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MillimeterCRT Installation Projectors Give Way to a New Breed
Nov 20, 2001 12:00 PM, Peter H. Putman, CTS in association with Sharp
As the 21st century gets underway, it's worth looking back at what it used to mean to have an installed video projector. Back in the mid-1980s, the term "installed video projector" meant a large box attached to the ceiling, or behind a rear projection screen. That box had three big cathode-ray tubes, a mass of analog signal wiring, and simple control functions.
Perhaps the distinguishing feature of that "installed video projector" was its inability to show anything other than interlaced video! Sure, you could put a scan converter ahead of it and project somewhat fuzzy images from early personal computers. But you'd be limited to NTSC or PAL video from VHS, 3/4", and Betacam players, cheap video cards, and primitive electronic presentation systems.
 Today's installation projectors, such as the Sharp XG-V10WU installed in this auditorium, continue the industry's shift to LCD technology. |
Move ahead ten years to the mid-1990s. While installation projectors weren't getting much smaller, some of them did feature a new technology--liquid-crystal display panels--and could display both computer graphics and video. In the meantime, the big CRT boxes were adding multi-scanning capability to handle workstations and even HDTV sources. The CRT hadn't lost the race yet, but LCD technology was gaining on it.
The shift to LCD technology was followed by another trend--lower prices. In fact, an avalanche of technology enhancements cut loose in the mid 1990s, resulting in never-ending improvements in image brightness, reductions in weight and size, and increases in native resolution. That avalanche hasn't stopped - in fact, it's even picked up speed with the availability of digital video interfaces (DVI) and network control of projectors.
Lower prices and better performance put more and more installation projectors into the hands of end-users who were previously limited to direct-view monitors, or LCD panels for overhead projectors. Coupled with other advancements in presentation technology, it became easier for more people to design and use conference and training facilities with full video/computer display capability.
To The Swiftest
Today? Our "installation video projector" is hardly recognizable, compared to its CRT predecessor. Installation projectors can be as small as a shoe box and weigh less than 17 pounds. Yet, these 'mighty mites' are now capable of over 3000 ANSI lumens brightness--a figure 20 times brighter than the average three-gun CRT.
What's more, that compact installation LCD projector will typically have XGA (1024x768) pixel resolution, compared to the average 7" CRT (800x600) front projector. Throw in single-lens operation with no need for convergence, features like lens shift and digital keystone correction, auto-sync and auto?size capability, and compatibility with DTV sources, and you can see why everyone's gotta have an installation projector these days.
In effect, the installation projector race is over, and the torch has been passed from the cathode-ray tube to the liquid-crystal display panel. Today, CRT projectors are primarily of interest to home theater and specialized display markets, like 3D and virtual reality imaging. The rest of the installation world has gone 'flat' with a variety of LCD projector designs for corporate, educational, command/control, rental and staging, and religious uses.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.