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Digital Projector Makers Describe State of the Art

In a Digital Cinema session entitled “Next Generation Digital Projectors for Dailies, Postproduction and Cinemas,” various projector manufacturers discussed their current offerings and previewed new technologies on the horizon.

Brian Claypool of Christie Digital Systems (Cypress, CA) (www.christiedigital.com) for example, described its DLP projectors as favoring Xenon light sources, as their color temperature “is close to sunlight,” while UHP and Halide lamps “lack red.” The company’s light engine includes a yellow dichroic notch filter (YNF) that is used to get a more film-like color balance.

Barco (Kortrijk, Belgium) ( www.barco.com) has five factories worldwide, with its D-Cinema group in Huntington Beach, CA. According to National Sales Manager Joseph DeMeo, “All DLP projectors are similar – the difference is in sales, service and support.” He went on to call DLP “very stable” across projectors and within an image.

The DLP projector from NEC Media Solutions (Burbank, CA) (www.necsam.com) was described by NEC’s Harry Mathias as having a color gamut that has been designed to match film, by the use of color secondaries. (Responding to a question, he later replied that there is no reason an LCOS projector cannot achieve the same.) NEC claims to have the smallest 2K projector.

When panel moderator Paula Parisi of the Hollywood Reporter (Los Angeles, CA) (www.hollywoodreporter.com) suggested that DLP was “more mature than LCOS,” Gary Mandle of Sony Electronics (Park Ridge, NJ) (http://bssc.sel.sony.com) argued the point, extolling the virtues of Sony’s SXRD product. The 4K 1.55-inch LCOS projector is said to achieve 200 fps (5ms) and a 4000:1 contrast ratio; delivery is slated for July. Temperature-related color drift in early-design LCOS projectors is now more stable, with active cooling on larger devices. Digital cinema projectors from JVC (Cypress, CA) (pro.jvc.com) were said to be “similar to Sony, with 2K available now,” according to JVC’s Rod Sterling. JVC says DLP projectors are active cooled, too. Mathias also pointed out that, despite the high levels of DLP and LCOS performance, “CRT still has the best blacks, with a 20,000:1 contrast ratio.”

It is believed that postproduction houses will be early adopters, with about 300 commercial screens worldwide. The high aperture of imagers and the need for combining optics mean d-cinema optics are more costly than in film projectors – a factor that could impede wide-scale penetration.

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Annmarie Gabisch, 203-831-8564
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