A big part of ViewSonic’s presence at ISE revolved around the PJD6 ‘Lightstream’ projectors (ViewSonic Introduces Projectors with Improved Colour). We have covered these before, but to recap: they are DLP units with 3,200 – 3,800 lumens of brightness and 1.5 – 1.97:1 throw ratios.
All Lightstream projectors feature an integrated compartment on the front that hides an MHL-HDMI port, and can conceal an HDMI dongle. ViewSonic has its own dongle, the WPG-300, which enables IPTV and broadcast TV playback, however other dongles such as ChromeCast can be used.
Many DLP projectors do not match the mid-distance throw distance of 3LCD models, but ViewSonic is attempting to rectify this with the Lightstream range. Select models can match the 1.3 – 1.8:1 throw ratios of older 3LCD projectors, which form the majority of models used in education today, we were told. It is hoped that this will enable the projectors to catch a significant amount of business from the 3LCD replacement market, which is forecast to represent as much as 50% of the European projector market in 2015.
ViewSonic introduced a new LCD display in the Viewboard series at ISE 2014, and expanded the range this year. The 55″ CDE5560T, 60″ CDE6560T and 70” CDE7060T are 10-point touch displays with 7H glass, flicker-free and low blue light features. Each has 1920 x 1080 resolution and ports for HDMI, VGA, composite, RS232 and RJ45.
Viewboard Lite software, for annotations, is pre-installed. An OPS slot can hold an optional PC with Windows 8 Professional (NMP710-P8). These screens will be available from March, for €2,300, €3,565 and €4,965 respectively.
We also saw new commercial video wall displays with 3.8mm bezels: the 55″ CDX5552 (500 cd/m²) and CDX5554 (700 cd/m²). Both have 1920 x 1080 resolution and feature DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI-D, VGA, component and composite ports. The DisplayPort and DVI-D connections support daisy-chaining and IS pass-through. ViewSonic will begin selling these displays from June, for €3,425 and €4585, respectively.
There was a new 47.6″ 350 cd/m² LCD (CDS4802) for 16/7 use that has integrated HDBaseT. The firm told us that it had been especially developed for a QSR application, where the HDBaseT support was a specific requirement. Now that the technology has been developed, it may be more widely adopted in ViewSonic products.
