the important information without having to adjust where they’re sitting or looking. This means the group dynamic remains intact, which leads to better brainstorming and problem-solving.

So, instead of turning your conference rooms into nap-inducers, create spaces where your team can collaborate and connect. Reclaim your conference room.

June 24, 2011

By James Wood

She rolls up in her new car and steps out. Both are drop-dead gorgeous and everyone around stops to stare. What did you imagine? No, not the woman, the car. If it were 20 years ago you might imagine her emerging from a rumbling Dodge Viper or descending from a Humvee. But today its more likely that a sexy car is something like the Tesla Roadster all electric sports car or even the Toyota Prius getting 50 miles per gallon. The world has changed in not that much time so the cars that used to be drool-inducing would now cause us to wince while imagining the cost of filling the tank.

The rising cost of energy and rising concerns about the environment have changed how we look at the world. Buildings are being designed with high efficiency lighting and climate control so that energy costs can be kept down and the impact on the environment can be minimized. But at the same time as we’re cutting back, technology is jumping forward. Imagine someone offered you a car that could go twice as far on each tank of gas and took up half the space while still holding just as much cargo.

The Planar EP-Series Displays are that kind of technological marvel in liquid crystal form. Since they use light emitting diodes to generate the backlighting, the EP-Series displays sip rather than guzzle power. And the package is stunningly slim as well at only two inches deep. But the EP-Series screens still produce amazing, high definition video with deep blacks and bright whites (i.e. a 4,000-to-one contrast ratio). The video flows smoothly since the LCD screen refreshes 120 times every second (i.e. 120Hz).

Efficiency doesn’t stop with size and energy consumption though. The EP-Series screens are built to last. You can run these screens all day every day for years. The solid-state LED technology won’t burn out and the commercial quality LCD screen is guaranteed to last for years (3 year Advance Exchange warranty). And the built in Ambient Light Sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen to the ideal level so it’s brighter during the day and dims during low light times to use the least amount of power while still providing a fantastic picture.

The Planar EP-Series Displays are sexy.