Two-Pound Projectors Go on Parade

LAS VEGAS -- Projectors poised to break the two-pound weight barrier and eye-catching plasma screens as large as 61 inches on the diagonal are among the top newsmakers at the audio-visual industry's largest trade show here this week.

The Incredible Shrinking Projectors

A few short years ago, business travelers were happy to pay thousands of dollars for a projector that didn't weigh more than ten pounds. They're getting a glimpse of the not-too-distant future in a couple of exhibits featuring the first prototypes of two-pound models. Plus's upcoming V Series projectors, about the size of a small box of chocolates, are expected to ship by year's end.

You'll have the choice of a model with XGA (1024 by 768) resolution and 800 ANSI lumens of brightness or an SVGA (800 by 600) model with 700 ANSI lumens. A new short-focus lens makes the units well suited for use in tight spaces, but it lacks zoom capability. Prices for these models haven't been announced.

The V Series prototype is on exhibit both at Plus's booth and at the Texas Instruments DLP booth, where it sits alongside a prototype of an Acer two-pounder, also still in development. TI's DLP, or Digital Light Processing, is the LCD-alternative technology that has made possible the micro-portable projectors that have taken the market by storm these last few years. Three-pound units are available from about a dozen vendors, including Acer, Compaq, InFocus, NEC, Philips, Plus, and Toshiba. Most carry street prices in the range of $4500 to $5500.

Projectors Go Wireless

Small size isn't the only development in the data projection business. Acer officials say they hope to deliver by year end a projector that will self-correct for keystoning (the trapezoidal screen shape that results when the top and bottom of a lens are not equidistant from the screen).

A couple of vendors are showcasing projectors with wireless capability. Sony Electronics' E-Conferencing system includes software that will let conference participants exchange and retrieve PowerPoint presentations and other documents over a wired or wireless network via a simple drag-and-drop process.

Sharp, meanwhile, is developing new compression technology to make presentations sent to a projector over an 802.11b wireless network run more smoothly. Right now, the 11-megabits-per-second top speed of these networks is too slow to transmit a presentation with all transitions between slides intact.

Sharp is also showing a large conference room projector that uses Gyromouse technology, which enables remote control using radio technology as opposed to the infrared technology used by most other remotes. Infrared technology requires the remote be within line of sight of the projector's sensor; a Gyromouse also has a larger range than an infrared device.

Leave the PC at Home

Sony is also displaying its first projector that includes a Memory Stick slot. With the SuperLite VPL-CX3, a mobile presenter could dispense with a notebook completely by putting the presentation on a Memory Stick. The $4800 VPL-CX3 also offers XGA resolution at a bright 900 ANSI lumens. But at 5.5 pounds it's on the heavy side, compared to the plethora of three-pounders on the market.

In another approach to PC-free presentations, Philips is offering an innovative bundle. Through July, you can get its 2.9-pound UGO X-Lite projector, a Handspring Visor Deluxe, and a Margi Presenter-to-Go Springboard Module, all for $3375. Just HotSync your presentation onto the Margi module (which has 2MB of storage), attach the Visor to the projector, and run your presentation via Margi's software on the Visor or an included remote. The whole bundle only weighs about 3.5 pounds.

Plasma Proliferates

Plasma monitors, those oversize flat-panel displays that deliver mouth-watering images that outperform most LCDs for wide-angle viewing and video performance, are everywhere on the Sands Convention Center floor--especially the 42-inch and 50-inch models. Prices remain steep, however, especially for models with premium features.

Sony's SuperSlim line, for example, runs between $7999 and $13,599 (list), depending on resolution (852 by 480 on the low end, or 1024 by 1024 for the top-of-the-line units); thickness (6 inches to 3.25 inches); and weight (99 pounds to 65 pounds).

NEC Technologies is showcasing the largest mass-produced plasma display, the PlasmaSync 61MP1. However, with a price tag of $27,995, this isn't likely to be a mass-market item when it ships in July.

Pioneer Electronics is preparing to launch an intriguing variation on the plasma theme: a 50-inch display with touch-screen technology. Proprietary software lets you use a fingertip or felt-tipped stylus to scribble directly on the screen with "pens" of different colors and sizes--or to erase your work. Pioneer expects to ship the product by year end, for a street price in the $15,000 range.

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