Article

QSR displays: Why professional-grade smokes consumer TVs

A display expert explains why it's a mistake to ask consumer-grade TVs to do a pro's job.

July 12, 2011

By Richard Ventura

NEC Display Solutions

After a long, tough week, there's nothing like settling into a comfy leather chair with a bowl of popcorn and your favorite beverage to watch your favorite movie, show or team on your giant flat-screen TV. Advances in home theater technology have made them immersive experiences, and those advancements, along with the overall volume sold, also have made home theaters affordable for most of us.

But while they're great for home viewing, standard flat-screen TVs from the local big box retailer are not very well-suited for use as digital signs or menu boards in a punishing restaurant environment.

As anyone who has worked in the quick-service restaurant industry can attest, restaurants are among the toughest environments for electronic equipment. One of the big reasons for this is the high level of heat found inside restaurants. In a typical home environment, the worst a TV might face is a hot, humid day. Quick-service restaurants house deep fryers and 500°F pizza ovens near the cashier, creating formidable conditions for display hardware.

For digital menu boards, heat is a top-of-mind consideration. Unlike consumer-grade televisions, professional-grade displays are designed to control temperatures and prevent damage due to heat. Professional-grade displays use integrated fan technology, cabinet design, internal electronic sensors and air-flow management to prevent the buildup of display-damaging heat inside the cabinet. Place your hand in front of the glass on a consumer-grade TV and a professional display to feel the difference: The professional-grade display will radiate less heat.

Environmental factors like grease, dust and airborne particles are also key concerns in the restaurant environment — and challenges with which consumer TV manufacturers don't have to contend. The overall design of professional-grade displays takes into account these issues, as well as including features to prevent damage. Unlike consumer-grade displays, professional-grade units can have protective glass integrated into the cabinet to give the display even more protection from physical damage.

Potential deployers also have to consider the expected use and operation times of the displays. They'll be hard-pressed to find a consumer-grade display rated for longer than 10 hours of use per day. Consumer TVs are designed with the understanding that most consumers will only watch four to five hours of television per day. Displays in typical restaurant installations are often expected to operate continuously for 15 to 24 hours per day. True professional displays are built to run reliably in a 24/7 timeframe, which is one of the reasons they cost more. Their components are high-end, which helps ensure that your menu boards don't fail after a few months of use — the last thing an operator wants to happen at the height of a dinner rush.

Top-level professional-grade digital sign manufacturers also are able to offer warranties up to five years, compared to the one-year warranties of consumer TVs. And in most cases, the consumer display warranty generally drops to 90 days or, in some cases, will be voided completely when the display is used in a commercial application. For a professional-grade unit, the only reason you should replace your signage is because you want new features or configurations, not because the signage failed.

Many justify purchasing consumer TVs based on the cost differential, but that fails to factor in the surrounding costs. Since professional-grade displays are designed to run in 24-hour use environments, the restaurant can run the displays longer, which in turn helps achieve a greater return on investment. Continual replacement of overused consumer-grade screens incurs additional installation costs, which can be avoided when the right product is used for the right application.

Another benefit of professional-grade displays is the integration of ambient light sensors — a technology not found in consumer-grade displays. These automated sensors can increase and decrease the brightness of the display based on ambient conditions and in turn adjust its overall power consumption, giving restaurants the ability to positively affect their carbon footprint.

A relatively new technology to enter the large-screen display space is LED backlighting. While many consumer-grade products already utilize LED lighting, professional-grade display manufacturers have waited for more robust LED lights. By taking the high-end CCFL backlit displays that are designed for 24/7 operation and incorporating high-end LED backlighting, they are able to achieve a slimmer display with lower power consumption that can be used all day without concern.

Most significant to a business owner, however, is lost sales when signage fails. Every time a menu board stops working, it can have a significant impact on business. Customers can't see menu choices or prices, get information on special offers or limited-time promotions, and are literally left in the dark. Calculate the cost of a day's lost sales, and perhaps the permanent loss of some customers, and you'll have a more accurate picture of what the loss of your menu boards could really mean.

That's not to say that a professional-grade digital sign never fails. But in the unlikely event it does, a multi-sign arrangement management can re-direct the most critical information to the remaining units until the blank one is serviced. The business continues to operate effectively until the digital signage is back to full strength.

One final, significant difference between a consumer TV and a professional-grade display is the level of control the latter allows. Unlike consumer displays that have to be managed from within the restaurant via local remote controls, professional-grade units can be centrally monitored and managed from a remote location via RS-232 and LAN control – an important consideration for owners with multiple stores.

If there is a problem with a display, management knows immediately and can take steps to remedy it, rather than having to wait to be notified by someone within the restaurant. Further, via these controls the IT department can monitor internal heat of displays being used outdoors in drive-through enclosures, detect which video inputs are being used and supervise the overall health of the entire system. All of these can be handled with a software application residing on a remote computer. Control truly is at the fingertips of each customer. There's no longer a need to call the restaurant and ask whether the screens are running: Those questions can be answered in a matter of seconds via the display's control tools.

Moreover, with these control features, professional-grade displays allow owners to lock out the display's video inputs and buttons so no one can alter or turn them off. There is no longer a fear that an employee or a customer will disable the menu boards, ensuring that the displays are always delivering the messages they're supposed to deliver at the time they are expected to be shown.

In the end, when professional-grade displays are being deployed in restaurants, owners truly gain peace of mind, knowing that their menu boards (whether they are indoors or outdoors) will run properly and deliver the right messages to customers.

Home theater systems are wonderful things, providing that's where you leave them — at home. When it comes to your restaurant, you want digital signage built to withstand in the rigors of that environment, and professional-grade digital signage is well worth the investment. By paying a little more up front, you'll reap a far greater ROI over the long life of the system.

The goal is not to put up shiny new TVs, but rather to increase sales, margins and dwell times, and to meet all federally-mandated menu labeling laws. Professional-grade displays are just the right tools to accomplish those objectives.

Ventura is director of sales – Vertical Solutions for NEC Display Solutions. He can be reached at rventura@necdisplay.com.