Despite the growing popularity of home theaters, many of us don’t think we have the space or the budget for an in-home, large-screen viewing experience. That exclusiveness is eroding with news this week from Quixel Research and a prominent front projection manufacturer.

John DiLoreto
Analyst and Editor for
Insight Media

Over the past few years, flat screens have been the rage. Rear projection HDTVs, despite their improving depth and longstanding value vs. screen size, have been marginalized to the corners of the market. Recent months have seen microdisplay stalwarts Sony and JVC retreat from the RP market. Meanwhile, the biggest flat screens remain out of the reach of most consumers.

However, continued advancements in front projection technologies may be changing the game. Quixel reported a hefty increase in front projection revenues for 2007. While Q3′07 overall US sales grew only 8% to $152M compared to the previous year’s quarter, this growth was driven by 1080p models, which gained 184% in 2007 over 2006. What is even more impressive is to see this growth in the face of improvements in home theatre front projector values.

While some controversy swirls around front projector manufacturers’ claims of contrast ratios of 30,000:1 and more, these projectors have been getting brighter and cheaper, even as video quality is improving. Last year, Sony and JVC announced affordable LCOS-based front projectors, which have begun shipping. These projectors offered less than 1,000 lumens.

Also in the news this week is Epson, which has begun shipping its 3LCD projector boasting a 50,000:1 contrast ratio (with auto-iris). The 1600-lumen projector retails for an affordable $4,000 and includes a critical lens-shift capability for flexible projector placement.

With enough brightness to fill a large screen and overcome residual ambient light in such a casual setting, this lumen and price range allows us mere "plebes" to consider installing one in our family room. Leave some budget for a light-rejecting screen, such as Planar’s Xscreen (with important horizontal rejection for those troublesome windows) and some modest installation. You’ll be looking at a high-quality 80-120-inch image to watch movies from that Blu-ray Disc player you just decided was safe to buy.

Now, you can see all of that fabulous high definition without getting your beanbag right in front of the screen.

As Epson and other projector manufacturers bring the prospect of affordable large-screen viewing to a wider range of consumers, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Quixel’s next report show continued growth for the 1080p front projection category. In the quarters ahead, you may find yourself a part of the statistics.

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