April Summary

Dear Readers,

The April issues of Projection Monthly and Microdisplay Report are done - and what a busy month March was.

Texas Instruments made news on several fronts - first as its Digital Cinema partner Christie Digital unveiled a projection system featuring a new DLP chip set with 2048 x 1080 resolution, dubbed the 2K device. At last, TI has answered LCOS competitors with a 1080p device, albeit targeted at Digital Cinema to start. The 1.2-inch device is used in a three-chip system that produces 1700:1 contrast and was demonstrated at ShoWest.

Actually, a funny thing is happening on the way to the forum. Instead of Digital Cinema taking off, pre-show screenings of ads and trailers using non-Digital-Cinema-quality projectors and in-lobby advertising using PDPs, is getting hot. Christie alone has deals in place to outfit nearly 5,000 screens in the next few years with such systems. Why go this route? Cost and revenue. The systems are much cheaper than Digital Cinema-grade projectors and theater operators can use the network to gain revenue from advertising and special event screenings. Makes sense.

TI also has begun to create some ripples with a symposium it held for selected journalists and projection makers at its Texas headquarters last month. During this meeting, it unveiled the results of some long-term, 24/7 testing of five LCD and two DLP projectors, with image measurements taken over the course of 4000 hours. The testing was funded by TI, but conducted independently by the Rochester Institute of Technology. The results showed some compelling images that indicated serious image quality degradation for all five LCD projectors, while the DLP projectors held up pretty well.

There is sure to be some discussion about these results in the coming months. Many of the installers and resellers of LCD projectors we talked to about this acknowledge that LCD projectors do not do well in 24/7 applications. Most applications are not this demanding of course, so the question of reliability of the LCD projectors in other applications will be hotly debated.

Speaking of hot - "red hot" was the way one component supplier described LCOS activity in Taiwan and China nowadays. We agree. The infrastructure to support high-volume LCOS projection system production is being built. Taiwan Microdisplay Corporation is in pilot production of LCOS panels as are eLCOS and HiMAX. Taiwan and China-based lamp makers like GP Litech and United Projection Display are gearing up to support production. Light Maser Systems is in pilot production of a new color management assembly process - and there is much more bubbling below the surface which we will tell you about over the coming months.

But other microdisplay technologies aren't standing still. ITRI and TI have completed a year-long cooperative development program to build a "common DLP engine" platform that can support multiple DLP device sizes and types, including the use of SCR color wheels. Taiwanese companies can acquire this platform and use it to build entire product lines at much lower cost - if everything works as it should.

On the HTPS-LCD front, Sarif and parent company Iljin Diamond are showing off their three-gun projection engine concept. It uses three pre-aligned HTPS panels and three lens to project images onto a screen where the light paths converge. Sarif thinks the approach can significantly lower engine bill of material costs down to the $650 range once volume production is established. That definitely enables an under $2K RPTV.

In business projectors, watch out for Dell and Gateway. Both have introduced high-performance DLP models at impressive price point. Dell's 2100MP is an SVGA unit that sells for $1,299 and offers 1000 lumens and 1800:1 contrast. Gateway's SVGA entry is $1,399 and outputs 1100 lumens with 1100:1 contrast. It will also offer an XGA model for $1,999.

How these PC makers will affect the sales and price-down of projectors is an on-going debate. How will this affect the prospects of Pro AV dealers? Don't know, but we aim to try and find out at the Projection Summit Conference this June 1 & 2.

The entry of Gateway into the consumer TV space with its $3K PDP-TV is also heralding the start of giant reshuffling of the consumer electronics channels. Not only will big-screen TV offerings be completely different in five years, most likely the distribution channels will look a whole lot different too. Mass-market retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City will likely still be around, but they will face competition from an army of new competitors like Dell, Gateway, Costco, Walmart and others.

But, as big-screen TV technology changes over to newer types, novel channels will emerge too like high-end furniture stores and other outlets that will offer lower-cost distribution channels with less total margin - and lower prices to consumers. Stay tuned.

The Table of Contents for the April issues of Projection Monthly and Microdisplay Report below.

April Issue of Projection Monthly Table of Contents PDF

April Issue of Microdisplay Report Table of Contents

Until next time…

Chris Chinnock
Sr. Analyst
Insight Media
chris@insightmedia.info

If you would like information about a subscription to Projection Monthly or Microdisplay Report, then please email Dave Torromeo, dave@insightmedia.info, or call 203-831-8464.