Box clever

The World Cup may not have been the money spinner many licensees were hoping for: England's rather disappointing displays hardly raised the nation's fervour and heavy discounting on beer by the major supermarkets - along with the good weather - prompted many people to stay at home to watch the matches on terrestrial TV.

The good news is that the domestic

football season has started and the days are getting shorter and colder, tempting people away from their gardens and back to the pub. The Six Nations rugby tournament is worth look forward to as well as the mouth-watering prospect of an epic battle for the Ashes when England's cricketers venture down under.

So if you haven't done so already, now is the time to check whether your audio-visual equipment is up to the mark.

Philip Irons of Leeds-based SP Services says: "Picture quality and reliability have improved a good deal over the past couple of years for both plasma screens and projector systems."

Two types of projector systems currently on the market use LCD (liquid crystal display) or DLP (digital light processing) technology. LCD systems were the first to be introduced and use three prisms to split light into red, green and blue colours which are then converged and

projected on to the screen.

Better quality and reliability

Texas Instruments developed DLP, which consists of a memory chip mounted with up to one million hinged microscopic mirrors, each measuring less than the diameter of a

human hair. Red, green and blue light is shone alternately on to the mirrors, which switch on and off in response to a video or graphics signal fed to the memory chip. The mirrors can switch up to 5,000 times per second and their reflected light is directed via a lens to create an image.

Irons remarks: "With earlier LCDs, the picture quality wasn't so good and lamp prices were very high. The lamps only had a life of 2,000 hours and some people charged £450 for a new lamp. DLPs have also improved quite a bit in picture quality and reliability."

Irons says sales at SP Services are split about 50:50 between plasma screens and projector systems, but the larger screens available with projector systems make them more suitable for bigger sports-oriented premises: "Quite often, we're asked to fit an 8ft screen next to a window - we can do this because our

2,000-lumen projector gives a very bright picture, unlike old projectors which would produce a faded image because of the daylight."

SP Services is offering a fully installed system with a 2,000-lumen projector, 6ft, 7ft or 8ft screen, and all the fittings for a total of £1,199, including a two-year guarantee. A 42in plasma screen from the company costs £1,399.

Licensees should always invest in commercial equipment, says Gary Estabrooks of Sports View TV: "Often, domestic products like plasma screens are bought for pubs, but they are not up to the job and many high street retailers won't offer a guarantee if the equipment is used in a pub."

Estabrooks has also found that licensees "don't spend a lot of time thinking about their aerials or dishes". He says: "The picture quality might look OK on a 26in screen, but if they fit a 42in plasma or a 10ft projector screen, all the imperfections are magnified many times over."

He advises customers to make sure projectors are protected against smoke. "Although the smoking ban hasn't come in yet, always buy a projector that is smoke-proof, otherwise it can be damaged within six months. The smoke penetrates, clogs the filter and the equipment runs hotter and hotter until it cooks itself."

Rental can facilitate upgrades

Another tip from Estabrooks is to consider renting rather than buying: "The continuous advent of new technology means rental customers can upgrade technology as it become available. At the beginning of the year, HD (high definition) screens were hardly thought about, now everyone is talking about them."

One of Sports View's current offers is a 42in HD plasma screen for £19.95 per week, which includes installation, guaranteed call-out for the next working day and six-month service intervals. "Effectively, it is a life-time guarantee that also enables people to upgrade to new technology when it is introduced."

Lorraine Baker of Blucat says 42in plasma screens are the most popular product at the East Sussex-based company and it is presently offering two screens for £23.95 per week, based on a three-year lease agreement:"They have always been the most popular size and that has helped to keep their price down." But she adds: "If you are looking at crowds of more than 50 in a pub, most people go for a projector with at least a 6ft screen."

The amount of daylight hitting the screen also plays a part in the level of light output needed for a projector. "We don't offer projectors under 1,800 lumens and don't recommend anyone should use anything under 1,500 if natural daylight is an issue."

Catch-22 of high definition

The advent of HD, which has the capacity to increase picture quality because the transmissions will contain four times as many pixels, is already causing a degree of confusion. Sky and the BBC have started HD transmissions, but only screens that carry "HD-ready" identification are suitable. Sky has warned licensees that screens featuring "HD-compatible" signage are not

suitable because they do not have enough sockets to connect to a Sky box.

Lorraine Baker of Blucat warns: "People who just fit an HD-compatible screen will see no improvement in picture quality."

Even people with HD Ready screens will not notice improvements unless they change their

cabling. "They will need new wiring and cabling, which is much more expensive and will

probably cost them around £10 per metre," she says.

Baker also advises: "At present, it is extremely difficult to split a signal to more than one screen and it costs more than just the price of the cabling." Splitter boxes can cost between £200 and £300.

She believes cabling and associated equipment costs will fall eventually and says: "Our advice is to buy an HD-ready screen or projector and, when the prices have dropped, have them

re-cabled. At the moment, people are in a Catch-22 situation of wanting HD, but not being in a position to afford the cabling and installation costs."