New Market Trends
The event of the year world-wide has doubtless been the development of the "ultra portable" projector sector. The term tends more and more to be applied to material weighing-in at less than 3 kg, with those situated between 3 and 5 kg qualified as portables. Above 5 kg, projectors are termed “transportable”. Furthermore, the trend is continuing on the same tack and we should be seeing models of around 1.5 kg on the market by the autumn.
According to Stanford Resources, one of the most respected US market survey organisations in the Display sector, it’s the segment of ultra portables (under 2.5 kg) that is really set to take off. The experts forecast, on a World scale, an expansion from around 34,000 units in 1999 to 1.3 million in 2005. This segment will thus represent around half of the global market, estimated at 2.5 million units.
This announced growth favours the arrival of new players on the market (IE: Goldstar, Acer, or ADI). We are even seeing the emergence of little known Taiwanese companies, targeting the OEM sector, certain proposing kit solutions for those who wish to assemble the projectors under their own brand name (EG: Dreamvision - note).
PC Manufacturers are also regularly getting involved in the market. Certain majors such as Compaq, who were the first to launch into the sector, are being closely followed by IBM, who are currently testing the US market with InFocus, and Dell, who also seem intent on conquering this market.
Moreover, the profession is beginning to consolidate itself. InFocus has merged with Proxima, itself recently having being taken over by ASK. The newly constituted group thus becomes World leader in the projector market.
The investments in Research and Development, the costs of industrialisation and marketing will progress in keeping with the growth of the World market. The arrival of new “heavy hitters” on the market should also favour the regrouping of smaller structures, especially among companies that only produce projectors.
The Development of Technologies
The onset of the ultra-portable was made possible by the development of two technologies: the DLP process, developed by Texas Instruments, and the arrival on the market of very small LCD panels –0.7 & 0.9 inches.
In parallel with this miniaturisation, companies are working on the facilitation of use of the machines and further improvements for the comfort of users and spectators.
Keystone correctors (to correct the trapezoid aspect of the image when one projects above or below the projector) are now included on most machines. New technologies are appearing, such as those assuring compatibility with all resolutions or video sources (Advanced AccuBlend from Nec, Limesco from Philips, A-PIC from Panasonic, and Biscuit from Epson...).
At the same time, line doublers (Biscuit II from Epson, CineView from Mitsubishi, AMSC from Davis, and Faroudja from Infocus...) assure a much better quality of reproduction for video images.
Mitsubishi have put a lot of effort into developing colour rendition, including a new Natural Colour Matrix algorithm in their projectors, allowing for the adjustment of individual colours.
The noise level is also a major factor when it comes to comfort. Philips were among the first to look into this problem more seriously, proposing a very quiet model - the Hopper. This trend is now being followed by other manufacturers (Toshiba, Panasonic, etc.).
With the development of the DLP system, we have seen the emergence of digital projection. As numerous sources that can be connected to a projector tend to be digital (video camera, DVD, HDTV, etc.), the industry is starting to equip itself with digital interfaces such as those one finds on LCD screens. This arrival of “all digital” (Infocus, Sharp and ASK...), allows for an improved image quality and numerous manufacturers are now developing a range of material including this kind of digital interface.
The Main Movers
In terms of volume, the market is still rather narrow (a little more than 30,000 units), shared between all the manufacturers.
Among the most significant in terms of market share, we can cite 3M, ASK, Davis, Epson, Infocus, Mitsubishi, NEC, Panasonic, Philips, Plus, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba.
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This article is an extract from the "Cleverdis Guide", the cover and summary of which you can find in our press review.