We’ve all heard of the three “C’s” of choosing a diamond - cut, clarity and color. Some integrators may not be as well-versed in the three “C’s” of installing projectors in educational and military environments.

Many think of resolution, brightness and bulb life as the trinity of projector stats, but I propose we look at the following.

Control
How a projector is controlled can play a major role in a successful installation. In some military environments, depending on the classification, RF communications are banned, IP control cannot be run through the secure network and even IR cannot be used for control in rooms with windows. This leaves few options, and the most relevant is RS232. If you want to standardize on a unit for these environments, pick one with RS232.

RS232 has its advantages in education as well. The learning curve for the operator, most likely the teacher, is decreased. They don’t have to worry about line of sight or ambient light affecting the control signal, as they may if the system uses IR control. One thing to note, however, is that not all control ports are equal.

Related: 9 Essential Apps for Projector Installs

I worked in a school where the district provided Extron Pole Vault as the source and control system and NEC projectors. This proved to be a problem. The NEC projector used RS232 protocol for commands, but had a round DIN style connection for control and not the standard trapezoidal, 9 pin DB9 jack for the cables that Extron includes in its kit. The net result was buying $70 adapters for 40 classrooms. It cost the school $2,800 that could have been spent elsewhere if they had purchased projectors with the right control inputs.

Cooling
Considering that heat is the most destructive factor in projector bulb and power supply life, cooling methods should also be considered in installations. Knowing where the intakes and exhausts are on units can be key in making sure they are well-suited for the job at hand.

There are units that can be installed vertically to shoot downward at a table. With the aid of eBeam, the unit can turn a tabletop into an interactive map for learning U.S. capitals or planning a siege on a tyrannical dictator. Projectors that have front exhaust and rear intakes would do miserably in this scenario. The heat would come out the front, rise and finally be sucked back, causing a heating nightmare. That being said, such projects are good for horizontal installations where units need to be pushed to the rear wall without effect.

Color
Color accuracy may be the last thing military and education clients are concerned about. But if it is a medical or engineering program at a university or college, especially one dealing with radiology or sonar, color can be extremely important. Companies like Canon have projectors that adhere to Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standards that give accurate grayscale reproduction. This is essential in teaching someone how to interpret results of an MRI, CT scan, or even the results of sonar being used to determine where subterranean oil reserves may be located.

A school for graphic design, film editing and production will have similar concerns about full color spectrum.

If we want to add value to hardware as integrators, we need to consider all factors and educate our clients. This is even more apparent when getting into lowest bid situations to let potential clients know why our rates are a bit higher than big box competitors. If there are three specs I know Amazon, Best Buy and the likes don’t regularly highlight, it is what control ports are available, where the fans are on the projectors and how well they do black and white.

About the author

Mark Coxon

Mark started his technology career at IBM in 2000 before migrating into AV integration in early 2002. He currently works at Orange ProAV, a division of Mad Systems Inc., where he helped the company transition from the niche Museum marketplace to the corporate, education, government, and retail markets. Mark lives in Orange County with Lesley, his wife of 11 years and his 3 children.

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