ISE 2016: presentation

On tuesday 9th of february 2016 was the start of the ISE 2016, a key event for the projector world in general.

We went to Amsterdam to cover this event for you dear readers! 🙂

It is a huge show and it was our first time there.

We were very busy trying to get every bit of information we could from the different projector and screen companies.

We took a lot of pictures to try to give you a feeling of what it looks like to be there, when you are a projector enthusiast!

Projectors

Many companies were represented with large or small booths. Many of them with focus on professional applications.

Barco

Most of barco projector were impressive by their sheer size! They do not play anywhere near the standard home-theater projector that we usually review. Even the largest home-theater projector we have to date reviewed, the Epson EH-LS10000, would look tiny in comparison!

Barco HDF W30

A 3 chips DLP projector with WUXGA (1920*1200 resolution) with Xenon bulb achieving 30 000 Lumens!

A big beast with a weight of 99kg for a size of 0,707 x 1,025 x 0,548 m !

To give you an idea: sell price around 95000$ …

Barco PGWU-62L-K

Playing in a “smaller” category with only 17kg, they also presented the Barco PGWU-62L-K on the picture below.

It’s a single chip DLP with WUXGA resolution powered by a laser-phosphor light source claiming to be the most silent of his kind. Light output is announced to be 6000 ANSI Lumens, so we would guess thatfor very big home-theater, it should be possible to use it.

List price on the internet seems to go from 10000€ to 20000€ depending on the configuration, lens etc…

Barco DP4K-32B

And we had also the chance to see a 4K Barco projector in action protected from light pollution on the Projecta (screens) booth.

This was a Barco DP4K-32B projector running on a Projecta Homescreen Deluxe HDprogressive 0,6. Screen size was 4m*2,11m (16/9).

This was truly impressive with a very sharp and bright picture. 

The projector itself was really huge! Have a look at the data yourself:

Projector weight: 141kg //  Projector size: 604(H) x 754(W) x 1129(D) mm  // Brightness: up to 34000 Lumens!

And you prefer to not know about the price… 😉

 

Benq

With Benq, they have both professional projectors and home-theater projectors.

On the professional side:

Many projector were presented.

You can have an easy overview while looking at the pictures below:

Benq PU9720, Benq PU9220+, Benq SU964, Benq SU922:

 

On the home-theater side:

Many of the Benq home-theater projectors were known, others were NEW!

Let’s start with the “already realeased one, from left to right:

Benq TH682ST, Benq TH670, Benq W2000 (already reviewed here), Benq W3000, Benq W1080ST+

And now the new ones:

Benq W8000:

So first, we have the Benq W8000 already announced a few weeks ago.

It’s a 1080p single chip DLP with lens shift and 5 different lenses to be chosen from.

It should be sold for about 2500€ and should be released in the coming months.

We were able to see a demo of the Benq W8000 in a dedicated room build by Benq.

The demo was the Intro of the Bluray “Life of Pi”. The color and the motion looked good. We did not find the picture especially sharp but it could have to do with the settings of the projector.

You can have a look at the specification below:

Benq X12000:

This projector, the Benq X12000 was a total surprise for us.

Powered by a HLD LED Light source, this is the second 4K projector that Benq will release at the end of 2016 together with the Benq X11000 (lamp based). Both are using the new TI chip.

The demo was short. However it was clear that it was still a prototype. The motion was not good ( it could have been the 4K source). There was some strong chromatic aberration (lens related). We did not get the 4K feeling with a ultra sharp picture we were expecting.

We have still high hopes for these 4K models and you will know more as soon as we get one to review! 😉

 

Canon

Canon demoed a very nice 4K edge blending experience. Have a look yourselves!

Canon Edge Blending: ISE 2016

Canon Edge Blending screen: ISE 2016

Canon Edge Blending booth: ISE 2016

 

Casio

Casio is focused on professional business type projector. They had built a nice booth. They seem to focus eavily on Laser & Hybrid Ligh sources.

Casio ISE 2016 booth

Casio: Laser & LED Hybrid light source: Explanation

 

Christie

With Christie, you know that you are dealing with very high end professional projectors just by looking at them! 🙂

They presented their Boxer Series with high light output (between 20 000 and 30 000 Lumens!). Three models are 2K and the best and most expensive one is 4K. Still they all looked the same from the outside.

Christie Booth

Christie Boxer projector series

Boxer series 2K20 & 2K25

Boxer series 2K30

Christie projectors: D Series, new 850GS & H Series

 

Coretronic

Coretronic is the company manufacturing Optoma projectors. Now they also sell projectors directly under their own brand.

Coretronic booth (ISE 2016):

Coretronic Ultra short throw Laser projector on DNP Screen:

Coretronic Ultra short throw projector (ISE 2016)

 

Optoma

Optoma booth was a must visit this year at the ISE 2016 since they were demoing 2 new 4K DLP projectors.

OPTOMA Booth (ISE 2016)

Optoma demoed Edge blending, Car Simulation, ultra short throw projectors and even 4K projectors (Lamp & LED). Very impressive!

Optoma GT5500:

 

The Optoma GT5500 is a very bright (3500 Lumens) ultra short throw projector. It can display a 100 inch image from only 30cm. It is thought as a replacement for a big television for a reduced price.

The demo looked very nice (considering the ambient light) on what seemed to be a technical screen (maybe from DNP brand).

It will be sold for 1350€ and is already expected to be sold this february 2016.

OPTOMA Business projectors (ISE 2016)

OPTOMA Home-theater projectors (ISE 2016)

OPTOMA 4K Lamp projector (ISE 2016)

Optoma presented a advanced prototype of a lamp based 4K projector (with the new 4K TI chip).

The projector should be available end of the year for a price range between 5000€ and 10000€.

OPTOMA 4K LED projector (ISE 2016)

Optoma presented an early prototype of a LED based 4K projector (with the new 4K TI chip).

The projector should be available end of the year for a price range between 5000€ and 10000€.

It should be compatible with HDR and achieve about 85% to 90% of the color space REC2020.

The contrast performance is however not expected to be really better than the previous 1080p Optoma DLP projectors.

OPTOMA 4K LED projector: color fidelity (ISE 2016)

OPTOMA 4K LED projector: pixel structure (ISE 2016)

We tried to take a picture very close to the screen to capture the pixel structure of the Optoma 4K Led projector. The pixels were very small and invisible from 50cm distance.

 

Vivitek

Vivitek booth at the ISE 2016 was one of the best looking of all. All projectors were very nicely presented. And pictures were projected everywhere.

Vivitek Booth (ISE 2016)

Vivitek projectors (ISE 2016)

As you can see on the pictures below, Vivitek has a very broad range of projectors. Tiny ones (Qumi) and bigger ones like the “Large venue projectors”.

Vivitek H5098 (ISE 2016)

Vivitek was presenting a brand new 1080p high end DLP projector: the Vivitek H5098.

It has following characteristics:

• Lens-shift horizontal & Vertical
• Frame interpolation
• 3D RF
• Price ~2500€
• Release date: ~May 2016

Vivitek: Ultra short throw projector  (ISE 2016)

 

Sony

This year, you could spot the Sony booth from far away because of the dome with spherical edge blending “screen” showing some bright orange colours from the outside.

Sony Booth (ISE 2016)

Sony VPL-GTZ1: Ultra short throw 4K projector

Sony has a 50000€ 4K Ultra short throw Laser projector called the Sony VPL-GTZ1 which was delivering a very impressive image coupled with a technical screen made by Xtrem Screen. We really liked it. It would look very nice in our living room! 😉 That really sounds like the future in many homes when it will have become more affordable.

Sony VPL-GTZ1: Ultra short throw 4K projector on Xtrem Screen (ISE 2016)

Maratavision Booth presenting Sony Projectors

Sony VW5000ES: Ultra High End 4K Laser projector!

The Sony VW5000Es was not directly on the Sony booth but on the  Maratavision booth. So thanks to them. It’s a huge projector, akka still smaller than a  big Barco or Christie projector.

It’s the future by Sony: a 65000€ projector with 4K Laser technology. It can display DCI-P3 and HDR and in addition HFR.

Sony VPL-GTZ270: 4K SXRD Laser professional projector: Edge Blending!

On the Sony booth was presented the twin of the VW5000ES in the professional area: the Sony VPL-GTZ270.

Two of them were associated for a unreal bright and sharp very large picture in a optimized environnement. It was for sure one of the most impressive experience on the ISE 2016. Have a look yourselves below.

Sony VPL-GTZ270: 4K SXRD Laser professional projector: Edge Blending! Part 2.

 

Digital projection

Digital projection had only big professional projectors. Still impressive!

Epson

Epson this year were concentrated on presenting a new laser 4K Enhanced professional projector which seemed very bright. However nothing new in the home-theater section. They still have the Epson EH-TW5300 reviewed here, but also the EH-TW9200 also reviewed here and the Epson EH-LS10000 obviously also reviewed here! 😉

Hitachi

Hitachi presented their business projectors on the ISE 2016.

 

Panasonic

Panasonic was also looking at laser solution to power their projectors.

Panasonic PT-RZ31K: Laser projector

Conclusion

This was a first experience for us to be at the ISE 2016 in Amsterdam and it was a very nice one. We have seen and spoke to many projector companies.

What we will retain in the strong focus of almost every projector brand to invest and develop some projector powered with LED & Laser Light source.

Also, we saw many Ultra short throw projectors with the goal to project pictures 100inch wide from 30cm distance to the screen. These ultra short throw projectors, for nsome of them, serve to replace large TV for a fraction of the price.

Others like the 4K Laser Sony VPL-GTZ1 look to simply display the best image possible and be integrating in your living room.

Last be not least, Benq and Optoma were displaying some prototypes of new 4K DLP projectors powered with lamp and LED that should arrive end of this year. It’s a fresh wind in the DLP Camp and it’s nice to see things moving!

I hope you enjoyed our coverage and that you had the feeling to be there, even if just a bit.

See you soon,

Anna&Flo

 

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