|
|  |
Projectors
October 21, 2009
 Sanyo PLC-XF1000 projector pumps out 12000 lumens for $25000
 Sanyo has launched its second projector using its proprietary QuaDrive technology which combines two 330 W lamps and three mirrors to produce the brightest 100 V AC projector on the market. The PLC-XF1000 manages to pump out 12000 lumens combined with a 4000:1 contrast ratio making it suitable for large auditoriums and other large-sized venues. Sanyo claims the brightness and color clarity is also perfect for the digital signage market. How much will you pay for 12000 lumens? A cool $25000--not your typical home theater projector.
Read
October 15, 2009
Mitsubishi LVP-HC3800 1080p DLP projector announced for Japan
 This morning Mitsubishi announced the LVP-HC3800, its latest full high-def DLP projector for the Japanese market. Featuring 1080p resolution, 3000:1 contrast ratio, 1200 lumens of brightness, a DDP3021 full 10-bit panel driver, a 230 Watts lamp with a 5000 hour battery life, and a 25 dB minimum noise output, the LVP-HC3800 DLP projector will ship November 20 for the equivalent of US$2200. No word yet regarding possible export to North America or elsewhere outside of Japanese borders.
Read
October 11, 2009
Viewsonic intros pair of high-brightness commercial projectors
 Viewsonic last week announced the PJD6251 and PJL9371, a pair of new projectors geared toward commercial applications that differentiate by being brighter than the norm. The 3D-ready PJD6251 sports a resolution of 1024 x 768, a 2800:1 contrast ratio, and 3700 lumens of brightness. Designed for classroom and conference room use, it also has HDMI, composite, VGA, and S-video inputs, plus Ethernet for local network control. The PJL9371 is built for larger spaces such as auditoriums, boasting a 1024 x 768 resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio, and 4000 lumens of brightness. It bumps up the feature set of the PJD6251 to include an Eco-mode for energy-efficient use, 7 picture modes for different settings such as Cinema and Blackboard, and an RS-232 serial port for remote control. Available now, the PJD6251 and PJL9371 cost $950 and $1750, respectively.
Read
October 8, 2009
Panasonic PT-AE4000U is a 2.35:1 wide aspect ratio LCD projector
 Panasonic has introduced the PT-AE4000U, the company's latest home theater projector. The big differentiating feature here is 2.35:1 wide aspect ratio, specifically used for projecting film-based content. It comes with a default 16:9 aspect ratio and a 4:3 option as well. The 1080p LCD projector features 100, 000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 1, 600 lumens of brightness, 24/60/120 FPS options, a 12 Volt trigger for a drop down screen, VIERA Link compatibility, 3 HDMI 1.3a outputs, 1 VGA port, 1 component port, 1 S-video, and 1 composite connection. The $2, 499 PT-AE4000U LCD projector, shipping in October, can display a 120-inch image from 11 feet away.
Read
September 30, 2009
Epson dreamio EH-DM30: Please take the DVD player out of this thing
 I'm a minimalist by nature and therefore not a huge fan of consumer electronics gadgets that try to pack in too many features at the expense of aesthetics and core function quality.
Epson has created one of these modern day, manufactured Frankenstein's with its newly announced dreamio EH-DM30 projector.
Somehow Epson manages to package a DVD player and a pair of 10 Watt speakers within the projector housing. The DVD player supports JPEG/MP3/WMA/DivX/DivX Ultra files, and the projector itself can output 720p resolution, 3000:1 contrast ratio, and 2500 lumens of brightness. It'll also playback your USB stick-stored movies via its USB slot as well.
It's doubtful we'll see the Epson dreamio EH-DM30 in North America anytime soon, but if you're in Japan you'll be able to buy it October 29 for US$1300.
Epson also announced a variety of other dreamio models today, ranging from the 540p EH-DM3, also with an integrated DVD player, to the 1080p EH-TW4500 with 200000:1 contrast ratio.
Read
September 28, 2009
BenQ outs W6000, W1000, W600 DLP home theater projectors
Prolific home theater manufacturer BenQ has announced will begin shipping three new home theater projectors in the next few weeks. All powered by DLP front projection chips from Texas Instruments, the W600, W1000, and W6000 all appeal to the home theater buff looking for high-quality gear at a reasonable price.
 The entry-level W600 can reproduce 720p video, has a 3000:1 contrast ratio, and 2000 ANSI lumens of brightness. The unit also has a 6-segment color wheel, dual HDMI inputs and a $794 price tag when it ships on November 1.
 The mid-range W1000 ups the video reproduction resolution to 1080p, but dumbs down the brightness and contrast ratio to 1800 ANSI lumens and 2700:1, respectively. It has the same dual HDMI inputs, but a few more analog outputs than the W600. It is also scheduled to ship on November 1, priced at $1590.
 Finally, the most feature-packed of the trio, the W6000, features 1080p video resolution reproduction, 24 fps support, 50000:1 contrast ratio, 2500 ANSI lumens of brightness, horizontal and vertical lens shift, 1.5:1 zoom ratio, 2.35:1 aspect ratio via an optional Panamorph lens, 10 bit processing, and video upconversion from 480p. Shipping in the next few weeks, the BenQ W6000 is slated to cost $3970.
September 7, 2009
Epson EH-TW5500 and EH-TW4400 3LCD home theater projectors coming
 Projector specialist Epson has introduced the new EH-TW5500 and EH-TW4400 3LCD home theater projectors. The mid-range 4400 model features 1080p resolution, 130000:1 contrast ratio, 1600 lumens of color brightness, 10 bit video processing, x.v. Color, a pair of HDMI slots, 2.1x optical zoom, vertical and horizontal lens shift, and a ceiling mount. The step-up 5500 projector adds in a D7 panel, 12 bit HQV video processing, 200000:1 contrast ratio, ISF calibration for installers, and a few other higher-end specs. Shipping in November, the EH-TW5500 and the EH-TW4400 will ship for €3299 ($4723) and €2799 ($4002), respectively.
Read
August 31, 2009
DVD-packin' LED portable video projector arrives in Japan
 It's not the prettiest piece of hardware we've ever seen, but the 2.5 kilogram portable LED video projector from Japan's Kumazaki-Aim does pack in a DVD player. Unfortunately the 268×295×92 millimeter projector, which also includes a screen with purchase, doesn't have the greatest specs. 640 x 480 VGA resolution, 300:1 contrast ratio, 200 lumens of brightness, 60 inch images from 2.1 meters away, an SD/MMC card reader, S-video and VGA ports, and 3 Watt/2 channel speakers. The DVD player also supports MP3, WMA, AVI, JPEG, DivX, and Xvid audio, video, and image formats. Available in Japan tomorrow, the DVD-packin' portable projector will cost the equivalent of US$600. A little much in my opinion.
Read
August 6, 2009
Optoma announced HD20 DLP projector
 One of Taiwan's biggest projector brands, Optoma, has announced the HD20 DLP home theater projector. Features include:
- 32.4 cm x 23.4 cm dimensions
- 2.88 kg mass
- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- 1700 ANSI lumens of brightness
- 500:1 contrast ratio
- 38 to 300 inch projection size range (100 inch image from 3.32 meters)
- color and image adjustment features including processing engines for color temperature, gamma, B/W extension, and RGB gain/bias; and format, overscan, zoom and digital image shift image manipulation features
- HDMI and PC inputs
Optoma hasn't announced a price for the HD20 projector, but says it expects it to be "affordable to a wider range of home consumers."
Read
July 23, 2009
Vivitek brings pricing pressure with $999 1080p projector
 Vivitek has introduced some serious pricing pressure to the DLP home theater projector market with its $999 H1080FD. Scheduled for release in August, the H1080FD sports 1080p resolution, 1800 ANSI lumens of brightness, 5000:1 contrast ratio, a 12 Volt trigger output for motorized lifts and screens, a pair of HDMI inputs, and composite, S-video and component inputs as well. Vivitek also says it has new home theater and business projector families in the pipeline, so expect to see more from the company later this summer or in the fall.
Read
June 26, 2009
iJector front projector turns your iPod into a 50-inch bigscreen
 If only you could project iPod and iPod video images on the wall, right? Now you can with the iJector, a front-projector that can cast images up to 50 inches from your docked iPhone or iPod. Unfortunately it doesn't look like the iJector will produce images that are earth shattering. With resolution amounting to only 557 x 234 pixels and only 20 lumens of brightness, you might just have trouble seeing anything. Interestingly though, the iJector is licensed by Apple and is compatible with the first three generations of iPod nanos, fifth generation iPod Videos, first generation iPod Classics, iPod Touches and iPhones. The iJector is only shipping in Japan as of July 17, but given the specs I'm not sure I'd pay the equivalent of $670 for it. Seems a little steep.
Read
June 23, 2009
projectiondesign outs new stereoscopic 3D, high resolution projection platforms
At the InfoComm conference last week, Norwegian projector maker projectiondesign unveiled its latest LED projector, the FL32, as well as a variety of new 3D stereoscopic and high resolution versions of its F22 DLP projection platform.
 The company's first solid-state LED projector system, the FL32 is designed for mission-critical operations such as security monitoring and simulation training. The FL32 is available in either 1080p or WUXGA resolutions, utilizes projectiondesign's patented ReaLED optical technology, and has a guaranteed 100, 000 lamp life.
Four different 3D stereoscopic projection platforms were on display at InfoComm--the F10 AS3D active stereo projector, the F10 1080 3D stereo projectors with built-in INFITEC technology, and F22 passive series with INFITEC. projectiondesign says the F22 series offers a ColorCode 3D solution, the most cost-effective among passive 3D solutions. The 3D projectors are aimed, more or less, at commercial markets like gaming, production, military, medical and education.
Wrapping up projectiondesign's conference portfolio was the F22 DLP projector platform. Already available, the conference offerings were new versions of the F22 in 1080p and WUXGA resolutions. The new F22 utilizes Phillips' VIDI technology, improving image quality, color reproduction and management, as well as performance predictability.
Read
June 18, 2009
Digital Projection outs trio of WUXGA 3D projectors
 Digital Projection has added a trio of new WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 3-chip projectors to its 3D-capable Lightning Series at InfoComm in Orlando, Florida today. The Lightning 38 WUXGA-3D, the Lightning 45 WUXGA-3D and the Lightning WUXGA-3D Ultra Contrast are the three new models. All feature 16:10 resolution, 1080p video without scaling, Texas Instruments Darkchip DMD technology, ColorMax calibration, FastFrame blur reduction and Dual Flash Processing with support for 120 Hz frame rates.
The three projectors differ in their brightness and contrast ratios.
- Lightning 38: 20, 000 lumens, 2000:1 contrast ratio
- Lightning 45: 30, 000 lumens, 2000:1 contrast ratio
- Lightning Ultra Contrast: 15, 000 lumens, 4000:1 contrast ratio
All three Lightning projectors are now available.
June 17, 2009
Sanyo bows high-res, ultra-bright projector pair
 Sanyo has announced a boatload of new projectors this year, for the most part targeted at commercial markets. Today in Japan, the company added another pair to the roster--the PDG-DET100JL and the WTC500L. The former boasts SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) resolution, a rather bright 7500 lumens of brightness, a contrast ratio of 7500:1 and DICOM (or Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) which improves image detail for medical uses.
 The WTC500L has somewhat less impressive specs yet they are nothing to cringe at. The projector has WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution, 5000 lumens of brightness, and dual lamps which can be switched between with a button push.
The PDG-DET100JL will ship in Japan on August 21 for US$20000 while the WTC500L will make it to the United States July 1 for $11000.
Read
|
|
 Steals & Deals
|
Mailing List
Black Friday deal rumor: $49 Blu-ray players
