LED screens dedicated proprietary control system: good or evil?

21.02.2011

Dedicated Proprietary Control System. Wow, it actually sounds very professional. But this fancy denomination hides some serious drawbacks that nobody ever tells you, until it's too late.

• The first problem is about transparency: even if the LED billboard has 2 years warranty (or more), the Control System has a 12 months warranty, as written in the sales contract (please, always read it carefully!).
• The second problem is about costs: what happen if control system brakes down after 13-14 months from the date of shipment? You are forced to buy a new one from the supplier… and you do not have any control on the price, which will be very high, as you can already imagine – usually around 7.000,00 EUR.
• The third problem is about freedom: by using such control system you are inevitably tied to the supplier for the entire lifetime of the screen. In fact, you do not have any other option: either you pay again or the screen will not work.

To avoid all this issues, EuroDisplay adopt an Open Plug-and-Play System based on the Apple Mac Mini. Basically EuroDisplay’s LED video walls are like huge DVI monitors that visualize anything you can show on the PC.

The Open Plug-and-Play System allows you to replace the Apple Mac Mini at any time with any other computer with a DVI output, like those you can easily find in stores.

I have heard countless stories of entrepreneurs like you that purchased from companies providing a "Dedicated Control System" and then were held hostages of their suppliers!

They were forced to pay huge amount of money to avoid having their screens shut-down for weeks... it goes without saying that their investment was not so successful in the end. Now you know, so please don't make the same mistake.