Edge's LCD Solutions Program is largely built around supporting customers in industries such as medical and military with industrial LCDs. There may not be a standard definition for an industrial LCD, but we're going to try to explain how we define them.
This post will shed some light on how we define an industrial LCD, what to consider before implementing one into your design, and the benefits of using an industrial LCD in your project or application.
What is an Industrial LCD?
The number one criterion we use when defining industrial LCDs is their longer product lifecycle compared to consumer LCDs.
Industrial LCDs typically have options for sunlight readability, extended operating temperatures, wider viewing angles, higher contrast, and higher color gamut, which consumer-grade displays often do not have. Harsh environment display options are available as well.
Why Choose an Industrial LCD?
Customers choose industrial LCDs for their projects over consumer LCDs because these displays have unique features that ultimately make them the best choice to use in commercial applications compared to other types of displays.
Industrial LCDs stand out from consumer LCDs because they have the specific set of features that customers need for their industrial application, such as 24/7 operation, use a variety of inputs such as HDMI and VGA, have a longer warranty period, and are designed for overall functionality and efficiency.
The biggest reason why customers choose an industrial LCD is the longer product lifecycle than consumer-grade LCDs. This is especially important to the medical and military industries because those applications typically have a longer lifespan compared to consumer products like smartphones, and LCDs need to be able to support those industrial products with excellent functionality and high efficiency.
The fact that Industrial LCDs are specifically designed to last for longer periods of time than consumer-grade displays, helps manufacturers avoid costly redesigns, requalification processes, and testing expenses. Overall, the total cost of ownership is greatly minimized.
Factors to Consider Before Designing an Industrial LCD
Purchasing an LCD for your application is an investment. You should always be sure of exactly what you are looking for before making this investment into the performance of your application.
- Overall Cost - redesign costs, recertification, and failure rates must all be considered.
- Overall Performance - you need to consider how an LCD performs in your application, to make sure it's the right fit.
- Optical Perception - the quality of an LCD, including sharpness, contrast, and brightness is an important factor to consider.
- Order Quantity - the amount of displays that are needed for your project is an important factor to consider. In fact, industrial LCDs have a lower MOQ (minimum order quantity) than consumer-grade LCDs, making them more cost efficient for your application.
Benefits of Industrial LCDs
- Durability - these displays are damage-resistant to extreme temperatures and weather conditions, water, and dust/pollutants.
- Reliability - an industrial display will be reliable and consistent no matter what the condition or environment it is operating in.
- Excellent performance - this type of display is equipped with features that will provide excellent performance, such as 24/7 operation and wider temperature ranges.
- Longer product lifecycle - unlike consumer LCDs, these displays have product lifespans of 5-10 years.
- Extra options available - available options, such as wider viewing angles and harsh environment modules.
Edge's LCD Solutions Program & Value-Added Services
As an authorized distributor, Edge offers a wide range of high-quality industrial LCDs from industry-leading manufacturers such as Tianma and LCD accessories such as cables and controllers from our partner Digital View, that can cater to applications across many different industries such as military and medical.
In addition, we also offer many value-added services to enhance the performance of your LCD solution.
Edge's value-added services include:
- LCD Quick Kits - complete and ready-to-use LCD solutions that we keep in stock for immediate availability to allow for easy and quick integration into your application.
- LCD Enhancements - allow customers to further customize their display solution with features such as chemical bonding and high brighting.
- Complete LCD Kit Solutions - much like our quick kits, our complete solutions provide you with an LCD and the related accessories such as cables and drivers under one part number, making it easier for you to select a solution for your application.
- Custom Solutions - our display specialists work with you to design a custom display solution that is tailored to your application's specific needs.
