New for I/ITSEC 2015 is the Sony VPL-GTZ280 projector – a 4K model with a laser-phosphor source that is purpose-built for the simulation market. It should ship in February 2016.
It will be offered in two lumen levels: 2000 and 5000 lumens. The base 2000 lumen model will sell for $43K MSRP with lenses running from $7,500 to $11,500. But, apparently, both models will have the same lasers and phosphor wheel subsystem. Sony is still considering a software upgrade model which means you pay an extra $17K to “unlock” the extra 3,000 lumens. This is not yet fully decided as there is still internal debate as to how customers will react to this model. It seems to me to be a bit of a challenge to engineers to hack the projector and get those extra lumens too.
The projector features sealed optics and an illumination stage lifetime of 20K hours to 50% brightness. It can run at 120 fps and deliver 4K per eye in 3D mode using active shutter glasses. It uses liquid cooling for the lasers – something some other projector makers tend to shy away from. It is also dimmable down to a low of only 100 lumens!
Sony says the projector is also capable of displaying content in the P3 color gamut, but they admit there is no real pull for wider color capabilities at this time in the simulator market. The projector is also capable to displaying HDR content but again, there is no pull in this market for this at the moment.
Night vision capabilities, which means the addition of an IR laser and second channel for the IR data, is an option at $17,500.
At I/ITSEC 2016, Sony showed two of these projector in a side-by-side blended screen in a 8K display. They were also showing the ultra short throw 4K projector, the VLP-GTZ1, that also has a laser phosphor light source and offers an impressive 147” image with a 7” throw using a dedicated ambient light rejecting screen.
We also learned that a cinema 4K Laser Phosphor projector is in the works too. That’s good news for Sony which has been extremely quiet in the cinema market for several years now. Apparently, this will be a 20K – 25K lumen model to support theaters with screens under 50 feet (15 M) wide and we assume it will use Sony’s SXRD technology. There may also be a lower lumen model to support post production houses. These projectors will undoubtedly be HDR capable (with what format support is unclear) and will support 2020 encoded content, although the native color gamut of the projectors is more likely to be DCI-P3. Sony says they have a number of customers that are on years 7-10 of their VPF (Virtual Print Fee) contracts and may want to replace/upgrade units with the new models. That might well be an enticing proposition for some.
