What happens to how you see yourself when you travel into a nonphysical space?
Epson’s laser projectors are powering this curiosity of the sciences, the arts and the “human perception” in the new “Infinity Room” exhibit at the Exploratorium – an immersive learning laboratory located at Pier 15 in San Francisco, CA.
Created by award-winning media artist and designer, Refik Anadol, the “Infinity Room” explores one’s sense of self and one’s awareness as it transforms in an otherworldly and artificial environment through 3D kinetic and architectural visualization.
“We are excited to partner with Refik as he continues to use our large venue laser projectors to push the envelope of what’s possible in the visual arts,” said Gavin Downey, senior product manager, Epson America, Inc. “Refik is unique in his ability to leverage cutting-edge technologies to create human experiences that are about so much more than the technology itself.”
Inside the twelve-by-twelve foot “Infinity Room,” the distorted light and perpetually morphing visuals are powered by 4 Epson Pro L1505U projectors. These start-of-the-art laser projectors offer the high image quality and flexibility to create this immersive experience.
Epson’s Pro L1000-Series are the first projectors to offer integration with a laser-light source with an inorganic phosphor wheel, inorganic LCD panels, and Epson’s 3LCD technology. This combination boasts advanced performance, quality, reliability, and flexibility. This series contains 9 models from 6,000 to 15,0000 lumens, offers 9 optional lenses – one of which includes the world’s first zero-offset, ultra-short-throw lens.
“By using Epson’s laser projectors, ‘Infinity Room’ has almost 50,000 lumens, which creates a magical environment for Exploratorium visitors,” said Anadol. “Light is the major element in this exhibit, and I think the most important part of the experience is the quality of light the Epson laser projectors provide, as it is used to blur and interconnect the boundaries between the two realms of actual/fictional and physical/virtual.”
The “Infinity Room” exhibition will ran from June 15 through July 15, 2018, and was a featured installation at the Lightplay: Festival of Light June 16.
“Refik Anadol’s ‘Infinity Room’ is an inspiring, eye-opening experience,” says Chris Flink, the Exploratorium’s Sakurako and William Fisher Executive Director. “Digital and physical realities merge, and you become more attuned to what is happening around you. This curiosity and awareness [are] what we cultivate and curate at the Exploratorium – you make sense of the world and you become more awake to its possibilities. We’re ecstatic to be able to share ‘Infinity Room’ with our visitors this summer on Pier 15 and grateful to Epson for enabling it with their impressive projectors.”
At InfoComm 2018, earlier this month, Sony focused on “Creating Solutions Together,” aiming to inspire collaboration and get feedback from customers. Sony displayed its cutting-edge line of AV and presentation technologies, some of which were on display for the first time. There are a number of new developments by Sony, not all of them related to projectors, but all of them are sure to spark some interest!
8K x 4K Crystal LED Display System
At the center of their booth, Sony anchored their scalable 8K x 4K Crystal LED Display System to show InfoComm attendees stunning footage shot on the UHC-8300 — Sony’s first 8K System Camera.
The Crystal LED Display system is the industry’s first end-to-end 8K 120p HDR display. Boasting a contrast ratio of over 1 million to 1 and a 99% black surface area, this display creates exceptionally immersive visuals, high contrast, and high resolution.
Vision Exchange Active Learning Solution
On display for the first time, Sony showcased its flagship active learning solution, “Vision Exchange” Version 1.1. Its newest upgrade improved integrations with Skype for Business to better communications, distance learning, and smart note taking.
Version 1.1 will release later this month as a free upgrade to customers with V1.0. But for future updates, Sony plans to use their Software Upgrade Program and an annual subscription to guarantee software always remains current.
New Large Venue Laser Projectors
New to America, Sony displayed its two high-brightness installation laser projectors for the first time in the U.S. The VPL-FHZ120L is ideal for auditoriums and other large venues, and will be available in August of 2018. The VPL-FHZ90L is better suited for mid-to-large sized classrooms or meeting rooms and slightly smaller auditoriums, as well as houses of worship. It will be available in September 2018.
Both projectors offer a clean design. The laser light engine provides massive brightness, with and expanded color space capable of producing superior color precision, and maintain color and brightness for years — ideal for exhibitions and bright spaces, and museums as well.
Both projectors are WUXGA resolution. The VPL-FHZ90L is 9000 lumens, so as you may have already figured out, the VPL-FHZ120L is 12,000 lumens. That is a lot of bright!
Prices have not yet been announced.
Got Cameras? Sony Does
Featuring exceptional image quality, sensitivity, and flexible remote operation, Sony displayed their full life of Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras. This lineup included the new BRC-X1000 (4K) and BRC-H800 (HD), ideal for a variety of markets like classrooms, churches, medical spaces and conference rooms. Both models will be available in August 2018.
BRAVIA Professional Displays
Continuing with their theme for innovating collaborative solutions Sony’s newest BRAVIA Professional Displays provide an intuitive UI, network and serial communication contra, flexible installation options and HTML5 support. These displays combined with the Vision Exchange provide a fully equipped collaborative environment for classrooms and meeting rooms.
LCD and OLED Professional Monitors
Sony also showcased their lineup of LCD and OLED professional monitors ranging in size from 9” to 55.” These monitors offer a wide variety of high-end features such as the unique SDI & HMI sync free side by side, waveform, vectorscope and video and computer input versatility.
To enhance Sony’s Crystal LED display system and address requests from customers, Sony revealed two new solutions currently under development. Crystal LED is an IP-based work system intended for content sharing and design review. New features are anticipated to have the ability to monitor large volumes of data more reliably and monitor the flow and status of packets. And with Sony’s Color Management Solution, the Crystal LED display will also seamlessly work alongside Sony’s 4k OLED master monster for easy adjustments and color consistency.
Sonic Surf VR
Keeping up with virtual reality trends, Sony provided attendees with a virtual visit to an aquarium and museum with their new sound VR technology, the Sonic Surf VR. The Sonic Surf VR creates a unique interactive area where sounds move freely around a set space for a completely immersive experience. The Sonic Surf VR can be a stand-alone technology or combined with other technologies to create dynamic content and heighten the Sonic Serf VR experience. Sonic Serf VR will be available June 2018.
We are pleased to be able to share with you, recent business, education, and home projector sales tracking information, for North America. Below are the rankings of the top five best selling projectors, in three categories, the info is provided by PMA.
Pacific Media Associates (PMA) publishes what is typically a bi-monthly list of the best selling projectors in the Home Entertainment, Mainstream (Business) and 5,000-plus lumen categories (US sales only). The 5,000-plus lumen category replaces the 4,000 lumen category which was used in previous reports.
This time around as you can see below, Epson dominated (no, crushed!) the Mainstream (business / education) Category for both months. They swept all 5 slots twice in a row. In our previous reporting, I'm not sure anyone had ever done that.
But, if anyone could, it would be Epson, which PMA reporting last year, said had over 50% of North American projector marketshare, all to themselves. (Next I believe was Optoma with 7 or 8 percent.)
Optoma took three positions in both February and April, while Epson and BenQ, each had one each in February, and Epson had two in April. The 5000+ Lumen Category is more varied, including two Epsons, two Panasonics and a Sony in Feb. while in April, Sony and Hitachi had two each, while Panasonic had one.
In Home Entertainment Projectors (which includes Home Theater), for February, Optoma picked up 3 out of the 5. BenQ and Epson each scored one. In April, Optoma beat out Epson, three projectors to two.
Note, since this is above unit shipments, the Home Entertainment list is dominated by sub $1000 projectors. Epson's lineup, has traditionally included dominating the $2000 - $4000 range, but those projectors just don't sell in as high a volume, to match these lower cost projectors numbers. Sony also is strong, but with their entry level home projector starting at $1999... same thing.
It would be nice if PMA did capped home entertainment to under $1500 and created a separate "over $1500" category too.
PMA has been doing this reporting since the 1990s, and the releases continue to provide our industry with valuable information. They sell detailed information of their tracking to the manufacturers, which find the data useful. We get a summary - a top five, while paying manufacturers get virtually a unit by unit breakdown of most projectors sales numbers.
When my old company was a major internet projector reseller, we, like most others, reported our data to PMA.
We combine their data to produce our summaries and comments for your information.
We've provided some links at the bottom of each list. Those are either a review of the same projector as seen on the list, or a sibling - typically one with almost identical feature sets, except perhaps different resolution, or different brightness. Any links will relate closely to describing the projectors making the PMA lists shown here. -art
February 2018 Top Projectors By Sales and Category
A few models continued to be popular in both months. We’ll have to wait and see if there is crossover next time!
Epson has just announced a new bundle pack for their BrightLink Pro interactive projector line. The bundle includes an all-in-one whiteboard and mount system with a combination 100-inch, 16:10 Da-Lite® IDEA® whiteboard, a hard screen surface ideal for interactive pens, and the Chief ultra short throw wall mount.
These are offered individually as well, for those who wish to purchase for other interactive Epson projectors, or those who already have a BrightLink Pro projector.
The Bundle
The bundle price will be offered with the Epson BrightLink Pro 1460Ui and 1470Ui. See the bundle on display with the BrightLink Pro 1470Ui at the Epson booth (#C2220) at Infocomm 2018 in Las Vegas, which will take place next week, June 6-8.
Epson’s BrightLink projectors bring interactive solutions to both the conference room and the classroom, with the BrightLink Pro line being intended for business applications. Using the interactive pens, presentations and concepts come to life, aiding in higher productivity and better communication.
The Da-Lite IDEA whiteboard is both magnetic and dry-erase, serving a dual purpose as a hard screen surface optimized for finger-touch and interactive pen use, and as a functioning whiteboard. This is no typical whiteboard, however – it is designed to eliminate virtually all glare, making it perfect for use with an interactive projector. It has a 16:10 aspect ratio and supports WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution.
Pricing and Availability
The all-in-one bundles for the BrightLink Pro 1460Ui, 1470Ui, and Da-Lite IDEA whiteboard will be available June 2018 through Epson and authorized dealers, with a five-year limited warranty included for the following:
BrightLink Pro 1460Ui with all-in-one whiteboard/mount system: $4,689
BrightLink Pro 1470Ui with all-in-one whiteboard/mount system: $4,989
All-in-One Whiteboard and Wall Mount System for BrightLink Pro: $1,799
Da-Lite 100-inch IDEA Screen whiteboard: $1,299
We are pleased to be able to share with you, recent business, education, and home projector sales tracking information, for North America. Below are the rankings of the top five best selling projectors, in three categories, the info is provided by PMA.
Pacific Media Associates (PMA) publishes what is typically a bi-monthly list of the best selling projectors in the Home Entertainment, Mainstream (Business) and 4,000-plus lumen categories (US sales only).
You will see below that Epson dominates the Mainstream Category for both months. Optoma has several entries in the Home Entertainment category for both months as well. The 4000+ Lumen Category is more varied, including Sony, Panasonic and Hitachi projector models.
BenQ scores one projector in the Home Entertainment Category.
They’ve been doing this since the 1990s, and the releases continue to provide our industry with valuable information. They sell detailed information of their tracking to the manufacturers, which find the data useful. We get a top five, paying manufacturers get virtually a unit by unit breakdown of most projectors sales numbers. When my old company was a major internet projector reseller, we, like most others, reported our data to PMA.
We combine their data to produce our summaries and comments for your information.
We've provided some links at the bottom of each list. Those are either a review of the same projector as seen on the list, or a sibling - typically one with almost identical feature sets, except perhaps different resolution, or different brightness. Any links will relate closely to describing the projectors making the PMA lists shown here. -art
For those looking for the Home Theater category, that will probably come out in two months, this time, we only have the lower end - around $1000 or less Home Entertainment projectors, They do those more serious home theater projectors separately.
A few observations about the results:
First, there's usually some shifting around from month to month, in most categories. In some categories it's more than others. Home Entertainment usually has about 6-8 projectors that dominate the top 5. Notice in December and January, it was the same five, just in different order. New models often cause a change. Sometimes an all new projector becomes a hot seller, but other times it's just "replacement time."
For example both the Optoma HD142X and the BenQ 2050 have just been replaced. I expect the new models to show up soon, but let's say both the BenQ 2050, and the replacement 2050a (I'm reviewing late April), might not make the list for a couple of months as some dealers will be out of the old ones, while others are still selling them. Splitting the potential market share between the two, definitely could cause neither of them to make the top 5, even if both together easily could.
Best Selling Home Entertainment Projectors 12/17
Projector
Comments
#1 Optoma HD142X
Full HD 3D projection, portable, $999 price
#2 Epson Home Cinema 2150
1.60:1 zoom lens, 1080p, 60,000:1 contrast, read our full review in the link below
#3 Benq HT2050
7.3 lbs., 15,000:1 contrast, Full HD 3D
#4 Optoma GT1080Darbee
Full HD 3D, 30,000 contrast ratio, Short-throw lens
When you look at 4000 lumen and over projectors, there's a lot more variation from month to month. That said, it looks like Sony's first affordable laser projector (the least expensive laser around), has carved out a top position. In November Hitachi put two on the top five, but dropped out in December as Epson and Panasonic both added a second projector to the top 5. One of the reasons theres a lot of shifting, is in this area, there are often large buys, such as by a university or corporation, so that in any given month, a projector that isn't normally a top seller, can jump onto the list. Of course, the most popular ones tend to visit more often.
One thing of significance to point out. While lamp based laser projectors start out close to $1000, in November, 2 of the five 4000 lumen plus projectors were laser projectors. In December that increased to three out of five!
I believe that's fair proof, that at least in the 4000 and up lumen range, the laser's day has come. At the moment, though we don't have any laser projectors close in price to typical low cost business and education projectors that sell under $1000. I should note that Casio, definitely a "player" does offer a lower cost solution for solid state - an LED/Laser combination that they've been selling for probably 6-7 years now, with good success even if they didn't make either top 5 list.
A last thought to pass along: Many of you may be wondering why Epson has so many units making the lists. Between both months, Out of 15 slots each month, Epson racked up 7 in December, and 8 in January. Folks that's half. So, how do they do it? Well they have more projectors in more market categories than anyone else, and over the years, they've managed to, per industry trackers, exceed 50% of projector sales in North America (that's not counting small pico projectors). They have the advantage of being the major LCD panel manufacturer. Sony makes some but only for a few markets. That lets Epson, almost single handedly do battle against more than a dozen well known DLP brands. Perhaps it's the 3LCD vs DLP that's really the reason. Epson's market share is impressive considering how many manufacturers there are, with Optoma having the 2nd highest market share at an otherwise respectable 7%!
January's Top Projectors By Sales And Category
Best Selling 4,000 + Lumen Projectors 1/18
Projector
Comments
#1 Sony VPL-PHZ10
Laser light engine, 500,000:1 contrast, 5 year warranty, read our review in the link below
A few models continued to be popular in both months. We’ll have to wait and see if there is crossover next time!
I started to write this to let folks know that I'm starting a new review today, of the Dell S718QL, a DLP, UST (ultra short throw) laser projector with 4K UHD resolution. Then I realized with the S718QL projector review likely to post within 2 weeks, it made more sense to look at the Dell projector now, as representative of a new class of projector, or rather, a new set of features. Down below I'll provide the basic specs and key features of the S718QL, but mostly I am using this space to discuss what a laser powered, UST projector with 4K UHD brings to the party - that is, why consider it, what advantages does it have, and who might be the types of users to purchase one (or many).
And, of course, with all that in mind I also recalled that Ron recently posted his review of what has to be considered competition to the S718QL, and that projector would be The Optoma UHZ65 - also 4K UHD using the same DLP chip, also laser, but not Ultra Short Throw. It's also not near as bright, but otherwise, a competitor in that it is 4K UHD, and laser. Although it is not as bright it only sells for about $500 less, so that makes it an even more serious competitor.
Dell S718QL - one of the first business projectors to combine 4K UHD, Laser engine, and Ultra Short Throw design
I should note that Dell (and also Optoma) in announcing these 4K UHD projectors have positioned them for business, commercial, education use, not for home, but there's plenty of interest in laser powered 4K UHD projectors as home theater and home entertainment projectors as well. One can easily point out that a laser engine offers advantages in the home perhaps even greater than in the business world.
Ron, in reality (really being a home theater enthusiast extraordinaire), originally wrote the Optoma UHDZ65 laser projector review with a home use slant although I asked him to go back and add to it in depth as a business solution as well, which he did. I'm in the same position wth the S718QL. We normally don't calibrate business projectors just home theater ones, but I had Eric try to calibrate the Dell S718QL, because I saw interest in it as a home projector. Well, first tidbit about the Dell - they didn't provide all the calibration controls we need to do a great home theater calibration. Is that a deal breaker - I'll let you know in the full review (I can't answer that yet, as I've only fired it up briefly).
Ultimately the Dell S718QL for that reason (and some others) is a better solution for business and education than it is for home use. That's all I'm going to say about the Dell, (or the Optoma), as home projectors, in this blog. What I want to spend the next couple of minutes on is what these projectors - and others arriving soon, with similar configurations, bring to the business/education community.
The three standout features of this new class of projector that the Dell represents - that is, the key features of this new class are: Ultra short throw design, 4K content handling, and a bright, laser light engine. All make sense in many commercial environments.
4K Content Handling
Do most business and education setups need 4K content capability? Hardly - most of K-12 Education hasn't even gotten to 1080p or WUXGA (1920x1200) resolution yet, rather is still WXGA and 720p, or XGA or even older SVGA.
Higher Education installations are far more likely to be 1080p or WXGA, but do they need 4K content handling? Few setups will allow participants to appreciate a real difference between content shown in WXGA vs 4K UHD. Why? Start with where people sit. Like sharpness, distance vs screen size is the key. As I like to use as a over the top example, you can look at a 27 inch old school pre HDTV TV set and a 27 inch 1080p set, and at 5 feet away, the difference in sharpness and resolution is obvious, and massive. But move back to 25 feet, and you probably won't be able to tell a difference. Now think conference room. Sure the person speaking at the front, and the first few folks at a conference table will be able to see a difference between WUXGA and 4K UHD projectors on 4K content, but the folks further back in the room won't. It's like projecting a spreadsheet - the numbers have to be big enough to be readable in the back, no matter how sharp they are in the front of the room.
Input panel on back of the Dell S718QL projector
So, there will be some demand, in higher ed - for specialty applications, renderings, such as architectural, or engineering, medical imagery, or perhaps projecting works of art. But mostly, the 4K UHD isn't going to be in huge demand anytime soon in higher education, except for such uses. It's just not going to be needed in a literature class and probably not urban sociology. In a lecture hall, those folks in the back will have no idea they are being "treated" to a 4K source.
The Basic Features and Specs of the Dell S718QL Projector:
5000 lumens
Technologies in Use: DLP, Laser light engine, 4K UHD resolution, UST design, Pixel shifting, Media player,
3 HDMI (2 HDMI 1.4a, 1 HDMI 2.0)
20,000 hour laser engine (Normal power mode - which is full power)
2716x1528x2 resolution (pixel shifts to put 8.3M pixels on screen)
500 watt maximum power draw
Noise levels - 36db and 29db (Normal and Eco)
Screen size - 100" to 130" diagonal
Built in speakers - 2 x 6 watts
Bluetooth to work wirelessly with external speakers (a very nice touch!)
Split screen capability - Four sources at once
On board media player for PC free - can project Microsoft office files
Weight: 33 lbs.
LAN networking (content over network limited to WUXGA and lower - not 4K), Crestron compatible
Pricing - List price: $5999, but Dell sells it on their own site for $4999, which should make $5K the "unofficial" street price, as any dealers are likely to sell it for no more than that, and possibly less.
2 year warranty with rapid replacement program, Extended warranties available out to 5 years total, including replacement program extension
UST - Ultra Short Throw design
UST projectors tend to be a good deal more expensive than traditional normal and short throw projectors. That said, they are fast gaining in popularity, and if there was price parity, that would happen much faster. Why?
There are several basic reasons, and projectors like the S718QL support those:
They sit close to the screen, so that the presenter isn't blinded by their light, nor creating shadows blocking the image
They are ideal for using projectors interactively. This Dell isn't a fully interactive projector but be sure those are coming, and the S718QL, I suspect can do the basic interactive behaviors by controlling them from mobile devices, as is true of many projectors. Easy to use pen, or fingertip, control of the projector, creating and manipulating content, and annotation are part of what we call full interactivity.
Installation cost of UST projectors is less than traditional projectors. If they are mounted, they are on the same wall as the screen, so less wiring. Or, they can often be used table top, not needing to be ceiling mounted, because, sitting on a credenza in front of the screen, they are "out of the way." And out of the way, is also what ceiling mounting does.
Laser light engine
Both the S718QL (and also that non UST UHZ65) have long life laser light engines so you can figure, (pre-mature failure notwithstanding) that the laser engines will outlive the projectors usefulness, unless you drop the projector into something like a 24/7/365 environment (but that rarely is the case, except for somedigital signage applications).
20,000 hours even running 24/7/365 is 168 hours a week, or roughly 2.5 years. But even 8 hours a day, 5 days a week works out to 10 years!
One real advantage for special applications for laser light engines is combining them with edge blending or projection mapping to create a seamless image (with the same color) stretching across multiple projectors. That, folks is high end stuff, but these first generation 4K UHD UST projectors aren't offering those features. That tech is often used in museums to project large images across multiple projectors as a single image.
The primary advantages of laser light engines, though, are the long live, and no lamps to change, with lamp changing being a support function that requires some tracking and manpower, both of which can be expensive if managing a fleet of projectors.
Still lamp life has been improving so that in eco modes 5000, 6000, or even 8000 hours has been showing up on the spec pages of many lamp based projectors. (In the good old days - aka 1999, 500 hours was all you could expect).
Laser engines have other benefits. Lamp projectors start losing brightness pretty much on day one. By the time you have a few hundred hours on most lamp based projectors you are already down 20% in brightness. By the time you replace the lamp, it's down 50%. With a laser - it too drops in brightness, but slowly over those typical 20,000 hours, so that by 20,000 hours (longer in Eco mode) brightness will have dropped 50%. So you have a bright image for far, far, longer, and won't be in a situation like some with lamp projectors where you need to replace the lamp long before it is near its full life because you need to get the brightness back up.
Today, we're paying roughly $2000 extra for a laser engine in most projectors, so that's the trade-off. Over its life, you can figure that if it was lamp based, there would be 2-4 service calls to replace lamps. We figure that that's got a real cost of a couple/few hundred dollars each time. As a result, the labor intensive aspects of a lamp projector aren't great enough to rationalize spending for a laser projector, but those costs should at least wipe out about half of the difference. The other rationales are the overall less hassle, the more consistent brightness, and perhaps extremely important to some. Lamp based projectors shift color as the lamps age. Lasers will too but any shift should prove minor by comparison.
Full Interactivity?
Neither the Dell S718QL (or the Optoma UHZ65 for that matter) offer full interactivity, but its quite likely we'll see future versions of both that add that. How soon? That well may depend on how fast 4K UHD projector prices fall, and start closing in on WUXGA models with similar features. I suspect that far more interactive projectors go into schools than businesses, and if that's accurate, pricing and need for 4K UHD in schools may delay the arrival of full interactive 4K UHD models.
For this Dell- or rather its future interactive siblings, to be successful, here's the hurdle:
A similar UST type, but merely WUXGA projector, but one with more features, especially massive interactive abilities, exists. The obvious, and excellent example, is Epson's new Brightlink Pro 710UI which we just reviewed here. It sells for $3500 list price for normal business, but for far less with education pricing. In their Brighter Futures education program, Epson offers the projector to schools for $2699). Not only do you get full interactivity, but similar brightness (it splits the difference - the Dell claims 5000 lumens, the Optoma 3000 lumens, and the Epson 4000 lumens. By comparison the Dell sells for $5000 to business, and the Optoma about $4500 street.
So, buyers will need to decide if they will get enough benefit from having 4K support, in exchange for spending $1000 - $1500 more for Optoma and Dell projectors that lack interactivity, and are respectively 1000 lumens less bright and 1000 more bright than a WUXGA alternative.
The Bottom Line:
First, I think both Dell and Optoma need to launch fully interactive versions of their projectors. They should do well because increased demand for interactivity is the demand, and technically it doesn't add that much to the cost ($500? maybe).
That aside, both, with the Dell being a lot brighter for not much more money, than the Optoma, unless we find some glaring advantages to the Optoma, the Dell is likely to be the better value. I'll let you know when I post the Dell S718QL full review.
Mostly though, sales of these models should do fairly well, (very well considering their very high prices compared to alternatives - because they are 4K UHD). Buyers on the non-home side most likely will chose this "new" class of projector because they have an immediate need to show 4K content, or HDR content, or because they have the budget, and want to future proof as much as possible. Just remember, it takes us a long time for our industry to move up one full step in resolution. A dozen years ago WUXGA (and 1080p) projectors were a tiny part of the market. Yet today, I still don't think WUXGA projector make up more than half of K-12 purchases. On the other hand, WUXGA should be significantly larger in market share in business and higher education.
So the real bottom line comes down to what you need, what you want, why, and whether you can afford the difference.
Last thoughts: Projector Screens - a nice thing about UST projectors is you can pair them with what are now called ALR (light "rejecting") screens, that are specifically designed for UST projectors. That's a good thing. Just remember this, those ALR screens are not nearly as effective at working in high ambient light rooms as ALR screens designed for normal throw projectors. They are, however, very effective when lighting is coming from overhead, and the UST projector is table top. If the UST projector is mount above the screen, though, then it is helpless against light above, but very effective against light rising up from the floor in front of the projector. (Not a likely scenario). The UST ALR type screens aren't noticeably more effective on light coming from the back of the room either. The alternative would be standard screens with little or no gain - ie. 0.9, 1.0 or 1.1 gain. Higher gain screens will appear too dark in the corners when paired with a UST projector. These normal screens cost far less than the ALR types and in many rooms work virtually as well.
Where in your organization will a UST projector work best - and also an interactive UST projector? Possibly in "huddle "room" or in small conference and other setups where everyone sits around and close to the front. That way, people can see and take advantage of the higher resolution the Dell S718QL - and the non-UST Optoma UHZ65 projectors offer in terms of sharpness and detail. As soon as the people viewing start sitting further back - conference tables, or theater style seating, the 4K UHD value becomes limited, mostly to the folks up front.
I'm looking forward to putting Dell's S718QL projector through its paces - both as a commercial - be it business, education, entertainment or other uses, and also as a home entertainment, home theater projector. Look for the full review late Feb, 2018. If it's past that time, the full review, and a short video, should be live for your viewing! -art
Optoma is a major player in the projector industry, known well for their great gaming projectors. But home theater is only a small slice of the pie, with projectors for business, education, and houses of worship making up the vast majority of units on the market. Optoma has just announced their latest contribution to the commercial projector world, the Optoma ProScene WU615T and ProScene EH615T. The two DLP projectors are designed for ease of installation and flexibility, as well as professional-grade performance and image quality. Let’s take a look at these new additions from Optoma.
Meet the Projectors
The Optoma ProScene WU615T and ProScene EH615T are two high performance projectors geared toward commercial applications, such as corporate environments and houses of worship. Their biggest selling point is their high lumen count and affordability – Optoma claims them to be the “brightest, most affordable WUXGA and 1080p fixed lens projectors available in the market.” They are certainly both bright and affordable (though we tend to be skeptical of words like “most” and “best” when coming from manufacturers), with the WU615T delivering a whopping 6,500 lumens at 1920 x 1200 WUXGA resolution, and the ProScene EH615T offering just 300 less (6,200 lumens) at full 1920 x 1080 HD, both priced under $3,000.
I reviewed a high-end business/education projector from NEC that had the same lumen claim as the Optoma ProScene WU615T, and that one goes for about $4,000 more (approximately only $2,500 more when looking at street price). Granted, that NEC PA653UL is a 1080p pixel shifter (can handle 4K content, while these two projectors cannot) loaded with so many features that many corporations or houses of worship will never use (like projection mapping and edge blending), so its mention here is mainly to give an idea on where these Optoma projectors fall in terms of price. That said, you can get the Optoma ProScene WU615T for $2,999, and the ProScene EH615T for $2,799. They can be found through authorized dealers such as Projector People, Full Compass, and Projector Superstore.
The Optoma ProScene WU615T and EH615T projectors have a 1.8:1 manual zoom lens for greater placement flexibility.
While these two projectors aren’t as loaded as the NEC I just mentioned, they are still packed with desirable features. The HD resolution will be plenty sharp for corporate and house of worship applications, with a high focus on placement flexibility. Optoma knows that the architecture of these types of rooms sometimes does not lend itself well to mounting a projector for optimum performance. That is why they’ve included features like horizontal and vertical lens shift, keystone correction, four-corner geometric correction, a 360-degree and portrait modes, and a hefty 1.8:1 zoom ratio. The projectors come equipped with plenty of connectivity options, including two HDMI ports (plus MHL for streaming) and HDBaseT for running signals over long distances, giving the projectors excellent placement flexibility in relation to their source input’s placement. The projectors also come with two 10-watt speakers (stereo), which will be loud enough for most applications, though larger houses of worship may wish to hook up external speakers so that sound will reach all corners of the room.
Highlights
HD Resolution (WU615T – WUXGA Resolution, EH615T – 1080p Resolution)
Affordable (WU615T - $2,999, EH615T - $2,799)
Vertical and Horizontal Lens Shift
1.8:1 Manual Zoom Lens
Geometric and Keystone Correction
360-degree and Portrait Modes
ECO Mode
HDBaseT
HDMI w/MHL
10,000:1 Contrast Ratio
1.2 – 2.16:1 Throw Ratio
Two 10-Watt Speakers
This video features Art Feierman, Editor of ProjectorReviews.com, speaking with the representative from NEC at Infocomm 2017, held in Orlando, FL from June 14-16, 2017. This is a live video taken from our Facebook Live Streams of the event, and as such, it is of lower resolution.
Since Infocomm, Art has published an article about the convention. This article overviews the newest projectors from your favorite manufacturers like NEC, Epson, BenQ, Optoma, Sony, Vivitek, Viewsonic, and more. Learn about projectors that are revolutionizing the industry, like the one featured in this video, high-lumen count projectors, and more products utilizing 4K and 4K UHD. As usual, it features the usual witty commentary that you can only get from Projector Reviews. Read the article here.
In this video, we cover the newest products from NEC, a major player in the projector game. The company is a leader in LCD displays and projector solutions, and in philanthropy as well. NEC has just announced that they are providing a "gift-in-kind" of high quality, commercial-grade displays to Mercy Ships on June 27, 2017. Over 2,000 displays will be sent to this international faith-based organization that performs life-renewing surgeries on hospital ships while building long-term health care systems in the nations they service.
Ron Jones, our senior reviewer of business and education projectors, recently reviewed the NEC NP-ME331W, an awesome portable install projector and sibling of one of the projectors featured in this video. We created two videos of this projector - a short overview and a longer summary of the review (those can be found on our Projector Videos page). That projector won two awards in our recently published 2017-2018 Classroom Projector Report for Best In Classroom - Best Value and a Hot Product Award, our highest award. The report covers fifteen projectors we reviewed this year, from several top manufacturers.
This video features Art Feierman, Editor of ProjectorReviews.com, speaking with the representative from Canon at Infocomm 2017, held in Orlando, FL from June 14-16, 2017. This is a live video taken from our Facebook Live Streams of the event, and as such, they are of lower resolution. Watch to get a behind the scenes look at Infocomm 2017! (more…)Greetings from hot and humid Orlando, where this year the big trends are 4K UHD projectors, laser projectors, and ultra short throw ones, some are all three. There probably are more new projector models shown than the past two, or even three years combined. From just a handful of laser projectors six months ago, under $5000. There will soon be dozens, many dozens.
Infocomm was filled with business and education focused projectors with the 4K UHD chip, with even some starting, I believe, as low as $1500. Theses, of course, are all from the projector manufacturers that use DLP chips rather than 3LCD. (more…)
