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According to Futuresource, over 5 million projectors using mercury based lamps have been installed into school classrooms in the last 10 years. There are three reasons why IT Directors across North America are looking to replace these with laser projectors to improve student performance and lower their recurring operation costs.
For IT Directors looking for budget savings – you can save up to $500 per classroom by eliminating projector lamps. Replacement projector bulbs need to be purchased, stored in a secure place to protect from theft, and typically require ladders to access the projector bulb. Because the brightness declines in just a couple years of use, teachers may complain that they are no longer bright enough and need to be replaced ahead of schedule.
Disposing these bulbs is also an extra expense, since they contain mercury. Due to the mercury risk, it is illegal in many states to throw a projector lamp into the trash. To comply with national and state regulation on disposal of toxic mercury bulbs, the EPA’s National Lamp Recycling Outreach website explains how to ship the lamp to a proper recycling or waste management facility that is nearest to your location. All these costs add up over time.
While a new laser projector costs more than a lamp based model, a 100% blue phosphor DLP laser projector from leading brands are rated between 10-15 years (20,000 hours) of use in full brightness mode, completely eliminating your cost to buy lamps, store lamps, labor to replace lamps, and the expense and hassle to properly dispose of your used lamps. Relieving these costs can help fund other classroom supplies.
If you wanted your lamps to last their expected lifetime, you had to clean or replace filters. According to Futuresource over 3 million projectors that were sold in the last 10 years have filters that will need cleaning and replacing. For teachers and students, trying to ignore the “clean filter now” warning during class is an unwanted distraction. For IT staff, not cleaning the filter typically means busting your budget on new replacement lamps that can cost up to $400.
With laser projectors, dust can be even a bigger problem, as the high temperature of the laser light can incinerate dust particles and fling them all around the projector in the form of molten goo. The solution – completely seal the projector and certify it for dust contamination using the industry standard IP5X dust test for ruggedized outdoor products such as the Apple Watch or FitBit. Every BenQ laser projector sold since 2018 has a revolutionary sealed design and has been IP5X certified, meaning you or anyone in your school will never have to deal with a nasty, dirty, messy filter ever again.
Some IT managers have found that some projectors still don’t look good after they replaced their lamps. While not all projectors have this issue, a number popular models sold to classrooms began to look yellow, lose contrast, or lost their color vibrancy a few years after they purchased them. While some of these projectors were replaced under warranty, many were not. Your teachers then had to deal with projectors that may be harder to read – even after the hard work of replacing the lamp.
With laser projectors, you may be even more concerned that this phenomenon will occur, since lasers generate more heat and are brighter than lamps. The solution – use the same Oscar award winning Texas Instruments DLP technology that has been used in commercial digital cinema’s for a decade -and rated to 100,000 hours of life - without yellowing. By combining 100% laser technology with a DLP chip, classroom projectors such as the BenQ LW720 can use the same technology platforms as a commercial digital cinema – at a fraction of the cost. This means you are relying on a proven Texas Instruments technology – not a promise from a specific brand.
For customers looking for advice on choosing the right projector for their business, you can talk directly to an experienced BenQ product expert who has access to over 70 different projector models and can guide you to the best one for your application. We also can help you find a reseller nearby, or if you want, you can purchase one right on the phone. You can reach them at 888-818-5888. If you want to email them instead, you can reach them at BenqB2B.BQA@Benq.com
