Shipments This Month

Apple Stores to Sell Optoma Derivative Pico Projectors

June 14, 2010 by Mark Seavy|Top News

LAS VEGAS -- As it expands sales of pico projectors to Best Buy, Optoma also will ship derivative models to Apple stores tailored to the iPad, iPod and iPhone, Jon Grodem, senior director of product and marketing, told us at Infocomm here. The PKA21 ($229) and PKA31 ($399) pico projectors, derivatives of the PK201 and PK301, will be sold in Apple stores and online, respectively, Grodem said. The PKA21 typically carries a $299 suggested retail price. Both projectors will have the 30-pin connector for the iPod, iPad and iPhone, he said. Apple, which carries other Optoma projectors, including the PK102 and PK101, was the first retailer to carry them last year.

The PK201 and PK301 were scheduled to ship in March, but delivery was postponed to May because Optoma “had some problems getting them in the quantities we wanted for our customers” an issue that since been resolved, Product Manager Robert Guentner said. Optoma affiliate Coretronics builds the pico projectors.

Best Buy will carry PK301 in all stores and have the PK201 available online, a Best Buy spokesman said. It will have static displays for the PK301 in some stores located in the PC department. At the same time Costco Canada will install live displays for PK301 at its 77 stores there, Optoma officials said. The projectors are also sold through many online retailers including Amazon and CDW.

The PK301 and PK201 each contain Texas Instruments’ 0.3-inch DLP chip with 854x480 resolution, but deliver 50 and 20 lumens, respectively. Both weigh about a half pound, have a 0.5 watt speaker, three Luminus LEDs, 16:9 aspect ratio and a 2.20:1 fixed throw ratio. The projectors have contrast control, a micro SD slot with capacity for up to 16 GB memory cards and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Optoma has no plans to introduce new pico projectors until 2011, but is weighing deploying the light engine technology developed for them in other products, Guentner said. “We're looking at something you can do with the light engine,” he said. “Maybe here are some consumer electronics products, that instead of a tiny engine, could be more of a home theater” device instead of a business product.

Optoma also has secured distribution at all Best Buy stores for its Game Time GT720 front projector, which is being merchandised in the home theater section. Optoma also is in discussions with regional chains, including Brandsmart and hhgregg, about carrying the product. Brandsmart and hhgregg officials weren’t available Friday for comment. The GT720 is part of a line of projectors that also includes the GT700 ($749) and GT360 ($599). Optoma initially marketed front projectors under the Game Time brand in Europe, but has shifted focus to the U.S., company officials have said. The GT720 contains a 0.7-inch DLP with 1,280x800 resolution, 2,500 lumens, 3,000:1 contrast ratio, two five-watt speakers, 16:10 aspect ratio and 30 dB noise level. It also weighs 6.5 pounds and contains a 180-watt UHP lamp. The GT700 has many of the same features, but drops to 2,000 lumens and 2,500:1 contrast ratio. Optoma will likely design a second-generation Game Time projector for chains like GameStop, Grodem said.

"We have an idea for that, but not with the current stuff,” Grodem said. “We want to do something a little bit different for them. We need to differentiate a little more from traditional projectors."

At Infocomm, Optoma showed a mock-up of a front projector that could be sampling with customers late this year, marking the company’s entry into the large venue market, Grodem said. The DLP-based model would contain 1,900x1,200 resolution, 6,000-7,000 lumens using two 330-watt UHP lamps and have a .7-7 throw lens, he said. “To get into that section, it requires a systems change in service and support,” said Grodem, noting the 6-9 month selling cycle required for such products.

Infocomm Notebook

Projectiondesign will ship its FR12 remote source projector in late August that puts a 330-watt UHP lamp and six-segment color wheel in a 19-inch rack mount enclosure separate from the projection head, company officials said. The FR12, which features 0.7-inch DLP chips with 1,920x1,080 resolution, connects to the rackmount via a liquid-cooled cable. The cable contains a light guide that plugs into the projector, Strategic Business Manager Neil Wittering said. Pricing hasn’t been set. The FR12 shipped as a standalone front projector in March 2009. The patent pending light guide cable can run up to 100 feet. The remote design makes the projection head virtually maintenance-free and allows it to operate in complete silence. Installation of the projection head would likely be easier since ventilation isn’t required. The head also can be smaller than in a conventional projector. The remote source approach would require cable management. Projectiondesign also is developing a multi-image processing system that pairs a set-top box containing a 1.2 GHz processor with a front projector in multi-display applications. The Linux-based system can support up to 1,900x1,200 resolution.

Infocomm packed “glasses-free” stereoscopic LCDs for indoor/outdoor commercial displays, many of them based on Samsung panels. Samsung was demonstrating 52- and 46-inch panels with lenticular screens, but Hyundai had them down to 22 inches. Planar showed a 42-inch LCD stereoscopic display with 1,920x1,080 native resolution that’s reduced by a fifth in 3D, a Planar spokesman said. The brightness was 400 nits, but needs to be increased to more than 500 nits for outdoor applications, the spokesman said. The 42-inch is priced at $6,600, while 47-inch is $8,500 and 57-inch $11,000, the spokesman said. The displays are designed for viewing at 8-20 feet, the spokesman said. Hyundai is fielding 22, 24, 32 and 46-inch 3D monitors. The LCDs contain 1,366x768 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, and brightness ranging from 300 lumens for the 22-inch LCD to 450 lumens for 46-inch. In the case of the 22 inch, the brightness drops to 200 lumens in 3D. The 3D displays contain a circular polarizing filter.

Sony and InFocus will field front projectors featuring 0.79-inch LCDs with 1,900x1,200. InFocus’ IN5110 ($6,499) has 5,000 lumens brightness 2:1 zoom lens and a three-year warranty. A large venue IN5535 DLP-based model ($9,999) will ship in August featuring a 0.67-inch DLP and packaged with a five-year warranty and 24/7 service, company officials said. The IN5535 has dual 330-Watt UHP lamps and 6,000-7,000 lumens. The Sony VPL-F30 also contains 0.79-inch LCDs with 1,900x1200 resolution with 4,200 lumens, 33 percent and 51 percent horizontal and vertical lens shift, respectively. The VPL-F30 ships in June. Sony also will deliver the VPL-500L in July with the same 0.79-inch LCD and resolution, but increasing brightness to 7,000 lumens and horizontal and vertical lens shift to mid-90 percent and 54 percent, respectively, Sony officials said. Sony also will deliver a four new entry-level projectors by September containing 0.68-inch LCDs. The line ranges from the VPL-EX100 ($800) with 1,024x768 resolution and 2,000 lumens to the VPL-EX175 ($1,800) with 3,500 lumens. While much of Infocomm focused on high-resolution projectors, Epson unveiled the low-end S9 LCD projector ($499) with 800x600 resolution for the education market. In replacing the S7, the new model boosts brightness to 2,500 lumens from 2,300 lumens as the price drops to $499 from $529, a company spokesman said. The projector will ship by October.