Navigate to the online page of just about any manufacturer’s warranty for LED video wall displays, and you’ll find a lengthy page of limitations, exceptions and legalese. Most offer a limited three-year warranty, while some provide a five-year warranty.
With the average projected use of an LED video wall ranging from seven to 10 years, a three- or five-year warranty doesn’t leave decision-makers feeling too secure about making a significant investment.
In October, Planar announced its Planar EverCare Lifetime Limited Warranty. In what would seem like a big risk for a display manufacturer, Adam Schmidt, Planar’s executive vice president of Sales, Marketing & Pro Services, instead said: “Planar wouldn’t offer something that we couldn’t confidently execute, and we’ve been doing big video for decades, so we know we can do it and we know our customers want it.”
The program also is bolstered by the fact that Planar has been in the display business for nearly 40 years. “Planar is uniquely local and global,” Schmidt noted. “We have more people on the ground in North America than anybody in this space, and we have more experience supporting 24/7, mission-critical, big video deployments. We understand the requirements and we’re uniquely able to deliver on those requirements.”
Watch the video below to learn more about the Planar EverCare Lifetime Limited Warranty.
Making an Impact with Planar TVF Series
The company launched Planar EverCare beginning with its Planar TVF Series and Planar TVF Complete LED video walls. Planar TVF Series is Planar’s award-winning, best-selling and fastest-growing LED product, so it would seem the company would be putting a lot on the line. “Planar TVF Series is supported by our factories all over the world—including the U.S.,” Schmidt said. “We’re trying to make an impact, and if we’re trying to make an impact, our question was, ‘Why not Planar TVF Series?’”
Recently, there has been a greater demand to display more information and more data. “COVID-19 is pushing people into larger spaces, and thereby needing larger, higher-resolution displays,” Schmidt said. “Within the large display market, LED is the clear winner.” Planar has been deploying big video for decades. “We’ve been at the forefront of the transition from projection to LCD, and now the transition of LCD to LED. As a larger organization, we offer projection, LCD, and LED solutions, but there is no doubt that LED is winning and winning in a big way within big video.”
A Lifetime
The devil is often in the details of the fine print, but Planar EverCare is very generous. Video wall products tend to last longer than the project. With Planar EverCare, a customer’s product is covered for as long as it is installed.
“In the case of the Planar TVF Series, we’re well into our third year of production,” Schmidt said. “We’re extending and expanding the product line, which gives us a wonderful opportunity to have conversations with our customers about next steps and the next generation of their implementation.”
The Planar TVF Series is specified at 100,000-hour MTBFs (mean time between failure). “And these are typically a few to several-year deployments. Even at 24/7 usage, to get to a 100,000-hour MTBF you’re looking at close to 11 years,” Schmidt said.
Overcoming Barriers to Entry
You’ll rarely see the manufacturer’s warranty listed as a selling point on an installation proposal, but that might soon change. “Integrators absolutely should be leveraging this,” Schmidt said. “One of the fundamental advantages of LED is that it is built to last longer. This is a relatively new technology, so customers should be asking for proof that it’s built to last longer. If a fly-by-night company that they’d never heard of were offering such a warranty, they’d question the credibility, but when it’s a company that’s been doing this for nearly 40 years in these mission-critical environments—I think we’ve earned some credibility over the years, and the integrators absolutely know that.” Integrators are Planar’s primary, go-to market channel. “From the onset we designed the Planar TVF Series to be simpler, to be easier to install, to be easier to support—all in the name of enabling the integrators to be more independent with this exciting new LED technology. Planar EverCare is just the icing on the cake. It’s another step in that direction of making Planar TVF Series the no-brainer LED choice for the AV integrator.”
No matter how you slice it, an LED video wall is a significant investment. Having the ability to calculate a total cost of ownership can help some work such a project into the overall budget. “We can confidently tell every customer that their TCO is undeniably lower here because Planar EverCare covers the entire product, from controller to sub-pixel and every component in between.”
During budget-crunching times such as these, a lot of companies are trying to shift from a CapEx to an OpEx model. In March, Planar launched a service called Planar EverNew Managed Service Program, including a combination of financing and managed maintenance services that allow a customer to basically eliminate the capital expense and make it a predictable monthly payment. “By pairing Planar EverCare with Planar EverNew, customers can eliminate the risk and lower the monthly expense at a time when some of these organizations are desperate and need that help. Basically, customers can eliminate the upfront capital expense; they can have a low, predictable, monthly expense for the lifetime of the product; and when there is a warranty event, the product is under warranty for the entire time,” Schmidt said. “Planar EverCare plus Planar EverNew is really a wonderful combination for our integrators and our customers.”
Answering Customer Needs
Some wonder why Planar chose this year to start these programs. “Customers have needed this for a long time,” Schmidt explained. “They’ve needed the predictability that a lifetime warranty offers—and nobody was offering it. The need is more dire now than ever, and so I think we’re responding at a time when it’s a welcome offering from a company that is proven, that is reliable and that will be there to support not just this warranty, but many more to come.
“We have big plans for Planar EverCare, and more products will be covered under Planar EverCare. This is the first of many exciting Planar EverCare developments ... stay tuned,” Schmidt concluded.
Check out more about the Planar EverCare Lifetime Limited Warranty, and Planar EverNew Manage Service Offering.
This article is sponsored by Planar.
About Planar
Planar is a global leader in visualization technology, delivering best-in-class image performance for the world’s most demanding environments. From broadcasters and government agencies to corporations, sporting venues and educational facilities, the world’s leading organizations use Planar’s broad selection of display solutions in applications ranging from digital signage and simulation to large-scale events and large-scale visualization. Planar is the global market leader for LED video displays, narrow pixel pitch LED and the indoor LED video wall market (Futuresource 2020). Founded in 1983, Planar is headquartered in Oregon, USA, with offices and manufacturing facilities in Oregon, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.planar.com.
