We're planning to add several monitors to our latest exhibit design. Should we use commercial-grade displays or off-the-shelf consumer TVs?

Regardless of whether you rent or buy, commercial displays can be spendy. It's tempting to just purchase a bunch of TVs from a retail store and call it a day. But as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

While a traditional TV is built to accommodate in-home operation, a commercial-grade display is designed to handle the unique lighting, content, and run-time requirements of the trade show world. If you analyze the pros and cons of traditional versus commercial options, you may end up saving money – and headaches – with the latter. To help you better understand the differences between these two options and ascertain which one is right for you, here's a head-to-head comparison.

Run Time – While traditional TVs can withstand some serious binge-watching sessions, they're designed to run six to eight hours per day. Given these run times, the products generate minimal heat, and their onboard cooling capabilities are fairly minimal. In comparison, commercial monitors are built to run 16 to 24 hours per day, and they're integrated with much better cooling equipment to handle the heat generated during these longer run times. These cooling capabilities often become even more important if you plan to place your monitors inside a cabinet or embed them in a wall. Both circumstances tend to trap heat, making effective integrated cooling systems critical to continuous operation.
Image Retention – Also known as image persistence, ghosting, and screen burn, image retention is when an image temporarily or permanently "burns" into the screen so that it's visible when the screen is off and even when another image has taken its place on the screen. This happens when an image remains unchanged for a period of time, which can be as little as 10 minutes in some cases. While commercial monitors typically have built-in technology that protects against image retention, consumer TVs often lack this feature.
Life Cycle – Consumers demand the latest and greatest technology, and they want it now. As a result, retail monitor shapes and sizes as well as mounting options and cabinet housings change frequently and often vary according to the myriad manufacturers trying to keep pace with consumers' wants. For the trade show exhibitor, these constant aesthetic and size fluctuations, along with variations in mounting requirements, may pose problems, particularly when your stand is used for multiple years and requires the same equipment and mounting hardware year after year. On the other hand, commercial-grade monitors remain far more standard over time.
Portrait Mode – Just as run times can impact cooling requirements, so can the use of portrait mode. Traditional displays are built to run in a horizontal position, and they don't cool as well if positioned in a portrait mode. Meanwhile, commercial monitors can withstand the additional cooling requirements of the upright position.
Warranties – More often than not, consumer displays are warrantied for one year of in-home use, and many of these warranties are void if used outside of a home setting. Plus, should the product need repair, you'll have to take it to a service shop. In comparison, many commercial displays carry a three-year warranty or more that covers commercial use, and repairpersons will usually come to you if problems arise.
Lighting – Consumer displays typically work well in relatively low lighting conditions. However, within your trade show exhibit you'll likely have bright lighting directed at products or key areas of interest. Or, you may even have an outdoor display. This lighting can wreak havoc with the quality of your traditional-screen images. Commercial monitors are built to adapt to bright and outdoor lighting environments.
Features – Simply put, you'll find significantly more features and extras on a commercial display than a traditional TV. Here are a few examples: built-in scheduling (allowing you to schedule when the monitor is on and off), PC Sync (providing a variety of resolutions and screen sizes), connectivity (e.g., HDMI, display ports, DVI, VGA, and composite videos), matte finishes (with minimal glare issues), and handles (for easy transport).

Granted, if you have truly simple needs and requirements, you might be able to get away with a traditional display in an exhibit hall. But more often than not, a commercial-grade display is a better fit for the rigors of the trade show world.