Sony has been very quiet in the cinema projection market for quite some time. That is about to change as they unveil a new RGB 4K laser projector at the upcoming CinemaCon trade show in Las Vegas next week. We will be there to provide full details on this new projector.
What Sony has revealed so far is that it will offer “on-screen contrast levels dramatically exceeding inferior first-generation laser projectors”, be HDR capable and offer “super-smooth” 3D images.
Dubbed the SRX-R500 Series projectors, the color gamut was not defined, but should easily go beyond the DCI-P3 standard as other RGB laser projectors do.
According to Sony, the prototype 4K RGB laser projection system features a unique optical system that simultaneously displays two 4K resolution images through a single lens for 3D viewing when coupled to existing silver screens. That sounds like a passive polarization switching solution that might not use the RealD technology. This technology has been highly contested with law suits, so we will be interested to see what Sony has come up with next week.
At CineAsia last December, Sony rolled out a laser-phosphor cinema projector, the SRX-R515P, also with HDR and dual lenses. Sony will soon be able to offer 4K products with all three light sources for cinema, although timing and availability of these laser projectors is not yet announced.
Analyst Comment
Sony has said it would wait for the technology and timing to be right to launch an RGB laser cinema projector. It must feel the time is right now, although the ability to pay for these expensive projectors remains an issue as the Virtual print Fee (VPF) model that help fund the roll out of digital projectors is no longer available in mature markets. – CC
