Fun question -- What's next in the projector world???

[Keith from Canada]

Hey all.

We're now seeing some fairly significant shifts in the projector world. A few years ago, DLP was considerably more expensive than LCD and now the market has shifted and DLP offers some of the better budget projectors on the market. We're seeing the price of 720p projectors come way down (e.g. Infocus 7210 to under $1K) and we're now seeing some of the second generation 1080p units drop below the $1.5K mark.

With all that's going on, what do you see being the next big development for us projector junkies? I personally foresee a drop in introductory 1080p units under $1K and a blow-out of 720p models. What are your thoughts?

[Mike P.]

I wonder if there is anything on the horizon concerning increased resolution.

[Keith from Canada]

Mike P. wrote:

I wonder if there is anything on the horizon concerning increased resolution.

I think the next HD medium battle will be between Blu Ray and downloadable services. Given that squeezing 1080p through current technology will be challenging enough, I can't see the industry pushing anything above 1080p for quite a while. Besides, HD TV is still in the 1080i/720p realm. Frankly, I would be upset if they started pushing for increased resolution...I'm plenty happy with 1080p for the fairly distant future.

[Bent]

with the progression of technology aside, I'd like a pj that can give me a good 5 to 7 years of reliable viewing.
I expect this as a minimum from my CRT based RPTV, and would like the same from a pj.
with the increased availability of better HD sources (Express-Vu's watered down, bandwidth limited swill they call HD excluded), I'd be tempted to use my pj for full time viewing, not just the occasional movie. As of right now, even 4000 hour lamp life isn't enough for me.

[tonyvdb]

1080p is about as high as you need to go unless you plan to blow up the image to sizes like 300" there is no point at all as the human eye simply can not see better image quality than that. Right now I think its more of an issue with getting all the current 1080p displays up to par. There are still lots of so called 1080p displays that do not look as good as they should.
You are going to see LED technology really push into the market this year and next Samsung is already using an LED light for there DLP displays and I think that you will see LED panel displays very soon.

[Sonnie]

I too think we should watch with interest the development of the LED DLP technology to help eliminate RBE and extend bulb life... as well as improve on image quality.

[Mike P.]

I found this interesting, "Automatic Projector Calibration with Embedded Light Sensors". Note the use of an off the shelf, unmoddified projector.

YouTube - Automatic Projector Calibration with...

[Keith from Canada]

Mike P. wrote:

I found this interesting, "Automatic Projector Calibration with Embedded Light Sensors". Note the use of an off the shelf, unmoddified projector.
YouTube - Automatic Projector Calibration with Embedded Light Sensors

Interesting! However, given that a decent light spectrometer that ISF calibrators use runs over $10K, I'm not sure if it would be practical.

[wbassett]

Don't forget, they are also working on laser projectors too.

[j2sgam]

Texas Instruments has announced a new DLP chip set that will allow projection from handheld devices. How it will project, and what its using as a light source I havent seen. Im still trying to figure out how to fit a bulb and a fan inside my iTouch...

[tritonman]

I want one of those "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi" projectors! Just better of course I know they have some medical prototypes around somewhere i remember reading about.

[muzz]

Projection from a handheld device..........
Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Can't imagine that being anywhere near bright enough for even a 60" screen....

I'm calling ** marketing, as anything other than a ridiculous powerpoint thing, and even then it better be really dark in there!!

I'd LOVE to be wrong.... we'll see, but if I were a betting man, I'd bet a week's paycheck that it really can't be used effectively for anything at this time.

[wbassett]

Here is an actual link about laser projectors. Keep in mind this was back in 2005 so I am sure they have made some changes and improvements since then.



And a link to the main article.

[louthewiz]

I got a 720p projector for $599.00 and it works great with cheap replacement lamps, And as for 1080p units they will also drop in price for sure in the near future.

[Keith from Canada]

louthewiz wrote:

I got a 720p projector for $599.00 and it works great with cheap replacement lamps, And as for 1080p units they will also drop in price for sure in the near future.

Would this be one of the Best Buy blowouts (e.g. Optoma HD70, Mits HC3000)?

[muzz]

Keith from Canada wrote:

Would this be one of the Best Buy blowouts (e.g. Optoma HD70, Mits HC3000)?

He has the one in his sig Keith, quite the bargain.

Acer PH530 720p projector