Solid state projectors, both laser and laser / LED, accounted for many of the announcements of new models for key market niches – education, meeting rooms and auditoria – that before, indicating a sea change in projector lightsources, AV News takes a look at the significant new introductions.
While the majority of projectors are still powered by UHP lamps, the move to solid state solutions too k a hefty leap forward at ISE 2014. Far from being quirky, solid state projectors are now part of the mainstream, and major manufacturers have nailed their colours to the lamp-free mast. In its document entitled ‘Clear advantage for lamp-free projectors’, Panasonic details the advantages of solid state projector to education buyers:
“Where projectors are a required tool, to assist teachers and lecturers, to enhance their subjects by visual stimulus, the value of the projector as an aid to teachers has been balanced by tendency of historic lamp-lit projectors’ inability to provide projection-on-demand, because of the need to warm up/cool down the machine to prevent serious damage and/or sudden lamp burn out, imply darkened room, and often uncomfortably hot from heat dissipated by the projector.”
The company compares, what it calls, 20th century, lamp-lit projectors with 21st century, solid-state models. 20th century models are said to suffer limited bulb life, periodic bulb changes, filter cleaning / changing and allowing time for warm-up/warm-down time. “Until very recently the performance and maintenance requirements of projectors have been framed by a number of factors that have limited their performance and flexibility”, concludes the document.
With even manufacturers branding UHP projectors ‘20th century’ it is little surprise that end-users are rapidly being persuaded of the advantages of 20,000 hours maintenance-free lifetime, quick ON/OFF capability with full brightness instantly, reduced operating costs and reduced environmental impact.
Even if these customers are not persuaded by the advantages of convenience and reduced Total Cost of Ownership, being pushed so hard by the vendors, news that more than 92 countries, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland, have signed the Minamata Convention (effectively agreeing to cease the production, import and export of products containing mercury by 2020 – including conventional mercury lamps in projectors – will certainly have them worried.
The move to green
While we have yet to receive news of anybody being poisoned by a projector the writing is pretty much on the wall for UHP technology in classrooms and lecture theatres across Western Europe. It will now be a case of having to make a case for UHP specifically, rather than making a case for solid-state.
Walking around ISE, we saw two new entries into the solid-state ultra short-throw projector category, although sold-state specialists Casio’s new model can’t be officially announced until later in the year. This decision is questionable, because recent research conducted on behalf of BESA shows that the traditional view that education spending kicks off in the summer no longer operates. ViewSonic were nowhere near as shy with their new model and took full advantage of the ISE opportunity.
ViewSonic’s new Pro9800HD laser projector displays an image from just 0.18 meters and is designed around an advanced laser light engine. The Pro9800HD is a lamp-free projector that can operate for 20,000 hours, with filter-less design making it virtually zero maintenance. The Full HD 1080p resolution makes this super ultra short throw projector is said to be great for High Definition content. With 3000 ANSI lumens, the Pro9800HD project bight and clear image on all but the brightest days and with 360° projection, it can be mounted anywhere to project on walls, ceiling and floors.
Holy cows
Another misconception shattered at this year’s ISE is that solid-state light sources are limited to a few thousands of lumens of brightness for their power output. Both Panasonic and Sony introduced meeting room projectors with 6,000 and 7,000 lumens respectively. Claimed to be the world’s first 6,000 lumens laser 1-chip DLP projector, Panasonic unveiled its new PT-RZ670 and PT-RW630 models. Part of the company’s existing Solid Shine line of projectors, they offer WUXGA and WXGA respectively. Thanks to power from a laser light source, they don’t require lamp or filter maintenance for 20,000 hours or more, depending on usage.
Additional features include easy installation (the new models allow landscape and portrait mounting as well as vertical/horizontal/tilting 360°projection without any effect on the life of the lightsource). The PT-RZ670 model also has built-in geometric adjustment, enabling projections onto curved and irregular shaped screens. Both models are promised in the autumn of 2014, but in the light of recent experience it could take longer.
We would love to tell you more about the Sony, but they would only part with the information under NDA, and then we couldn’t tell you anything. And, incidentally, Panasonic hasn’t entirely given up on UHP. The new 16,000 lumen, 3 chip PT-DZ16K is also said to have been designed to reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for customers seeking a reliable, high brightness and low-maintenance product.
The projector features low power consumption and has a long lamp replacement cycle of up to 3,000 hours and up to 12,000 hours maintenance free eco filter. Hartmut Kulessa, marketing manager at Panasonic, explained: “With a highly efficient optical design using four lamps, liquid cooling system and a relay mode for 24/7 operation, the PT-DZ16K projectors are ideal for events and use over an extended period, such as in permanent large venue installations.”
What’s the limit?
So isn’t it possible to get the lumen count into five figures with solid state? Well, actually it is: Digital Projection has got as far as 12,000 lumens with a laser lightsource, with its HIGHLite Laser 12k, so it seems it’s not.
DP says that the projector was developed with an emphasis on ‘Fit and Forget’ – meaning that installers and system integrators can deploy the projector and need not worry about lamp changes or expensive maintenance cycles. The company has also packed the new model with standard features that are often offered as options. For example, Edge Blend is included as standard, along with geometric correction.
Fully active 3D with up to 144 Hz refresh rate is said to offer flicker-free viewing. Dual HDMI 1.4, DVI and 3G-SDI inputs provide high speed video delivery. To compliment this, HDBaseT connectivity allows for the transmission of uncompressed High Definition Video over a CAT5e/6 LAN cable. To suit every application, the lenses range from 0.77:1 to 6.76:1.
Light balance
With solid state now an option In just about every segment of the projector market, is universal adoption of the technology inevitable? It’s all about where, and when? The engine driving projector sales is no longer Europe. Developed markets for projection have been through the UHP era and have strong enough economies to afford the luxury of a Minamata Convention. Yes, many will argue that Minamata is a necessity, but these discussions are pyrrhic where customers can’t afford projectors at all.
With the market for projectors growing globally, and potential for even further growth in regions with untapped demand, and ambitions to educate their populations, the final decision on lightsource will continue to be governed by price for the foreseeable future.
