Like nearly every projector maker, Barco is jumping on the laser phosphor bandwagon. The new unit will offer about 6000 lumens using a 1-chip DLP architecture and Barco thinks it will be one of, if not the quietest, projector in this class on the market when it becomes available this summer. The unit can run with a low 30 dBa noise level, 6-9 dBa lower than competitors.
Barco spent a lot of time working on the thermal management using a water cooled design for the six or so blue lasers. This uses membrane type cooling architectures that circulates the water directly under the lasers for better heat extraction. Thermal management of the lasers is the key to long lifetime, with a 2X increase in lifetime with every 10 degree drop in device temperature. Lifetime is specified at 20K hours MTBF.
The projector will come with all of Barco’s tools that are common to projectors from 3-40K lumens. It is aimed at applications in rental and staging, museums and other venues. It will be priced at $12,900 without a lens.
