Source: KNews
Sony To ""Officially"" Debut DLP Projector
Sony is planning on introducing a DLP projector in March. Traditionally known as a totally CRT and LCD company, Sony's foray into the Digital Light Processing (DLP) market will cause a stir and raise some eyebrows as they have certainly packed this projector with features that will even make Texas Instruments (TI), the inventor of the DLP chip, envious. Here are the specifics: The projector, known by the model number VPD-LE100, will use TI's latest and greatest 1280 x 1024 chipset along with Sony proprietary video processing like 3-D gamma correction, 2:3 pull-down and DRC - DRC (Digital Reality Creation) is the industry's best video scaling technology built-in to a projector and 2:3 pull-down compensates for conversion errors when mastering video material (i.e. DVDs) that were originally created on film. Although Sony's not marketing this as a digital cinema projector, it's clear that this must have been on the mind of the engineers as it even includes a Cinema Black-mode that increases contrast ratio but lowers light output approximately 20%. Using a 2-kilowatt Xenon lamp, Sony claims that the LE100 garners over 10,000 ANSI lumens ranking it up there with the big boys in brightness - Barco, Digital Projection Inc. (DPI) and Electrohome. In addition, the projector is fully-HDTV compliant making it compatible with every DTV and HDTV standard. Inputs include an RGB/Component module (included) and three additional blank slots that accommodate any of Sony's proprietary IFB modules making it XGA, SXGA, video, S-Video and even Serial Digital ready. But, this is not your average home theater projector. This projector will be marketed to the large venue applications arena (i.e. concerts, sporting venues, etc) and at over 209-pounds, won't mount in the average ceiling. Lensing options include everything from 1.2:1 to 5:1 throw distances and lens shift to correct for keystoning. Perfect, huh? Well, not so fast. What's the price? Well, Sony's not giving any details, but with Barco's competitive offering at around $105,000 and DPI's around $119,000, expect the Sony to be somewhere in the middle.