By Chuck Ross
When is a television not a television? Well, with today's new flat-panel options, what is now a TV could just as easily turn into a computer monitor or home security display with a simple touch of the screen or remote-control command. And with prices for LCD and plasma products rapidly dropping, builders can expect their home-buying customers will be increasingly interested in learning more about such high-tech offerings.
"The high-end jobs I get into have an LCD touch-screen device with multiple access to all systems," says Brett Griffin, co-founder and consultant with Architechtronics, a Philadelphia-based home-technology consulting firm. "Tying all these systems together and having a touch screen interface gives you much more information on your house."
Wider market appeal
High-end builders and specialty contractors have been developing sophisticated technology programs for their customers for some time now, and LCD displays have been used to enable easy access to heating and cooling, lighting and security information. Now these devices, which also have become common to computer users, are becoming more available to mid-level buyers seeking new, space-saving technology options.
Given their start in computer-monitor applications, LCD panels fit the bill with their ability to serve multiple entertainment purposes in a single package. Griffin points to a recent job in which he installed high-definition television systems in nine rooms of a client's house. In one child's room, Griffin tied an LCD panel to a multi-port dock so that, with the flick of a switch, the display goes from television to computer monitor. The screen could just as easily serve as a gaming monitor.
Entertaining options
For those times when a television really is just a television, LCD monitors and their flat-panel plasma cousins also are showing up as more than just keeping-up-with-the-Jones lifestyle markers. As prices continue to drop–a trend experts expect will continue as more manufacturers enter the market–those small kitchen and bathroom models that seemed like such an extravagance just a few years ago are becoming much more affordable.
In home-theater environments, higher-priced plasma options can offer somewhat better image quality, especially in high-movement action and sports programming. They also are offered in larger sizes than LCD models. LCDs, though, don't suffer the image burn-in problems that can plague plasma screens, making LCDs a better choice if the display also will be used for gaming or computer applications.
As with many technology options, multifunction display systems and the capabilities they enable can sometimes prove to be tough sells for builders and developers. Dan Green, vice president and principal of Newton, Mass.-based developers The Green Companies, has found this to be the case with many of his empty-nester homebuyers.
Green has taken to trying out technologies in his own home, so he can better explain their advantages to prospective buyers, who are often quite happy to maintain separate devices for separate purposes. He recently installed a multi-purpose flat-panel LCD display above a computer in the small office area in his kitchen.
"It's a TV, it's a computer monitor and it's hooked into my alarm system," he says. As a result, Green gets the technology–or entertainment–he wants, when and where he wants it, whether that involves finding a new recipe, paying last month's bills or just catching up on the day's news. And when it's not in use, the monitor's swivel-mount device allows it to be pushed flat to the wall, helping to maintain a clutter-free kitchen.
Though he's still working out how his company can sell the lifestyle advantages this technology offers, he thinks the benefits will soon become self-evident. "We're just trying to get our arms around how to sell technology," he says. "Six months from now, I think [the story will] be very different."
Chuck Ross is a Chicago-based freelance writer who specializes in construction-related topics.
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