CEDIA EXPO '99: deja vu all over again
Nov 1, 1999 12:00 PM, Pete Putman
The theme of CEDIA EXPO '99 should have been: "Recycling is in." After spending several days at this year's show in Indianapolis, two trends have become quite clear. Manufacturers of CRT front projectors are concentrating on the consumer home theater market as demand in the professional A-V channel shifts to flat-matrix projection systems. Also, manufacturers of LCD and DLP projectors are rolling out consumer class B versions almost as quickly as their class A industrial/corporate counterparts.
There were quite a few CRT projectors, a dizzying number to choose from this year. Seleco had three new designs with 7 inch (178 mm) tubes, while Runco showed four models. One of them, the DTV-992, is essentially a BarcoGraphics 808 with autoconvergence circuitry. Zenith also rolled out a new CRT front projector, the Pro 1200, another recycled Barco design.
Vidikron had a few offerings in its unique styling, and Sony continues to sell its VPH-G70 and VPH-G90 8 inch (203 mm) and 9 inch (229 mm) models alongside the 7inch D50/D50HTU. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Madrigal's new MP-8 and MP-9 8 inch and 9 inch front projectors. These are also recycling projects; you have seen them before as the Electrohome Marquee 8500 and 9500, but these two projectors are not cheap at $45,000 and $60,000, respectively.
On to flat-matrix imaging. Two years ago, you could count the number of companies selling LCD- or DLP-engined front projectors on the fingers of one hand. Now, it seems that everyone is getting into the game. In fact, some manufacturers are actually competing with their OEM partners.
DreamVision, Plattsburgh, NY, has done fairly well with the DL500 projector, an adaptation of a chassis first manufactured two years ago by Davis of Norway. Originally known as the DL450, this small, 9.9 pound (4.5 kg) box uses a single 848 600 digital micromirror device (DMD) and incorporates power zoom and power focus.
Since then, Davis has undergone a major corporate restructuring while the DL450 slipped off everyone's radar in the professional A-V channel, but DreamVision's success with this product has inspired Davis to dip its own toes into the home theater market, and the two companies exhibited essentially the same product just a few aisles apart. Davis' offering will be called the Cinema One. (DreamVision also has decided to recycle the ASK A6 SVGA LCD desktop projector from the professional A-V channel, calling it the White Magic.)
No to be outdone, Runco also showed its version of the DL450 (the Lumiere) in private press meetings and dealer previews. No attendees could be blamed if they thought they were seeing double, or in this case, triple. The price difference among the three models is minimal - about a thousand dollars, although there were noticeable differences in image quality. Runco is also on the verge of recycling long-time partner NEC Technologies' GT2000 high-resolution installation LCD projector, which uses three 1,280 1,024 panels. (No decision yet on what to do with this box.)
Fujitsu, a powerhouse OEM that resells plasma to numerous companies, including Sony, and even makes projectors for Electrohome and Telex, decided to feature its products in its own booth, including a 1,000 lumen XGA LCD projector previously intended for boardroom use. This had to be an awkward moment for Telex, whose booth was directly across the aisle from Fujitsu.
If two different versions of the same product are launched simultaneously, does that constitute recycling? Sharp Electronics (professional A-V) recently announced the Notevision 6, a 2,000 lumen desktop XGA (1,024 7,68) projector intended for the professional A-V market, but the first NV6 shipments had hardly left the loading dock when SharpVision (consumer) rolled out the XV-DW100U, a 1,000 lumen version of the same projector shipping early next year.
PLUS Corporation could not resist the urge to visit Indianapolis either, showing the exact same U2-870 SVGA and U2-1080 XGA ultraportable DLP projectors that are offered to the professional crowd. Ditto Toshiba, which had a major rollout at INFOCOMM with six new models. One of them, the TLP450, has already found its way into the home theater market. Now branded as the TLP-MT1, it has a three-panel 800 600 polysilicon LCD light engine and is capable of showing both 4:3 and 16:9 letterbox video. A separate RGB input works with computer displays and 480p outputs from Toshiba's new progressive-scan DVD players.
JVC, fresh from its consolidation with Hughes-JVC in California, brought along a full rack of presentation displays from INFOCOMM, showcasing the D-ILA technology in the G10 (1,000 lumens) and G15 (1,500 lumens). Both projectors use a xenon lamp and 1,365 1,024 reflective LCD panels. There is even a rear-projection version of this projector, which was originally intended for the boardroom/conference room market.
Things are just as crazy with the large-screen monitor folks, particularly among the plasma manufacturers. Sony showed both wide VGA and wide XGA 42 inch (1,067 mm) plasma panels, as did Fujitsu. Panasonic rolled out the PT-42PD1 42 inch wide VGA plasma for the consumer market, and reseller Electrograp h had Toshiba's PD42W1 42 inch panel available. NEC's new 42 inch offerings were available through Runco and JVC, and Pioneer released the consumer version of its 50 inch (1,270 mm) plasma display at the show.
There were a few new products at the show that will get recycled in the other direction from consumer to professional. Sharp's LC-R60HDU 60 inch (1.5 m) RP TV is notable for its unique imaging technology - three 2.6 inch (66 mm) Continuous Grain Silicon (CGS) LCD panels with 1,280 1,024 non-square pixels. These are currently the highest-resolution flat-matrix imaging devices available in a true 16:9 aspect ratio (JVC's D-ILA measures 1,365 1024 in a 4:3 package), and you can bet that they will wind up in an installation LCD projector by INFOCOMM 2000.
Sony also showed the successor to its popular VPL-W400Q video projector, unveiling the VPL-VW10HT LCD projector. It uses three new 1,365 768 polysilicon LCD panels and is rated at 1,000 lumens (700 lumens cinema black mode). This product will surely find favor among professional A-V dealers as a reasonably priced HDTV projection solution, probably in its current incarnation with little or no changes. It is, after all, RGB-ready but uses five color-coded RCA jacks for component inputs.
In an unusual move, SharpVision has taken the original Notevision 1 (professional) chassis and re-engineered it for home theater. When first sold through the professional A-V market, the Notevision 1 used 800 600 polysilicon LCD panels for imaging. The new, improved home theater version uses 640 480 polysilicon panels and produces 350 ANSI lumens. Where did those panels come from? No doubt they were recycled from OEM partner Sony, whose last VGA-engined projector (VPL-V500Q) has been out of the Sony product line for some time.
Among the interface crowd, Extron Electronics did a little cosmetic reworking to introduce a new line of switchers and distribution amps. The SW6 component/HDTV switcher and ADA 6 component/HDTV distribution amp are merely adaptations of other RGBHV designs, re-lettered and configured with three BNC jacks per video channel. Extron is also offering products previously reserved for the professional market, such as the VCS 300 and 300D scan converters, EQ100 video EQ and DVS100 video scalar.
RGB Spectrum also sees opportunity in the consumer market, with a brand-new line multiplier (DTQ doubler/tripler/quadrupler), higher-end video scalar (VLI200), and a computer/video scan rate mixer, the SynchroMaster 350. This last product essentially performs the functions of Snell and Wilcox's Interpolator, but at a much lower price.
Faroudja has been straddling the line between professional and consumer for many years and, in fact, showed a pair of video (DVP-3000 series) scalars that premiered at INFOCOMM. On the other hand, Communications Specialties, a company that concentrated solely on the professional until now, showed off the new Deuce Pro video scalar and a couple of scan converters.
What significance can be drawn from these product showings? For one thing, the boundaries between professional A-V and consumer monitors, projectors and interfaces is becoming less distinct each year. I cannot remember a time when so many products had dual debuts into both markets, particularly all of the current-generation plasma display panels.
>From a systems integrator standpoint, most of the boundaries between >professional A-V and consumer are gone; even Pioneer's PDP-505HD consumer >50 inch plasma is essentially the PDP-V502MX professional version with a >few bells and whistles changed. Philips Electronics has long been in the >vanguard of offering professional products that are re-branded as consumer >products, but there will soon be others.
Finally, there are the winds of change. Two scant years ago, the majority of displays shown at CEDIA used picture tubes or projection CRTs. Now, you can see a tidal wave of flat-matrix technologies approaching, just as it overwhelmed INFOCOMM this past June. Thinkabout this: At the 1997 INFO-COMM Projection Shoot-Out, there were a total of 19 CRT front projectors entered. This year, there were exactly three models in the competition; all other front projectors used LCD or DLP.
To me, there is absolutely no question that the home theater market will soon be overrun with LCD and DLP projectors, just like INFOCOMM. Their combination of low price and plug-and-play operation will appeal to many buyers. How can you go wrong with a 14 pound, (6.3 kg) 350 lumen 640 480 LCD video projector for under $4,000 that is also 480p-ready?
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