“Plug and pray” is funny until it’s your show.

If you’ve ever rolled into a ballroom with untested gear, crossed your fingers, and hoped

nothing smokes when you hit power, you already know: that’s not a real strategy.

 That’s gambling with your crew’s sanity and your client’s reputation.

At GigRent, our entire business is built on the opposite mindset: show-ready as a default.

Here’s what that actually looks like behind the scenes.

We don’t treat your order as “boxes with serial numbers.” We treat it like a show.

QC starts when the previous order is returned. Once it's been scanned in each piece of gear is inspected and tested.

1. Visual Inspection Before Power

Before we power anything, every piece of gear goes through a quick but thorough visual

check:

- Connectors clean and undamaged

- Fans and filters clear

- Lenses, screens, and tiles checked for obvious defects

- Cables coiled correctly, ends intact, strain reliefs solid

- Road cases verified (foam condition, latches, labels, hardware)

Catching obvious issues here keeps deeper testing clean and focused.

2. Power-On, Then Real-World Signal

Next, we power up and actually use the gear the way you will on site.

Examples:

- Projectors: Powered on, lamp/laser hours checked, test pattern, input tests, lens shift

and focus verified.- LED: Panels - color uniformity checked, Pixels inspected, frames and latches tested.

- Switchers: Inputs/outputs tested, multiview confirmed.

- Audio: Consoles booted, faders and encoders exercised, speakers and amps

tested with known reference content.

We’re not just confirming “does it turn on?” We’re looking for weird behavior

3. Packed up and put on the shelf

- Gear is then returned to it Case

-Packed up with all the proper accessories

-put on the shelf with the QC check label to show it's been properly inspected.

If your crew has a question mid-build, they’re not shouting into the void. They’re

texting or calling someone who has actually seen the gear they’re looking at.

Wrapping It Up

“Plug and pray” creates stress, heroics, and near-misses that eventually turn into real

misses.



Show-ready QC creates:

- Calm builds

- Predictable shows

- Crews who trust the gear they’re handedIf you need a subrental partner who treats your show like their own—and sends gear that’s

truly ready to roll—that’s the bar we hold ourselves to every day at GigRent.