Accurate display of professional-quality photographic art demands precise reproduction of color and fine detail. That is why acclaimed photographer John Sexton chose Canon U.S.A., Inc.‘s REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector when he embarked on a lecture tour to promote his latest book, “Recollections: Three Decades of Photographs,” a collection of his large format images capturing the beauty of natural landscapes.
To accomplish the task at hand, Sexton needed a bright, high-resolution, color-accurate, big-screen – and portable – means of showing his photographs to a large audience. His search for such a solution led him to the Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector, which weighs only 10.4 pounds and uses Canon‘s proprietary AISYS-enhanced LCOS projection technology to display sharp SXGA+ (1400 X 1050) resolution images with a 1000:1 contrast ratio and 3500 ANSI lumens of brightness.
“When looking for a new projector, I researched the available options,” explained Sexton. “Prior to conducting the research, I made my ‘wish list‘ – something portable, easy to set up and break down, and most importantly, conducive for displaying professional quality productions.”
Projector Testing
“Once I narrowed down the field of projectors that I might ultimately use, I began testing them for quality, ease of use, and functionality,” said Sexton. “The first projectors I tested had low resolution, resulting in terrible picture quality. I realized that I needed a higher level of resolution to convey the subtleties of my large-format photographs, which whittled down my choices. I tested the Canon REALiS SX6 and a competitive model, and there was just no question. The Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector was my number-one choice.”
“I‘m very interested in the tactile qualities of the photographic image,” Sexton continued. “That‘s why I work with large-format film, and the one reason why I needed a projector that could take the subtleties that I work so hard to bring out in the darkroom and put into my prints, and display them so that people could appreciate what I see upon capturing the image.”
Sexton‘s images are captured in black & white, which he finds is the best way to evaluate a color projector. “I‘ve told people since I began investigating digital projection that if you want to test a color projector, try and run neutrals on it. You will see the oddities such as color crossovers, magenta highlights, and green shadows quite easily when it‘s all shades of grey,” Sexton noted.
Sexton‘s testing revealed that control of a projector‘s brightness can be essential for displaying the delicate subtleties of black & white photography. He was able to achieve this on the Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector by switching the projector to its Quiet Mode, which dims the intensity of the lamp, as well as reducing its operating volume to 31dB. “To simulate still photographs, I find a lot of projectors are simply too bright. However, with the REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector‘s Quiet Mode, it makes the projector almost silent. Quiet Mode also allows me to very easily tame the brightness down if I‘m in a small room, and that‘s how I run it most of the time.”
REALiS-tic Color Reproduction
Canon’s REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector offers outstanding color reproduction with its Adobe RGB Color Match System. A special RGB color filter on the REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector enables virtually accurate Adobe RGB color and sRGB, both of which are used by professionals for critical color-matching applications. Canon’s REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector enables users to project still or motion images with crisp clarity and color accuracy.
Canon‘s proprietary AISYS (Aspectual Illumination System) optical system maximizes the next-generation LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) display technology employed by the REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector to produce lattice-free, rich-color pictures at high resolution. Canon‘s AISYS-enhanced LCOS achieves crisp, color-rich, intricately detailed motion or still images by efficiently utilizing and equalizing light from the projector lamp. The REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector includes a wide variety of digital and analog video and computer display input interfaces.
For Sexton, the REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector‘s high resolution and color reproduction were absolute necessities for his presentations. “It‘s so important to me to try and get the best possible image quality, and that very quickly led me to Canon,” he declared. “Because of how I wanted to use the product at various venues, with the brightness I was going to need and the color spaces I needed to work in, I decided that the REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector was an easy choice. Between the performance of the projector and its higher, SXGA+ level of resolution, my photography looks as good as it possibly can with today‘s technology.”
Exceeding Expectations
Having made his choice, Sexton embarked on a ten-city lecture tour with his Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector, and its performance in venues of various sizes exceeded his expectations. “If my photographs don‘t look good on-screen to the people who aren‘t familiar with my pictures, then my words are meaningless,” said Sexton. “There aren‘t that many times in life when you buy something that really lives up to and exceeds your expectations, and this is one of those times. The REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector is an exceptional piece of equipment. It has worked beautifully. Without it, I just don‘t know how I would have done the lecture tour.”
Sexton wasn‘t the only one impressed by the Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector‘s output. The audiovisual professionals at the venues on his tour were clamoring for information about his projector. “I had to ask Canon to send me brochures, because everywhere I lectured, the audiovisual people came up to me afterwards and said ‘What kind of projector is that? We want to know about it,‘ ” Sexton recalled. “The performance and compact size of the REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector is what impressed these audiovisual professionals. I brought in a portable projector, and my presentation looked better than their permanent installation!”
During previous tours to show his work, Sexton had displayed his photography on a 35mm slide projector. The switch to the Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector has given him a newfound flexibility in his presentations, of which he has taken full advantage. “It gives me the ability to fine-tune a lecture,” Sexton elaborated. “I get an idea while I‘m up at the podium before the lecture starts, and I can instantly change the order of a couple of my images. I can be very spontaneous, and that gives me something I never had with 35mm slides. I could never be that spontaneous. I couldn‘t fine-tune a lecture to a group or to an idea that came to mind while I was there at the venue and reacting to the situation. With digital projection I can, and it‘s been a lot of fun.”
With every venue he lectures at, Sexton tests and compares his REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector to the in-house projector before deciding which one to use. Almost invariably, the REALiS is the projector of choice. “In nine out of ten lectures I‘ve run my Canon SX6 instead of the projector on-site, and the one time it came up short was against a $100,000 projector, so I feel that my investment is worth every penny,” Sexton stated.
The difference in the detail has been so significant that Sexton feels that he owes a sizeable portion of the credit for the success of his tour to his decision to purchase and use the Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector. “If I would have projected with what was available on-site, I would not have looked as good; I would not have looked professional,” he concluded. “I would have spent the entire talk apologizing for what people were seeing on the screen. Instead, we had great audiences, they were very responsive, and at the book signing I got compliments about what people saw on the screen. And that‘s what I wanted to accomplish. The Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia Projector helped make my success.”
About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. The company is listed as one of
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list of “Top 100 Brands.” Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent holder of technology, ranking third overall in the U.S. in 2006’, with global revenues of $34.9 billion. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company‘s RSS news feed by visiting the press release section of
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’IFI Patent Intelligence, January 11, 2007
