projector

LAS VEGAS--LED and 3D are the (not so) new hotness this year at CES, and Samsung is seemingly leading the charge with their newly announced monitors, HDTVs, and now digital projectors.

On Thursday, Samsung announced the launch of what it claims is the first LED data projector with 1,000 ANSI lumens, the F10M. The projector includes a LED light source that eliminates the need to replace a lamp. According to Samsung, the light source will last 30,000 hours and that the LED light source maintains its brightness over the entire life of the projector.

From an environmental standpoint, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Before leaving for CES, we were about to post a review of 3M's second-generation MPro120 Pico projector. Now, lo and behold, the company announced its successor, the MPro150, that includes 1GB internal memory, a microSD card slot, and a USB input for transferring files from a laptop or Netbook letting you run entire presentations from the projector itself.

According to 3M, the 5.6-ounce MPro150, which measure just over 5 inches long and fits in a pocket, supports Microsoft Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel), as well as Adobe PDF, photos, and video. The company has also made … Read more

The latest Sanyo LP-XF1000 is hailed as the world's brightest projector, with a staggering 12,000 lumens output. This is easily four times the performance of an average multimedia model in the market. To achieve this ultra-high luminance for large-venue installations, the LP-XF1000 features an integrated dual-lamp system enhanced by its proprietary QuaDrive Engine technology.

With such an impressive projection credential, this 3LCD-based Sanyo is capable of rendering up to a whopping 600-inch image at a full 1.07 billion colors. Its modular design also enables optimum setup flexibility through a selection of 10 optional lenses of various throw … Read more

Now that second-generation pico (i.e. really tiny) projectors are hitting the streets, you can pick up first-gen models for a song.

Witness the 3M MPro110, on sale at Newegg for $149.99 shipped. It's a refurb, but given that it sold new for $359 just 10 months ago, you gotta take a look-see.

The impossibly small MPro110 weighs 5.6 ounces and measures 0.9 inch high by 2 inches wide by 4.5 inches deep, meaning you can literally stuff it in a pocket.

The projector works with a wide variety of video sources: laptops, digital cameras, … Read more

Samsung, with the help of video guru Joe Kane, again delivers outstanding performance in the high-end front-projection DLP category with the flagship SP-A900B. This 1080p resolution, one-chip DLP projector sports the latest Dark Chip 4 chip from Texas Instruments, but otherwise appears virtually the same as the SP-A800B that CNET projector reviewer Kevin Miller loved last last year.

The new chip results in superior black levels, which also increase the contrast ratio of the projector substantially. The 900B retains the same superb color found on its less expensive brother, along with its other stellar image quality characteristics, and as a … Read more

Remember those uber-cool 3D projections in flicks like "Star Wars?" The University of Tokyo has turned this movie fantasy into a reality with its latest holographic projector prototype.

For added realism, it utilizes a pair of Nintendo Wiimotes for hand movement tracking and a technology known as (ready for it...) Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display. This essentially adds tactile feedback to the hovering image via ultrasonic waves (the projected images float about 12 inches away from the display surface).

But enough of the tech speak, check out the following video to see the "touchable holography" system (PDF) … Read more

I'm a digital-camera fanatic. I can't get enough. But as much as I love taking pictures with them, I dislike the task of showing friends the pictures I've taken--not exactly a simple endeavor. So when Nikon this week announced that it's bringing the Coolpix S1000pj to store shelves later this year, I became extremely excited.

The camera is nothing more than a standard point-and-shoot. Its overall quality won't compare with my Nikon digital SLR. But the Coolpix S1000pj has the single feature that I've been craving: a built-in projector capable of showing pictures and video in a 40-inch display.

If I decide to show friends my snapshots on the camera's small LCD display, they won't be able to get the full effect. In fact, many pictures look much different when they're finally ported to the computer.

If I opt instead to let them see the pictures on my computer, it takes time. I need to bring my camera to my computer, plug it in, and transfer the photos to the hard drive. Only then can I show them the images. By then, none of us is all that interested.

Another option is popping the SD card out of my camera, inserting it into my HDTV, and viewing its contents on the 50-inch display. It tends to be quicker. Plus, it allows anyone in the room to see them. But there's a major limitation: I need to be home to do that.

That's precisely why I think that Nikon's projector camera is such a major step forward. I believe that projectors will be the next big thing in the digital camera space.… Read more

As we increasingly use handheld devices as the primary way to share photos and videos, the inevitable conflict arises: how do you keep the device stylishly compact while including a display big enough for the whole gang to huddle around? Nikon's the first--although likely not the last--to address the problem by integrating a tiny projector into its Coolpix S1000pj so that you can display your photos up to 40 inches tall on any surface.

The LCOS projector is rated for up to 10 lumens (brightness), with contrast ratio of 30:1 and a throw of about 10 inches to … Read more

BOISE, Idaho--Imagine you're on a camping trip with your family, and your kids are bored. They want to watch a movie, but you forgot your laptop at home. Hopeless? Not at all.

You pull out your fifth-generation iPhone--yes, this is a story about future technology--power it up, aim it at the wall of the tent, and start projecting their favorite film there.

This is one of the many potential promises of a new microdisplay technology from Displaytech, a recently acquired division of Boise-based Micron. Known as FLCOS, or fast liquid crystal on silicon, the technology is designed to make … Read more