Barco did not announce any new projectors but showed a number of products that were announced at ISE in North America for the first time. They had hoped to showcase their big new 30K lumen, 3-chip DLP, laser-phosphor model, the HDF-W30LP, but some parts got stuck in customs so it did not make it to InfoComm. We reported on the unit from Pro Light & Sound (Barco Finalises Laser Phosphor Redesign)
Barco’s high lumen RGB laser models feature an enormous chiller that was connected to the projector with large, thermally insulated tubing. The new 30K lumen laser phosphor model adopts this external chiller option to cool the phosphor wheel primarily. The chiller can be located up to 25’ (8m) away to eliminate noise if needed. It uses a set of 0.96” WUXGA DLP chips and offers a constant light output (CLO) mode that gives users some options to extend the lifetime of the solid state light source by operating the projector at a level below the top rated brightness level initially.
Barco also focused on the F90 projector, a 13K lumen laser-phosphor 1-chip DLP model that was announced at ISE and has just begun shipping. This was demonstrated in a dual stack demo and it can also accept a short throw lens (an option we want to consider for the next Display Summit). The company won an award from ‘Commercial Integrator’ for this model at InfoComm.
The F90 includes Constant Light Output (CLO) as well with the solid state source lifetime rated at 20K hours when run in full bright 13K lumens mode. But if you run it at 10K lumens, the lifetime extends to 40K hours or so. And, you even have the option of changing the phosphor wheel should you need to operate the projector for longer than these hours.
The F90 is offered in a WUXGA resolution and in a 4K resolution. The 4K model uses the 4 million mirror DLP chip with an image shifter, but this won’t be available until Q4’16. Barco says the F90 will be the world’s smallest and lightest 4K laser phosphor projector in this lumen class. It will achieve the Rec. 709 color gamut.
Image shifting has also been introduced in the 3-chip DLP model – the HDX-4K20 FLEX. This uses a native 0.9” WQXGA (2560 x 1600) 3-chip engine with an image shifter optic to allow a screen resolution of 3840 x 2400, if desired. We were told the processing for the image shaft can be done in about ½ a frame time, so quite fast. Light output is 19K lumens in WQXGA mode or 17.5K lumens in 4K+ mode.
The Flex aspect also applied to the lumen output which can range from 10K to 19K lumens – with the constant light out option as well. This is a Xenon lamp-based model, however. Lots of other features are included for this model as well to suit high end fixed installer needs.
Barco introduced a laser-phosphor based rear projection cube, covered in a separate article and described at the Display Summit. (DS31 Barco Happy with RP Cubes for Control Rooms)
Barco is more than just a projector supplier of course, so they also introduced upgrades to their screen management products – the Event Master portfolio. Two new additional models were added: the E2 Jr and S3-4K Jr. The new Jr models will do advanced 4K processing and are perfect for small to medium-size applications in the events market. The new products will begin shipping from June 2016. They can also be upgraded to full spec E2 and S3 models by adding additional cards.
Offering 16 inputs, 8 outputs, and 8 mixers, the E2 Jr features the same 4 RU form factor as its bigger E2 brother. The S3-4K Jr comes with 8 inputs, 4 outputs, and 2 mixers in the same 3 RU form factor as its bigger S3-4K brother. Just like the E2 and S3-4K, the Jr models are controlled from the same Event Master Toolset, a cross-platform GUI that provides an intuitive step-by-step approach to system configuration.
Finally, Barco also introduced new ClickShare wireless presentation solutions for meeting rooms, executive boardrooms or huddle spaces. The new CSE-200 and CS-100 are ideal for small- to mid-size rooms. – CC
