Top 5 Differences Between Commercial and Consumer TVs

Did you ever watch a game at a sports bar or restaurant? How about looking at a meeting agenda on a display in a hotel lobby or a virtual directory in a hospital or shopping mall? Chances are you are looking at a commercial TV. You may be asking yourself, “Isn’t that the same TV I have in my house?” Well, not quite. There are a few differences between commercial TVs, mostly found in the environments mentioned above, and consumer TVs, which are mainly used in households.

As consumer 4K TVs and commercial display products are becoming increasingly similar in design, each product has special features for specific usage. Here are the basic differences between the two.

Let’s explore!

Which TV is Built to Last?

Commercial TVs are designed, engineered and supported for out-of-home environments for a wide range of applications including digital signage, education, collaboration and entertainment. They’re specified to continuously operate for up to 16-hours a day, 7-days a week and are designed to withstand the rigors of the commercial market.

As previously mentioned, a commercial TV will likely be running up to 16 hours a day, 365 days a year, while a consumer TV may only run for a few hours each day. As a result, commercial screens are engineered and tested to endure a longer lifecycle than consumer televisions. Commercial grade TVs often tout having enhanced glass screens designed for long hours of operation and are less sensitive to image retention issues. Commercial TVs also have higher quality power supplies and advanced cooling design, which allows for longer use.

How Bright Does Your TV Need To Be?

One of the key differences between consumer and commercial TVs lies within visibility and display brightness. Consumer televisions are designed with your home in mind. Because the lighting in homes can be easily adjusted, a consumer TV does not have to be produced as bright as a commercial TV. In brightly lit or uncontrolled lightning conditions of commercial and retail spaces, a higher brightness would be necessary.

Don’t Get Burned

“Screen burn” or image retention is a really important consideration in commercial TVs or digital signage. Digital signage will likely display the same image on screen for lengthy periods of time.  If displayed on a consumer TV, this high single-image usage could quickly result in screen burn. Image retention, or screen burn, is the permanent discoloration of screen pixels resulting in a ghost image of the display being “burned” into the screen. A commercial TV features advanced anti-burn features to avoid this problem.

Secure Your Content

Consumer TVs are designed for personal home use utilizing a universal remote control and/or smartphone controls. Commercial TVs usually have Public Mode lockout features, which disables the operational controls. This prevents unwanted adjustments by people in public locations such as stores and restaurants.

How Long Does the Warranty Last?

There is an important distinction when to looking to purchase either a consumer and commercial TV, and that is the warranty. Consumer TVs are warrantied specifically for residential usage. They are typically issued for one year. Sharp’s AQUOS Commercial TVs for example, are explicitly warrantied for commercial usage and is stated so in a written three-year warranty.

If you are in need of displays for your business, school or other commercial setting, knowing the difference between consumer and commercial TVs will be a big benefit.  The more robust build, glass and greater control ability will provide peace of mind that your message will captivate attention with superior visual performance. Check out Sharp’s wide range of Commercial TVs here.