PMA picks its best-of-show from InfoComm

The Classic Front Projector Category

Texas Instruments won a Buckaroo for taking advantage of their DLP technology to enable some related technologies that have the potential to both offer important new capabilities to projector companies and open up new market segments for front projectors. These include dramatically broadening the range of uses of 3D, offering possible longer-term savings and ecological benefits of improvements in both LED illumination and improved reflector design for conventional lamps, and expanding the range of customers who can have Crestron control over their projectors. PMA finds their single-projector 3D initiative particularly interesting, as it brings the technology down from the lofty peaks of digital cinema and technical/military simulation to the much broader and cost-sensitive markets of education, business, and the home.

LED illumination has already shown up in the earliest of the New Era (sub-500 lumen) projectors and continues to make great strides there, but now it is being put forward by Luminus for the 500+ lumen range, where it will compete with conventional lamps and improved reflector designs from the likes of Wavien. And by embedding a "lite" version of Crestron's software into the DLP chipset, education and small business customers can have a Crestron control/network solution without having to install a full-blown Crestron control system.

Easy-Mounting Ultra Short-Throw Projectors

Smart Technologies earns a Buckaroo for their UX60 ultra short-throw projector integrated with the 685ix widescreen interactive whiteboard. Short-throw projectors have been the hottest new category in Classic projectors, and the UX60 stands out as the first of a new generation of extreme short-throw products. Unlike any other product on the market, the UX60 can be mounted directly onto a wall and the picture adjustments made on the projector itself. In addition to easy mounting, the image emerges from the projector only 40cm (16in) out from the screen, eliminating the shadow problems experienced with longer throw projectors. The UX60 specification ticks all the boxes: easy mounting, WXGA resolution, 16x10 aspect ratio, filter free operation, and DLP high contrast with BrilliantColors.

Pico Screens for Pico Projectors
A projected image is only as good as the surface that it is projected onto. For battery-powered pico projectors, while that surface of choice in the long run might be a white T-shirt or nearby wall, business folks need something better. When there isn't a convenient or suitable wall, some form of screen is needed. PMA has seen at least as many attempts at screen designs as at pico projectors, but the best one at InfoComm comes from Japanese giant DNP (Dai Nippon Printing). The A4-sized screen is a simple thin, flat, rigid piece of Supernova material that features a fold-out stand on the back, and is available in two versions, high-brightness silver or high-contrast gray.