Page 38 - binfo104_flip

www.binfo.co.uk magazine 38

Spotlight on Presentations

Projectors face growing competition from large format displays, but they still have two big advantage over screen-based technologies: fexibility and the ability to magnify images to many times their size. This, says Dr. William Coggshall, President of Pacifc Media Associates, is why unit sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 35%, from 8.5 million units in 2010 to 39 million units in 2015.

“The strong continued growth of the projector business is due to the large variety of ways projection technology can be used to produce pictures that are many times larger than the projector itself, whether they are T-shirt sized images produced from a tiny projection module embedded in a mobile phone or giant cinema-screen pictures produced from a box one-quarter the size of a Smart Car,” he said.

“Projectors deliver the most display area per dollar of any display technology. With the continuing evolution of multiple projection technologies and associated improvements in brightness and picture quality, projectors are being used for a growing variety of buyer types and applications.”

The huge majority of this growth will come from New Era projectors, which PMA defnes as devices with a Lumens value of less than 500. This includes pico and pocket-sized projectors like 3M’s

MP160 and MP180 devices and Philips Pico Pix range, as well as projection units embedded in mobile phones and digital cameras.

Low-priced and bought in the main by individuals, New Era projectors sales are expected to grow from about 1 million units in 2010 to about 27 million units in 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 90%.

Short throw projectors

This is not the only growth area. PMA fgures show that in the frst quarter of this year worldwide front projector sales were 13% up on the same period in 2010. One of the best performing categories was short throw projectors, ideal for use where space is restricted (e.g. in small meeting rooms) or where interaction is a priority. The projectors’ proximity to the board reduces shadowing caused when someone interrupts the projector beam by writing on the board or walking in front of the screen. The closer the projector is to the screen, the less of a problem this becomes – and the less effect ambient light has on image strength. The greatest growth in this area is coming from ultra-short throw projectors that can be positioned just inches from a projection surface.

“The hottest part of this range [projectors with 500 to 4999 lumens] in recent quarters has been short-throw projectors (including the emerging interactive models), used heavily in

Pico projectors and ultra short throw projectors are driving growth in the presentations products market

education classrooms,” explains Dr William Coggshall.

“And within short-throw, it is the ultra short throw range, i.e., projectors with a throw ratio (the screen width divided by the distance between the projector lens and the screen) less than 0.38, that are growing the fastest. The ultra-short-throw segment doubled its share from 2010’s frst quarter to 2011’s frst quarter.”

Interactive projectors

The frst generation of short throw projectors were designed to be mounted above, below or just in front of an interactive whiteboard. Today’s generation has interactivity built-in, removing the need for a dedicated interactive projection surface and allowing users to interact with images thrown onto any fat surface.

Many, but not all, are based on Texas Instruments’ DLP technology (www.dlp.com), including models from Acer, Benq, Dell, InFocus and Viewsonic. These devices come with a wireless digital pen that can be used to interact with and write over projected images. One of the benefts of its solution, claims Texas Instruments, is that DLP technology doesn’t require calibration and doesn’t tie the presenter to the screen or the front of the room. He or she can move about, or hand the pen to someone at the back of the room to interact with the projected content.

INTERACTIVEWHITEBOARDS

More affordable and fexible interactive projectors are one of several challenges faced by interactive whiteboards, which have seen sales fall from their peak fve or six years ago.

Nevertheless, the potential to grow sales in the business market and the prospect of on-going replacement sales continues to attract new entrants, most notably Olivetti (www.olivetti.co.uk), which recently launched the Olivetti Oliboard range complete with accessories including software applications and a library of multimedia content. Smart Technologies (www.smarttech. com) remains the runaway market leader in this sector with a market share of 63.1% in the US and 43.8% in EMEA, according to Futuresource Consulting. Other major players include Promethean, Sahara Presentation Systems and Panasonic, famous for its Panaboards. Interactive whiteboards continue

Epson’s new ultra short-throw projectors, the EB-455Wi and EB-465i, have the added beneft of built-in interactivity. Users no longer need a whiteboard but can project onto virtually any surface, including walls and tabletops (as shown) and, using an interactive pen, interact fully with the projected image.

Philips entered the pico projector market with three PicoPix pocket projectors in January and, according to GFK fgures, has already established UK market share of almost 20%.

www.itsbigtime.co.uk

All for show