Optoma’s focus was on retail digital signage – specifically, the benefits that projectors can bring to this space which FPDs cannot. Examples included mapping and picking out physical products to highlight, rather than displaying them on-screen.
A new projector on the stand was the WU1500; a DLP lamp-based model that can be used 24/7. It has dual lamps, producing 12,000 lumens of brightness, and 1920 x 1200 resolution. Nearby was an UltraHD prototype model, again using a lamp. This DLP projector will be able to output between 3,000 and 5,000 lumens. Optoma expects to release it in March.
An interesting new projector was Optoma’s UltraHD HLD model. This unit is the first UltraHD projector to use Philips’ HLD LED technology (which uses blue LEDs, converted to green with phosphors, plus red and blue LED chips). It will be released around the end of the year, and produce between 3,000 and 5,000 lumens (Hitachi, also showing an HLD projector (Hitachi Uses Philips), achieved 3,500 lumens). The prototype is capable of covering 100% of the SRGB gamut.
Colour accuracy is an important feature of Optoma’s projectors. The company had a separate area of its stand dedicated to Texas Instruments, where TI was highlighting the accuracy of DLP technology.
In a demonstration replicated on several stands across the show floor, TI was comparing the image from DLP projectors (supplied by Optoma, Vivitek, BenQ and Casio) to that of a $3,000 Panasonic reference-quality monitor. The colour accuracy was perhaps not as high as TI would have liked – but it was certainly better than the DLP projectors on Epson’s stand!
Analyst Comment
As you will see if you check our article on Epson at ISE (Epson is Serious About Colour Light Output), 3LCD’s campaign on CLO is not about accuracy, it’s about accuracy and colour at the highest brightness ratings on some projectors. By using RGB colour wheels, three chips, setting sRGB modes or other techniques, DLP can give great colour. (BR)
