That’s a wrap for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)® of 2022. As you may or may not know, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) owns and has been producing the CES since 1967, when the first CES took place in New York City. As the CTA says, “CES® is the most influential tech event in the world - the proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators.” I will, however, venture to say that CES 2022 has been one of the more unusual events due to the world’s current state of affairs. Fortunately, the CTA took the steps necessary to mitigate COVID-19 and make attendees feel comfortable. Overall, the CTA produced a worthwhile CES® event, even with the reduced number of participants.
SONY
There were no projectors from Sony, but they did have Tom Holland and Uncharted the movie to talk about.
Projector Reviews headed to and arrived in Las Vegas on January 4th, 2022 (Tuesday) to attend the media-only press conferences. Technical Editor and Lead Reviewer Phil Jones and I walked over to the Sony press conference to see if they had any news on projectors, which they did not. While Sony did not have any projector information for us, they did have Tom Holland on stage to talk about his new action-adventure film called “Uncharted.” Yes, Uncharted as in the Sony PlayStation cinematic action-adventure game Uncharted published by Sony Interactive Entertainment! Tom Holland will be playing Nathan Drake. They even showed us an Uncharted trailer with Tom Holland, aka Nathan Drake doing a crate-hopping plane sequence that looked to be inspired from Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The release date for Uncharted on February 18th, 2022. Based on the movie trailer I saw and Sony’s interview with Tom Holland, I am sure Uncharted will be a movie you will want to playback on your home projector home over and over again.
PEPCOM’S DIGITAL EXPERIENCE!®
Pepcom’s Digital Experience!®.
After the Sony media event, Samsung and Pepcom had media-only events. With multiple events happening simultaneously, Phil and I decided we needed to divide and conquer. So we split forces and attended the two different media events. Phil went over to Samsung’s presentation while I went to Pepcom’s largest media event called Digital Experience!®. The media event is held every January on the evening before the CES show opens to all who have registered to attend. While I was not able to participate in the Samsung presentation myself due to going to the Pepcome Digital Experience!®, Phil Jones and Philp Boyle got all of the information you need on “The Freestyle.” The Freestyle is Samsung’s newest portable projector. Click here to see Technical Reviewer Philip Boyle’s coverage on The Freestyle.
Pepcom’s ice sculpture said, “Welcome Back to the Future.”
Pepcom’s Digital Experience!® was full of editors, reporters, influencers, and bloggers. Pepcom’s signs made it perfectly clear that the event was for registered media personnel only. The event had a “Back to the Future” theme with their signage stating, “The media event of the future again” and “Welcome back to the future.” It was fun and clever. I quickly got my Digital Experience!® badge. I then powerwalked my way through the Digital Experience!® looking for projectors and anything projector-related. My powerwalking paid off, and I found Anker, XGIMI, and ViewSonic with at least one projector on display.
Pepcom even had a DeLorean on display to go with their theme.
ANKER
Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K projector.
While at the Pepcom Digital Experience!®, I spoke with Head of US Media Relations Tyler Mallery and Senior PR Manager Adam Weismann at the Anker demonstration station. The projector I saw there was not powered on; the demonstration station was more of a display booth with no demonstrations available with their projector. However, on display, they had a Nebula Cosmos projector. The Nebula Cosmos is a portable 4K laser projector with a built-in carrying handle. The Nebula Cosmos has AndroidTV (ATV) 10 via an included dongle, Chromecast built-in, and Dolby Audio. The Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K projector utilizes ALPD® 3.0 Laser Display Technology from Appotronics. Appotronics invented its unique ALPD® technology in 2007. Appotronics states, “ALPD®, namely the fluorescent laser technology, is used for image display based on the laser-excited fluorescent materials and mixed multi-color laser lines.”
The Nebula Cosmos is rated at 2,400 ANSI lumens and should project vivid 4K images up to 150-inches. Tyler and Adam stated the Nebula Cosmos will be available for pre-order on Kickstarter starting January 11th, 2022, and should be available a few months later. I was told the Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K projector will have a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $2,200. Click here to see Philp Boyle’s Industry News Article on the Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K portable laser projector.
XGIMI
XGIMI had most of its projectors displayed at the Pepcom Digital Experience!®.
XGIMI took part in the Pepcom Digital Experience!®. Senior Director Andres Gomez and CEO of CommunicateMore Ari B. Morguelan were staffing the XGIMI demonstration station. XGIMI had most of its projectors out on display at the Pepcom event. XGIMI even had the Horizon Pro projecting directly on the wall behind their demo station. However, their latest and greatest projector, the Aura 4K Ultra Short Throw (UST) Smart Laser Projector, was not demonstrated at the Pepcom event. Instead, I was advised that the Aura would only be demonstrated at their main CES exhibit. UST projectors like the Aura are also known as Laser TVs.
XGIMI had a booth on the CES floor where they displayed their projector lineup.
The XGIMI Aura has a Manufactures Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $2,499. The XGIMI Aura was released on October 12th, 2021. At an MSRP of $2,499, the Aura is quite the deal for such a high-quality UST projector. The feature set is simply outstanding at this price point, especially when considering the splendid fit and finish. I would even venture to say you are getting more than what you paid for if you decide the Aura is right for you. After all, the XGIMI Aura is a sophisticated all-in-one solution for a home cinema. The Aura allows the end-user to easily build a home-style 4K theater almost anywhere since you only need to place the Aura 17.3-inches from a wall or projector screen to project a 150-inch image. At only 4.3-inches away from a wall or UST projector screen, the Aura projects an 80-inch image for those of you with limited space. I will not go into the details of the XGIMI Aura here because we already have a full review of the projector. The Aura 4K Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector full review can be found by simply clicking on the blue highlighted text.
VIEWSONIC
ViewSonic X1 Smart LED Projector out on display.
Joey Lee, Principal at JSL Communications for ViewSonic, managed the ViewSonic demonstration station at the Pepcom Digital Experience!®. Joey had the ViewSonic X1 Smart LED projector out on display. Joey stated the ViewSonic X1 was a home theater projector with smart LED technology and native 1080p (1920x1080) resolution.
The X1 is rated at 3,100 LED lumens of brightness and up to 30,000 hours of light source life. Joey said the projector will have Cinema SuperColor+™ Technology with 125% Rec.709 wide color gamut. In addition, the X1 has built-in Harman/Kardon speakers for handling all of your audio needs. Joey also told me the ViewSonic X2 is coming out at the same time as the X1; April 2022.
The only difference between the X1 and X2 is the lens and the price. The X1 has a standard throw lens, vertical lens shift, 1.3x optical zoom, H/V keystone, and 4-corner adjustment. The X2 comes with a short-throw lens, 1.2x optical zoom H/V keystone, and 4-corner adjustment. The ViewSonic X1 has an estimated MSRP of $999, and the ViewSonic X2 has an estimated MSRP of $1,099. Click here to see Philp Boyle’s Industry News Article on ViewSonic X1 Smart LED projector and ViewSonic X2 Smart LED projector
That was it for projectors at the Pepcom Digital Experience!®. I could not find any other projectors or anything else projector-related. Anker, XGIMI, and ViewSonic had all the attention from those looking for projectors. Phil and I reconvened and compared notes on the Pepcom Digital Experience!® and the Samsung media-only event. We then returned to our hotel and prepared for the following day when we hit the floor on the opening day of CES 2022.
