They were all prototypes when we first saw them; They are now full fully-fledged devices ready to go look for buyers in the marketplace... Good luck then, competition will be as tough in this segment as in any other in the next future. We had decided to see what could possibly go on in the projector world, and check if the long expected High-Definition promises -that is to say, FULL High-Def- were still poltergeists or Jinns or whatever. Well, we were not disappointed... Every device was presented with a launch date and a price tag -so we could immediately call our bank to secure another loan. So the bottom line is, nothing really new in the projector market, but everything ready to go, NOW!
Although Hih-Def has been massively present in the US and Japan, its penetration has been so far limited, and it's even lower in Europe and other continents. Now that the gap between intentions, announcements and market propositions is being rapidly filled, with productions that are capable to deliver something more than wall-projected TV shows, shall we will be witnessing the rise of the HD world...?
Marantz VP11S1
Projector brands have done their homework. No secret, we were longing for demos and here we were, panting when most brands were braggingly demonstrating their know-how and new DLPs, the one that goes up to today's best and brightest 1920X1080 definition, with Texas Instrument's latest chip, as aboard the new Sim2 HT3000, the Marantz VP11S1, the Optoma HD1, or the ProjectionDesign Action Two. And you can believe what you read: the demos left us breathless! Contrast, luminosity, image quality in every compartment, from deep blacks to blinding whites...
Optoma projector
There were a few number of devices in the 720p category projectors, the noticeable exception being the very affordable InFocus Play Big series, with an interesting 1280X720 IN76 with a price tag in the region of £1300, the quite achieved BenQ PE-8720 featuring both advanced Darkchip 3 and dynamic iris, or the very promising Optoma EP67, brilliantly designed and more user-comfy than in the previous versions.
Aren't we all fashion victims? "Alien", or some sort of "The Matrix"-like Back gloss is everywhere, replacing the dull beige and other white -which, as you probably noticed using your PC, get soiled easily.
Hitachi projector
Epson projector
Optoma goes posh with a "Custom Series" H79, which proposes hand-picked components to achieve top-performance! Crasy? Now look, Asus has tied up with Lamborghini so why not?
There's a lot going on in the rear-projection world as well... Many brands have bet their last dime on full High-Def, at prices much more attractive than video projection and, believe it or not, astounding results as for image quality. These million pixels babies come from the labs and plants of Epson, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, RCA / Thomson, LG, Toshiba, and others.
3D LCD Epson projector
The incredible Samsung LED DLP TV
The LED Retro-projection is there, good news after so much gossip and buzz. It makes its appearance in various segments: Ultra-portable projectors, either LCD (Epson) or DLP (BenQ, Toshiba, or Samsung), a lot of LCD flat screens, several of which large screen prototypes that were demonstrated in the course of 2005, or already serial smaller screens, and finally Samsung's great "Première", the LED DLP TV -described in another article. The smash hit here is about lifespan, since LEDs can last more than 50000 hours, much more than "old" bulbs. Plus, they produce much less heat, hence no need for big, noisy fans.
Visit CES 2006 here
Visit Infocus website here
Visit Samsung website here
Visit Toshiba CE website here
Visit Epson projection website here
Visit Sony website here
Visit Hitachi website here
Visit LGE website here
Visit BenQ website here
Visit Optoma website here
Visit Panasonic website here
Visit Thomson/RCA website here
Any comment contact didier here