February Summary

The February issues of Projection Monthly and Microdisplay Report are complete. Projection Monthly (PM) is 77 pages long this month as we have covered much of CES and other news throughout the projection manufacturing and distribution supply chain.

Clearly, CES was a watershed of information, which we are still sifting through. In RPTVs, it is clear that the introduction of microdisplay-based TVs continues and will start to grab some market share from CRT-based RPTVs this year. Hitachi's 1920 x 1080p LCOS TV was one of the most talked about, but pricing at $9K won't make it a top seller. We were also impressed with 3M's new LCOS optical core and the performance it demonstrated in RPTVs. Other LCOS sets showed various degrees of performance levels, but also a wide variety in pricing.

DLP and HTPS-TV sets look well positioned to capture the attention of consumers in 2003. Samsung, Zenith, Thomson, Panasonic and Optoma will field a number of sets while Sony and Panasonic are leading the charge in HTPS-based sets. More will follow too.

Equally impressive are the latest crop of home theater projectors. Projectors at 1280 x 720 resolution are very impressive, but mostly cost north of $7-8K. Lower-cost and lower-resolution projectors keep coming to market pushing toward the $999 price point in 2003. These units have some variability in on-screen performance, but will offer an impressive viewing experience for DVD movies. There is a lot of market push from manufacturers of these products as they try to expand into the new frontier - home entertainment, but demand-pull remains modest today. Educating consumers and convincing major retailers to devote lots of store space to selling these lower-cost units, remains a challenge.

Plasma TVs remain the front-runner for next-generation big-screen TVs in consumer's minds, followed by LCD-TVs. Makers of microdisplay-based RPTVs will need to do something about this in 2003 to help increase awareness of benefits and increase market share. PDP-TV prices are dropping rapidly as are LCD-TV prices, but most feel LCD-TVs above 30 inches or so, won't gain much market share until 2005-2006.

There is so much in the February issue it is hard to summarize it all. But if you want to know what is going on with microdisplays made by Sony, Epson or Taiwan Micro Display Company, read the February issue. If you need to track developments in electronics chip sets, LED and laser sources or the latest developments in engines and optical components, read the February issue.

We also have product and development coverage of business projectors, 3-D volumetric displays, tiled big-screen displays, cockpit displays and video cubes.

If you need to know more about the strategic and business plans of your competitors, we have 8 pages of news. Want to hear what other market research firms think of the big-screen display markets and opportunities? We have seven pages of coverage. And if you need to know who is making money at this, we have devoted another 10 news pages to this aspect.

For Microdisplay Report, we have selected the top product, market and financial news on the projection industry for inclusion in the February issue. It also includes microdisplay device news as well as the latest on headsets and 3D displays.

If you have not yet talking to use about a subscription to Projection Monthly or Microdisplay Report, then please email Dave Torromeo, dave@insightmedia.info, or call 203-831-8464.