Basically the servicing of projectors in classrooms is something that is done fairly hit and miss and largely it is not really required in this day and age. Because no matter which projector technology you are using whether it has filters or not, generally the filters don’t require servicing anyway until the lamp actually needs to be changed. So most modern projector are becoming relatively service free other than the replacement of their lamps.
However at DIB Australia we specialise in assisting our education-based clients maintain highly effective and operational facilities at their schools and what we have found is the requirements for projector servicing extends beyond just cleaning filters on projectors all the way into total room servicing and audits. A lot of clients use our services because we essentially carry out a room audio visual system audit for them and when we visit the rooms we use customised checklists which we use to collect a wide array of information and we check all aspects of the systems in the room. So we check all the different inputs are they working? Are there any faults or any problems with the sound system etc? We do look at the projector and give it a clean but that is only needed with older units really.
We collect basically every little bit of detail about how that room is set up and configured in respect of the AV system and these checklists are customised with our clients. A lot of our client’s use our services not just because we look at the room and we service the projector and we can fix any problems that they might have, but the information we give them via a highly detailed Excel Spreadsheet about the exact status and nature of all of the AV in their classrooms. This helps our clients to review the rooms with respect for planning for upgrades or trying to budget for which rooms might need work done. They might be trying to add AppleTV into their rooms and add other external wireless systems to their classroom and all the information that they need to work out which rooms they could do it in is contained in our detailed Spreadsheet report.
We can if they like provide them with further reports providing them with general recommendations about the state of their systems, about their projectors and how many hours they have done which ones are coming up for lamp replacements and what the estimated costs of those replacements might be all this can be provided as further reporting. Essentially we are trying to help them not just maintain their facilities but also help them accurately plan what might be needed over the next 12-24 months in respect of their facilities and all of this for a very low costs per room for the service.
Some details re the sort of actions that we carry out in every classroom serviced:
- Classroom #
- Projector brand
- Projector model
- Unit serial number
- Focus checked and image alignment
- Filters cleaned and condition rated 0 – 5 (fully blocked)
- Outer housing cleaned
- Lamp hours normal recorded
- Lamp hours eco recorded
- Controller brand if installed
- Controller model
- Controller operational test OK
- Projection surface type
- Projection surfacing condition rating
- If interactive – calibration test conducted
- Available inputs on equipment, recorded, ie VGA1, VGA2, composite, component, HDMI, display port, RGBHV (BNC), USB, RS232, S-video etc
- Inputs in use
- Projector ethernet, available, connected, functional
- User fly leads, present, functional, needing replacement
In all there are some 55 different aspects about the AV setup in the classroom which is inspected and recorded as a part of our classroom projector servicing and audit action.
For assistance with your audio visual system maintenance and management, please do not hesitate to contact a DIB solutions consultant today.