I like more resolution, and I like more affordable products. What I don’t like is ignorance, and this race to .9mm (update, as of yesterday .6mm) has created a boatload of ignorance with the folks that spec screens for shows and installations. Do you know how many riders have asked for 60-plus-foot 3mm screens on a stage that was 40 feet deep with an eight-foot pit and a total house depth of 400 to 500 feet? How silly is that? …There was a more sensible time, when technical riders called out a specific product; the Lighthouse R7, the Barco i6, the Jumbotron 35mm. Cooperating competitors could partner on large purchases and products would gain enough traction in the market (and not the trash dump) that end-clients could get to know it enough to spec it. They could sort out the low-quality options from the good and determine which ones were dependable. Now all they do is ask for the highest resolution they’ve ever heard of…One of the undesirable side effects of this dynamic is that they have created an ignorant customer base. The less informed we are, the more often we have to buy. A more intelligent approach to this puzzle would have been to educate the end customers on where and when certain specs are important and when they aren’t.
– Doug Murray, from “Video Voice,” PLSN, June & July, 2017
