Commercial and Consumer Monitor Differences

Grant's Perspective on ... the differences between professional and consumer monitors.

I am often asked about the difference between equipment that is labeled as professional and consumer. Many clients wonder why they should purchase a professional monitor when they can go to their local big box electronics store and save themselves some money.

I noticed a discussion on this subject on the AV Industry Professionals LinkedIn page. The main points are:

1 - Most professional monitors have a better cooling system than consumer monitors. Most consumer monitors have a passive cooling system and is designed for 3 hours of use at a time. I think this is why my Mom restricted us to 1 hour of TV per day (lol). Professional monitors have a cooling system that enables the monitors to run 24/7.

2 - Professional monitors generally offer more options when integrating multiple monitors together.

3 - Professional monitors can generally be set up in a a portrait format but a consumer monitor with a passive cooling system would not function properly.

4 - Consumer monitor used in a professional setting voids most warranties.

There were also a few comments that not all professional monitors are created equal. The purchaser should beware that just because a monitor is labeled as professional that does not guarantee that the monitor can run 24/7 without fail.

Contacting a reputable AV company is always a good idea.

Grant