Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

If your office is big on meetings, but short on space, it might be time to upgrade to an ultra short throw projector like the PLC-XL51 from Sanyo. The projector uses a large diameter aspheric lens and a high-precision aspheric mirror that allows for large projections from an extremely short distance, without distortion. From a distance of just 3 inches the PLC-XL51 can actually project an image up to 80 inches in size. So not only is it useful for small rooms where you want to project on a wall, but it can even be handy for architects who want to project a set of blueprints onto a table.

The PLC-XL51 is actually an upgrade to the company’s PCL-XL50 model, and adds Sanyo’s exclusive PJ Network interface which allows you to monitor and operate the projector’s functions from anywhere you have access to a web browser. Other features include a ‘Color Board Mode’ which allows you to adjust the hue when projecting on a colored surface so that it actually appears to be projected on white, as well as a built-in vibration security sensor which sounds an alert when the unit is picked up.

The Sanyo PLC-XL51 will be available come September of this year with a price tag of $3,995.

[ Sanyo PLC-XL50 (previous model) ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Christie, the company who makes those giant digital projectors that are probably in use at your local theater, has just announced a new system called Christie Advanced Color™ that should make color matching an array of projectors extremely easy for anyone who can push a button. The system uses a precision handheld light meter that is pointed at various targets on the projected array. The light output measurements are then used by the Christie Advanced Color software to calibrate all the projectors to a high level of uniformity.

While it might seem like an easy way to color calibrate your home theater display, the system is primarily designed for setups that rely on multiple Christie projectors at once. Since the projectors work together to produce a single image, any differences between them will result in visible seams that take away from the effect. Apparently using the software and the light meter requires no technical expertise, but if you do happen to have an expert on staff they can still make manual changes and tweaks to the calibration as they see fit.

[ Christie Introduces Latest Advancement to Automatically Color Match Projection Arrays ] VIA
[ About Projectors ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m definitely looking forward to the day when video projectors are small enough to fit inside a cellphone, but that’s still quite a few years off. If you want to get your hands on a compact projector today, this is pretty much as small as they come. The MP100 from Honlai Technology uses LCoS or ‘liquid crystal on silicon’ micro-projection technology. It’s similar to the way a DLP projector works, but it uses liquid crystals instead of individual mirrors. While the MP100 is small enough to sit in your hand, it can reportedly produce a projected image between 5 to 37 inches in size.

It uses a 5W LED as its lamp source giving it a brightness of about 10-15 lumens, and a contrast ratio of about 200:1. It also features a standard VGA input as well as a mini AV jack and composite video connections. The rendered mockup pictured above even seems to have slots for compact flash and SD cards, but specific details seem hard to come by at this point. Not surprisingly the MP100 only has a resolution of just 640×480 pixels, which will probably keep it relegated to emergency PowerPoint presentations, or crappy vacation slideshows.

[ Honlai Technology MP100 Mini Projector ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Evan Ackerman

We’ve written about pico projectors a whole bunch in the past, but the SunView portable media player appears to be one of the first commercially available products to contain one. Demoed at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, the PMPP (that extra “P” stands for “projector,” of course) is a relatively small 133mm x 79mm x 25mm device features at 3.5″ touchscreen, rechargeable battery, speaker, SD slot, and remote control. The highlight is of course the projector, which can illuminate a 53″ screen at 9 lux with a full color gamut VGA (640 x 480) image.

It sounds pretty good, but how well does it work? We’ll have to wait for someone to get their hands on one to find out, although based on our experience with pico projectors at CES, you’ll need a pretty dark place in order to see anything but the most contrasty of images.

Although the SunView PMPP is purportedly available in limited quantities, there’s no word on pricing yet.

VIA [ Display Daily ]

By Shane McGlaun

InFocus launched a new projector today aimed at the gamer crowd called the InFocus Play Big IN1 projector. The projector is aimed at gamers playing on the Wii, PlayStation and Xbox gaming systems, but can be connected to other input sources like DVD players and cable boxes as well. Amplified speakers are built into the projector so you get sound to go along with your big screen gaming experience. If you room is big enough to get the projector far enough from the screen or wall, you can get an image 8-feet wide.

The projector uses DLP technology and has a native VGA resolution of 640×480. Other resolutions are supported as well with 480i, 576i/p, 720p, and 1080i. Video inputs include S-video, composite, and component. Brightness for the projector is 500 lumens and the contrast ratio is 1500:1. Overall dimensions are 4.69” x 12.6” x 9.5” without the audio module and 8.5” x 13.35” x 10.39” with the audio module. The IN1 is available now for $499 exclusively through Woot.

VIA [ Woot! ]