DailyTech - Sanyo Demos Short Throw Projector Technology

Submit News

Hardware Sanyo Demos Short Throw Projector Technology
Purav Sanghani - June 14, 2007 4:53 AM

E-mail

del.icio.us

20 comment(s) - last by CSMR.. on Jun 16 at 1:13 PM

Lay it on the floor, hang it on a ceiling, or hang it from the same wall you want to project on

Most people would opt for an LCD TV because it can hang on the wall and if someone walks in front, the picture is not disturbed as is with front and rear projectors. In the business world, presenting slides on the big screen means getting shot at with multi-colored lights, taking away from the magic of your presentations. Suits can now be at ease as Sanyo just pulled the covers off a projector which features new optical technology that allows the projection of large images from a short distance (English).

Sanyo claims the LP-XL50 will project an image with an 80-inch diagonal size from only 3 inches away. The LP-XL50 has a native resolution of 1024x768, which is standard on most multimedia projectors today. In addition, the LP-XL50 also features VGA, S-Video, and component inputs for analog video sources. It does not feature DVI or HDMI input.

The LP-XL50 can throw images from a position not just limited to the floor or the ceiling. The projector can hang just above or below the surface -- aspect ratio adjustments and mirrors inside the lens allow for a square image even at non-centered throw angles.

Availability of the LP-XL50 will begin on December 21 of this year in Japan with an appearance overseas thereafter. Now all we need to do is lock Sanyo and Texas Instruments up in a room to produce the ultimate short-range mini cell phone projector.

Comments

Threshold

Username
Password
remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

Ummmmm

By drunkenmastermind on 6/14/2007 7:34:41 AM , Rating: 2

Cool...but! They might want to pump up the res to 1080.

RE: Ummmmm

By kextyn on 6/14/2007 7:43:38 AM , Rating: 4

No point. Business projectors are usually 1024x768. Every one I have at work has that resolution. Quite annoying when you want HD but it works just fine for Powerpoint.

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By FITCamaro on 6/14/2007 8:22:15 AM , Rating: 3

I agree with the above but I think 720p resolution would help sales. That way its a viable alternative to a typical HDTV. Also need to get a DVI interface on it.

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By bhieb on 6/14/2007 9:56:32 AM , Rating: 2

I agree 1080 would be nice. I currently have a 100" that sits about 15' away. Kids are always walking in front of it. Plus quality 30' cables are not cheap (sure 10' ones aren't either, but they are certainly cheaper than 20').

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By kextyn on 6/14/2007 10:22:50 AM , Rating: 3

It won't help sales for business users. Every conference I've seen has had a projector hooked up to a laptop. 1024x768 plays well with laptop video cards. 720p not so much. Sure you could get it to display properly, probably in 4:3 mode at 1024x768 but then that would require additional setup and what's the point of getting a 720p projector if you're just going to use 4:3?

Home users who want HD are much better off getting a home entertainment HD projector. I don't know anyone who runs a projector at home who has an 80" or smaller screen either.

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By CSMR on 6/16/2007 1:13:28 PM , Rating: 2

Can't modern laptops do more than 1024*768? Given that they have gone to the trouble of having vga or dvi out it would be strange if they were restricted to such a low resolution.

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By Deekity on 6/14/2007 11:16:22 AM , Rating: 3

This is not marketed for home use...it's great for it's intended use.

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By FITCamaro on 6/14/2007 4:43:31 PM , Rating: 1

I realize that. But what I'm saying if they want to sell more of these, adding 720p would go a long way because then they could market it to both businesses and home theater customers. More sales equals a cheaper price as well.

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By SmokeRngs on 6/15/2007 9:39:57 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
More sales equals a cheaper price as well.

Not when you have to spend more in R&D and manufacturing costs to get the unit to do something other than what it was designed for. This is a business class product, not consumer class.

I'm sure that before too long, there will be a consumer class version which will do HD resolutions.

However, businesses looking to purchase projectors are more numerous than consumers looking to purchase projectors. The resolution works just fine for business use where HD resolutions are not in demand.

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By Oregonian2 on 6/14/2007 5:17:55 PM , Rating: 2

Higher res and the floor projection would make one (or maybe two, depending upon the details) great for projecting phantograms!!!!

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By Oregonian2 on 6/14/2007 5:20:35 PM , Rating: 2

PS - Phantograms would appear to be hologram like except that it'll be in full color (if used with two projectors) and that you'd have to sit in one place (holograms you can move all over the place). Google'it!

Parent

RE: Ummmmm

By anonymo on 6/15/2007 8:00:48 AM , Rating: 2

This is perfect! I work in the corporate AV world and this is great...no more moving tables and chairs to try and fit the projector in! I could even put this behind a Stumpfl for rear projection without killing half the room...

I just hope it's more than 2400 lumens or else it's going to be worthless.

Parent

Power by the inverse of distance squared

By Calin on 6/14/2007 11:31:10 AM , Rating: 3

You would need to throw a lot of light to the corners of the screen - and due to the reduced incidence angle, there would be a lower apparent reflection too.
But it still is great - it's like the from factor transition from short cathode monitors to LCD

RE: Power by the inverse of distance squared

By omnicronx on 6/14/2007 1:19:52 PM , Rating: 2

i would not just assume that.. its a new product and im sure they took some of those things into consideration.
i wouldnt mind finding out how they have such a short throw though..

Parent

Ummm.....

By theapparition on 6/14/2007 8:28:24 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
Most people would opt for an LCD TV because it can hang on the wall and if someone walks in front, the picture is not disturbed as is with front and rear projectors.

Never seen a picture disturbed from a rear projector.

RE: Ummm.....

By omnicronx on 6/14/2007 9:32:00 AM , Rating: 1

thats an amazing idea, a short throw is what i looked for most when i bought my projector, as i knew i could only keep it around 8 feet from the wall, this would be great as long as someone mentioned, if it were at least capable of 720p

Parent

Cool idea.

By Mitch101 on 6/14/2007 10:42:33 AM , Rating: 2

I would love to see the lens config in this.

I built a few projectors and this doesnt seem that difficult but I would suspect the lenses to do this would be custom and hard to find in a size for the DIY group. At least on a cheap level.

Real Life Uses

By spillai on 6/14/2007 1:16:14 PM , Rating: 2

There are some real world uses, instead of a map spread on a table and people working on it, if there is a function in a big hotel, directions can be displayed on the floor and can be changed easily for every function etc etc
Satheesh
Knowledgevibes.com

Mini Cell Phone projectorsmay be on the way.

By Macuser89 on 6/14/2007 4:44:32 PM , Rating: 2

Theres a company named Microvision that makes a mini projector hand held devices.

Link
http://www.phonemag.com/index.php/weblog/read_more...

business market

By CalaverasGrande on 6/15/2007 2:02:54 AM , Rating: 2

the business market for stuff like this is a lot bigger than most folks realize. pretty much every conference room at every site I go to has a projector (or more common lately) a gigantic plasma. Those plasmas weigh a ton! I should know, as one of the 2 big guys on our team I always end up heping move them. If they can make this look business chic and weigh less than 70lbs AND cost-competitive with big plasmas it'll sell like hell.
As far as 1080p etc, those are nice but you have to remember that most presentations are done with middling dell notebooks with weak graphics. So dont expect them to blow doors on powerpoint with a graphics output that not only shares ram but is now driving two outputs!