Audio Video News

High-End Projection Brand Runco Fades Away

SV Staff  |  Mar 8, 2016

Sam Runco, the founder and driving force behind Runco International, with the Emmy Award he received in 2013 for his pioneering development of aspect ratio control.

Remember Runco? The brand founded by larger-than-life personality Sam Runco, who built a company that became synonymous with high-end video projection, is being quietly laid to rest, according to a recent report in the trade magazine CEPro.

From the February 26 report:

It looks like Runco is finally dead. The pioneering home theater projector manufacturer, founded by Sam Runco in 1987, appears to be getting out of the projector business. And as that business goes, so goes the famous brand.

Runco was acquired by Planar, a commercial display manufacturer, in 2007. As Runco was built on personality as much as product, Planar promised to continue with the famous Runco conferences and parties previously hosted by Runco and his wife Lori.

But the Runco vibe was never the same, and Runco slowly lost its cachet. Now it's losing its flagship projectors.

Just six months after Chinese LED manufacturer Leyard acquired Planar, the company has announced a phase-out of Runco projectors.

Here's the memo that just went out to Runco dealers and reps:

The Runco Price List has been updated and you will notice that all Runco projectors are now listed as “limited availability.” Our pioneering efforts once focused on projection are now directed to new breakthroughs in video wall technology and flat panel displays, categories in which many of you have been very successful.

We expect availability on most models for the coming months, but all orders and product configurations are subject to availability. As always, we encourage our dealers to place orders immediately to ensure delivery for upcoming projects.

We will continue to honor our warranty commitments on previous and future sales, stock and sell service parts, and offer out-of-warranty support, as we do today. We look forward to seeing our customers and their clients through the transition of the market to new display technologies. For more information about the Runco line-up or for product details, see www.runco.com.

RIP, Runco.

Maybe Sam Runco will buy back what’s left of the company. Sam, are you listening?

COMMENTS
specialk's picture
Submitted by specialk on March 8, 2016 - 8:45am

My company once replaced a dead Runco at a customer's home with a different manufacturer's projector and we brought back the Runco carcass to get an inside look. We opened up this big, hulking heavy case and lo and behold, the dirty little secret inside was revealed; packed inside the large case like a nesting doll was the actual projector, which was a very tiny (think data projector size) NEC projector. It still even had the NEC logo on it. They didn't even take the time to rebrand it. I admittedly can't speak to Runco's quality during their heyday, but if this was any indication, it was mostly snake oil.

hk2000's picture
Submitted by hk2000 on March 9, 2016 - 1:59am

I'm really interested to know if this is true. It's amazing how reviewers would rave at anything carrying that name! I wonder if you could provide the model number. Only thing is: how did they get the buttons on the casing to actually access the NEC? From your description, the NEC inside is a complete projector that can be used as a standalone projector? or is it the innards of an NEC with some parts bearing the NEC logo? The former seems far fetched, but the latter is very plausible- most so called videophiles would buy it just for the name but would never buy the NEC inside.

specialk's picture
Submitted by specialk on March 9, 2016 - 9:50am

Unfortunately it was several years ago so it's been long ago thrown away and I have no clue what model it was. I'm pretty sure it was one of the models on the mid-to-lower end of their price spectrum (not that it means it was cheap) since the replacement projector they bought was reasonably priced. My company didn't sell it/install it originally so I have no records to look up.

I don't recall exact details of how it fit into the larger case or was connected as I was not the one that took it all apart. But I do recall that it looked like a standalone data projector with a NEC badge on it.

victor6303's picture
Submitted by victor6303 on March 8, 2016 - 10:41am

Same here: in our case we discovered a "Davis" projector inside the Runco chasis. :-))))

Traveler's picture
Submitted by Traveler on March 8, 2016 - 1:16pm

sad

Humey's picture
Submitted by Humey on March 9, 2016 - 5:15pm

I dont know about all of their units, but they used to have a low budget model years ago that was really a BenQ. It wasnt really a secret although Runco didnt go out of their way to publicize it. Runco did replace the plastic lens with a glass version. They also tweeked with the setting, but that is something anyone with some knowledge could have done themselves. Many of these smaller home theater companies (including my old favorite company Dwin) did use other companies equipment and modified it both physically and through the use of software to make their own models. I dont know enough about Runco to know if they manufactured their stuff from scratch, but I do know about that one unit. When DVD players were big, some of the most expensive players out there ($2000 and up) started out as a Panasonic. For many of these companies, there was no reason to build the product from scratch, instead they took a good piece of equipment and made it better.

T_A_B's picture
Submitted by T_A_B on March 10, 2016 - 4:07am

Thanks for the anecdotes.
My understanding is thus.
Sam formed Runco in the 70's by the 90's he was "modifying" Barco, NEC and Zenith projectors to "improve" the performance in the home theater application.
In 2007 the company was purchase by Planar; Planar had its own range of Home Theater projectors that were technically superior but was struggling with market penetration. The Runco product line was all but scrapped at that point and the existing Planar range was simply rebadged and sold as Runco projectors with great success. Certainly the feedback I've heard from the market was that post-2010 there was a step change in both the reliability and capability of the Runco units as by then they were all Planar models built in house with a Runco badge.
I for one am sorry to see the Runco division at Planar close and I know a lot of other dealers are too.

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