Glossary A–ZLetter P
Professional display
A professional display is a screen built for continuous commercial operation, as opposed to a television for the home.
It is also called a signage display. From the outside, it often looks hardly different from a television.
The differences lie inside and in the manufacturer's commitments. Professional displays are designed for specific daily operating hours, often 16 hours a day, seven days a week, or continuous operation; they can usually also be run in portrait orientation and offer higher brightness. They can be controlled over the network or RS-232, do not switch to standby on their own and often have a built-in player. A TV tuner, on the other hand, is often missing.
A television used commercially may cost less to buy, but warranty terms often exclude commercial use or continuous operation. Energy-saving functions and automatic shutdowns lead to black screens in operation. When choosing, operators should look at the permitted operating hours, the brightness for the location, controllability and the warranty terms for commercial use.