TI Readies High-Resolution DLP Chip For High-End Projectors

Texas Instruments is developing a consumer version of a DLP chip with 2,560x1,600 resolution for home theater projectors, with the first products expected to debut at CEDIA in September, sources said. Some of the chip’s specs, including its size, weren’t immediately available. Projectiondesign is expected to ship a commercial projector, the F35, containing the chip in Q3, sources said. Projectiondesign demonstrated the F35 last November for command and control and simulation and training applications. In addition to the 2,560x1,600 native resolution, the F35 features 6,500 lumens, 8,000:1 contrast ratio, 300-watt UHP lamp, two HDMI connectors, a color management suite and four optional lens, topping out at 2.5-4.5:1. TI’s current high-end for home theater projectors is a 1080p-capable 0.95-inch chip.

For the consumer market, Texas Instruments will have a “different version of that chip for home cinema for playing back movies,” a source briefed on the plans said. Projectiondesign’s projector will feature the same “platform, processing, bit rate and width of image” as the F35, but it will be “tailored for the home theater market,” a dealer source said. Pricing hasn’t been set, but it will be “less expensive than buying a separate $16,000 lens,” said a dealer noting a lens might not be required. High-end theater projectors are typically marketed with optional lens. The projector will be available in LED and UHP lamp versions, sources said. Projectiondesign Regional Sales Manager Scott Varner declined to comment. A TI spokeswoman declined to comment on “unannounced product."

Meanwhile, projectiondesign cut the price on its Avielo Kroma LED-based front projector to $27,000 from $35,000, Varner said. The move narrows the price gap between projectiondesign’s UHP and LED-based projectors to $2,000 from $9,000 and makes Kroma “more competitive” than its rivals, he said. Kroma contains a single 0.95-inch DLP chip, 600 lumens, 2,000:1 contrast ratio, HDMI 1.3a connector and a selection of optional Signature series lens up to 3.80-6.50:1. Kroma, introduced at CEDIA in September, was expected to ship last fall. But software designed to improve its contrast ratio wasn’t completed until earlier this year, Varner said. The Kroma was “too expensive and all other LED projectors were less, Varner said.

At the entry level, projectiondesign is dropping the 720p Avielo Prisma ($6,800), replacing it with the 1080p-capable Prisma HD ($8,995) that shipped in late April, Varner said. The Prisma HD kept the same 220-watt UHP lamp and 4,000:1 contrast ratio as the Prisma, but increased brightness to 1,000 lumens from 900 lumens. The Prisma HD contains a standard 1.62-2.02:1 lens.

Projectiondesign is trying to expand its base of 50 high-end custom installers, Varner said. Norway-based projectiondesign began a concerted effort to attract dealers 18 months ago. “It’s been a bit of a challenging time to be launching a new brand,” Varner said. “It’s been 18 months since we launched it and we're still working on getting the right guys in many places."

While projectiondesign has dealers “getting ready to do business,” their cash flow sometimes “isn’t such that can put projectors on the shelves yet,” Varner said. Projectiondesign is “working with a bunch of them and many are specing jobs,” he said. “We're not saying ‘you need to buy a demo before we do anything else,'” Varner said. “We're saying ‘let’s sell a couple of projectors and get things moving.'"

In addition to selling its own projectors, projectiondesign also builds them for Christie Digital, Digital Projection and, most recently, Leica. Leica fielded the D-1200 ($13,999), which contained a 0.95-inch DLP with 1080p resolution, 2000 lumens and 2,000:1 contrast ratio. Projectiondesign builds its projectors in Norway.