InfoComm is this week and all the AV geeks are burning their pasty skin down in beautiful Orlando, Florida. Today, Casio announced the latest Super Slim projector with a native resolution of 1280×800 (WXVGA).

Under the hood, you’ll find DLP taking care of business, brightness of 2500 ANSI lumen, an 1800:1 contrast ratio and a wide-angle 2x power zoom lens. Minimum distance is 2.75-feet and the max distance is 30-feet for a 100-inch screen. For the home entertainment buffs, the latest Super Slim has an HDMI input.

Priced at $999, the XJ-S43W is not only priced just right, but it weighs in at 4lbs and is 1.69 inches thick (1.26 inches at its thinnest).

Casio

ViewSonic also announced the PJD6381 this morning and it, too, is a DLP projector with the one of the shortest throw ratios (0.68) on the market. Screen resolution is the same as the others, but it has 2500 ANSI lumens and a 2500:1 contrast ratio. The refresh rate is same and it also includes an RJ45 jack and will be available in August for $1249.

DLP’s first Pico projector phone, Samsung Show aka W7900, is shipping this month in Korea, but DLP just revealed the second generation chipset today at MWC. The new chipset is 20 percent thinner and quieter. It’s also much brighter and has a contrast ratio greater than 1000:1 with a full RGB color gamut. And has a native resolution of 854×480, which is DVD resolution.

DLP’s Pico projector sure has come a long way since we first saw it crammed into a mock BlackBerry Curve.

Last year, Texas Instruments announced that they had developed what they called their “pico” chipset for DLP projectors. This year, some of them are actually available.

From the press release:

PICO PROJECTION MEDIA PLAYERS (PPMP’s)

• Samsung MBP200: Compact and lightweight, the portable MBP200 can connect to mobile phones and laptops and allows users to project content with up to a 50-inch viewing screen. The MBP200 is a stand alone media player with an SD card slot letting users listen to music and create playlists, as well as project video, pictures or PDF, PowerPoint, Word or Excel files. Samsung has not yet announced U.S. shipping details on this product or anticipated price point.
• Cinemin Stick™ by WowWee Technologies: Roughly the size of a candy bar, the Cinemin Stick™ comes equipped with 4GB of internal memory and an expandable SD memory card slot for easy access to your videos, digital photos and other media. WowWee has not yet announced U.S. availability or price details for this product.
• Cinemin Station™ by WowWee Technologies: Combining big pictures with big audio, this little media center – merely the size of two soda cans – is a modern-day boombox, the ultimate dock for your iPod, iPhone, or other multimedia devices. WowWee has not yet announced U.S. shipping or price details for this product.

MODULAR PICO PROJECTORS

• Optoma Pico PK-101: Smaller than most smart phones and weighing approximately four ounces, the Optoma Pico PK-101 pocket projector can turn any environment into a mobile cinema experience and even connects to your iPod or other multimedia device. The PK-101 can be purchased for approximately $399. This product is on sale in Japan through Apple stores and in the U.S. through Amazon.com and Best Buy.com
• Cinemin Swivel™: Comparable to the size of the Cinemin Stick™, this affordable lightweight micro projector uses a unique adjustable 90-degree hinge for ceiling projection – putting your favorite videos, photos, and more on display anywhere, anytime. The Cinemin Swivel™ will be available in Q2 2009 for approximately $299.
• BUGprojector: This is a mini pico-projector module from BUGlabs which incorporates DLP® Pico™ technology to beam an image to a flat surface just eight inches away. With a native resolution of 480×320 pixels, stereo playback and a brightness of 9 lumens, users can project videos, photos and presentations on the go.

NOTEBOOK COMPANIONS

• Acer K10 Pico Projector: Weighing just over a pound and comparable to the size of a pocket dictionary, the Acer K10 Pico Projector can be paired with Acer notebook to project your presentations. It is especially developed for business professionals. The K10 will go on sale this month for approximately $450 (£299).
• BenQ GP1: Positioned as the ultimate on-the-go digital lifestyle device, the BenQ GP1 most notably stands out from the crowd with its integrated USB reader, enabling users to easily run movies, pictures, and office applications directly from a USB thumb drive without the need for notebook attachment. The GP1 will be available March 2009 through the BenQ e-store and other channels for $599.
• Dell™ M109S: Akin to the petite size of a pocket dictionary, the handy M109S connects to a Dell Latitude notebook and is primed to be your superlative assistant during small group presentations and collaborative meetings. When the business day ends, play games and watch movies in a bigger way. The product is now available for purchase for under $499.00 through www.dell.com.
• Toshiba TDP-F10U Mobile LED Projector: Weighing just over a pound and comparable to the size of a paperback novel, the TDP-F10U Mobile LED Projector utilizes an LED light source to serve as your reliable presenter on the road. Information on pricing and availability will be released from Toshiba.

What’d I tell you last night? Didn’t I say TI’s DLP pico projectors would make a splash at CES this year?

The MBP200 can be connected to your phone, laptop or even gaming system and is capable of throwing up a 50-inch viewing screen or an image as small as a sheet of paper. But it’s not just a companion doodad as the SD card slot enables it to work as a standalone entertainment center. Or you can show a PPT presentation.

The MBP200 features touchpad controls and a 2.2-inch QVGA LCD screen. The projector comes along with a small screen holder that has a hidden telescoping arm so that you can make a screen out of a sheet of paper if you need to.

No details on price, but Samsung says it will be available later this year.

From the makers of those superfluous robotic toys comes a handful of useful and rather interesting offerings for this year’s CES. A DLP pico projector that bends 90-degrees? Hell yes. That’s the Cinemin Swivel. The Cinemin Stick is a little smaller and takes SD cards, but doesn’t bend over backward. There’s also an iPod dock dubbed the Cinemin Station. Did I mention the 3-hour battery life on the Swivel?

Next up is the Spyball. It’s a RC, Wi-Fi enabled robotic ball that you’re going to use to spy on people. It rotates 360-degrees and conceals a tiny spy camera so you take video or take images. Pervert. You can control the Spyball remotely and hook it up Ad-hoc-style over Wi-Fi.

And last but not least are some robots. Meet Joebot and Roborover. OMG. Joebot can beatbox and dance. But he’s more than just a pretty face. He even battles your TV controller (over IR). Roborover is a bit shy and not as outgoing as Joebot. He wants to get to you know before he shows his true colors. Wussy.

The holidays are approaching and consumers that still have available balance on their credit cards are going to be looking at all those fancy flat screen TVs. But the larger models are still pricey. Samsung still makes and sells DLPs – ‘member those? – that offer a huge HD picture at an affordable price. According to HD Guru’s industry sources, the company is set to slash DLP prices by $200 to $600 this coming Sunday.

While this is probably true as Sammy needs to do something to compete with the swanky flat screen TVs, call us a little hesitant of announcing a full fledged price drop. Still if it’s true, potential HDTV owners should look at these rear projection sets for their large viewing needs as they would be a hell of a good deal; if it’s true.

When this hit my inbox I thought it was one of those small pico projectors crammed into a BlackBerry or something like the 3M MPro110, but it’s a 3.3-pound 7.5- x 8.1-inch projector for business types. It’s a DLP type so that’s a plus and it manages to throw a 2200 ANSI lumens 200-inch 1024×768 resolution image with a 2000:1 contrast ratio. The XD95U will retail for $1,495.

I love how Mitsubishi says this is an economical choice because it’s filterless and has an estimated 3000-hour lamp life (low mode). But then again we are in a recession.

Product Page

Large venues like outdoor theaters, churches, and the CrunchGear home office might wanna look at Toshiba’s TDP-WX5400U DLP projector. This bad boy sports dual lamps and even an interchangeable color wheel that shoots out a 1280 x 800 16:10 image. When the two lamps are powered-on, the projector is capable of 5,400 ANSI Lumens. If ambient light isn’t a problem, it can run off just one 2,700 ANSI lumens lamp. Since this projector isn’t meant for the home theater/cinema, it lacks an HDMI input and opts for DVI instead. Even still if you have a bright room you need a projector in, all this can be yours for $6,299 right now from authorized Toshiba dealers.

Digital cinemas are astounding and everyone from common folk to AV nerds can see a huge difference. The problem is that the systems are expensive - damn expensive – like a 100k a screen. Through a $1-billion financing deal signed by Universal, Paramount, Disney and Fox, the nation’s top movie-theaters are going to get JPMorgan Securities backing to install these systems on more than 15,000 screens. They say it should take three years to complete the rollout, so chances are you are going to get more digital cinema options near you shortly.

BTW, DLP.com lets you search for a digital cinema near you.

Dell’s latest DLP projector is tiny. Well, not that tiny, but it’s still small enough to fit into your wanna-be a corner office bigwig briefcase. The whole package measures in at 3.64″ x 4.12″ x 1.46″ and weighs less than a pound. You aren’t going to enjoy all of Blu-ray’s HD with the M109S, but it still shoots out a 858 x 600 SVGA picture with a 800:1 contrast ratio that’s good ‘nough for an impromptu gaming session. Best of all, if you happen to be touting a Dell Latitude or Vostro laptop, this projector can leek off its power so you can keep the projectors power brick back home. Yours for only $499 and is currently available from Dell direct.

Delta Electronics took the IFA global stage and announced the companies first LED-powered DLP projector. The initial specs sound good – expect one, keep reading – 1080p, large color gamut, and 20,000 hours on the LED unit. The company didn’t announce pricing yet, but it will be at CEDIA next week so I’ll hit ‘em up with some questions then.

Before I ask about price though, I want to know the brightness in terms of lumens. It curiously wasn’t announced and that one spec is the reason major projector players haven’t produced LED models yet. LED units tend to last longer than metal halide bulbs, but they also tend to not be as bright. Hear me right though, I’m not dogging the projector just yet, as I would love to see a demonstration and receive a full white paper on the unit before I do.

Delta via i4u

projectordesign’s been around the custom install market for a while now and their latest units should maintain top of the line appeal. The entire new lineup features Philips UHP VIDI lamp tech, along with projectordesign’s RealColor image management. All five projectors are going to be available by the end of the year but the company hasn’t announced any pricing yet.

Hopefully we can fill in some of the blanks next week at CEDIA, but click on for what we do know about each model.

prisma

• 720p DLP
• Designed for screens up to 100 inches

• 1080p Single chip
• compatible with 1080i/p, 720p, 576i/p, 480i/p, PAL SECAM, NTSC
• 1.60-2.00 : 1 soom
• 5000:1 native contrast ratio
• 950 ANSI lumens, adjustable
• 220W FusionPlus VIDI UHP lamp – 3000 hours
• HDMI 1.3a, 1 component, 1 S-Video, 1 composite
• Ethernet, RS 232, IR and USB controls
• Screen size up to 110-inches

radiance

• Same chassis as the spectra
• Brighter bulb – unknown how much though
• 10-bit video processing
• Screen size up to 135-inches

optix

• 1080p Single chip
• compatible with 1080i/p, 720p, 576i/p, 480i/p, PAL SECAM, NTSC
• 1.60-2.32, 2.37 – 3.79, 3.80 – 6.50 : 1 soom
• 7500:1 native contrast ratio
• 2x 300W FusionPlus VIDI UHP lamps – that’s right, two lamps
• HDMI 1.3a, 1 component, 1 S-Video, 1 composite
• Ethernet, RS 232, IR, USB and AMX device discovery control
• Screen size up to 180-inches

helios

• 1080p 3-chip DLP 
• Dual lamp system 
• Adjustable color gamut
• rumored to have up to 10,000:1 native contrast ratio
• Destroyer of planets
• A god’s god
• Screen up to 300-inches

Viper: Planar’s first 3-chip DLP HD projector. Meant for 110-inch or larger screens, equiped with 10,000:1 contrast ratio @ 2,000 lumens, powered by a 10-bit independent dual image and motion adaptive processor, all rolled into a great looking bezel. The Viper has all the standard, high-end jacks –  HDMI 1.3a and RS-232 interface – that come on high-end, custom install projectors. But wait, this $15,495 projector  a 1280 x 720 native resolution picture. That’s right, 720p.

I’ll be the first to tell you that resolution is by no means the most important aspect of a picture. This projector better throw one hell of a 720p image to earn it’s keep though as 3-chip 1080p projector technology isn’t anything new. Granted, the Viper comes from the same family as Runco and Vidikron so the pedigree is good ‘nough. We’ll get a closer look at CEDIA, so we’ll hold off our judgement ’till then. 

Two more pics, along with the full press release, after the jump.

We first broke this story earlier in the month and now there’s photographic evidence to back it up. Details are still still scant at the moment, but it looks like this tiny Dell projector weighs 1.1 pounds and is LED powered just like the pico projectors from Texas Instruments.

I first saw the Laser TV, LaserVue, at CES and was pretty impressed by it, but as with anything new, I was a bit skeptical. I saw the LaserVue from Mitsubishi the other day and I have to admit that it looks amazing. It was pitted against a plasma (presumably the Pioneer Kuro) and LCD and it was hands down the best of the bunch. The colors are absolutely stunning and so vibrant. A 65- and 73-inch Diamond LaserVue will begin shipping in Q3 with the former being the first to market. Each set is 120Hz and is roughly 10 inches deep. You’ll want to check one out in person just to see the difference.

Anyhoo, TI claims that this new technology will eliminate the need to replace projector bulbs and filters, so that oughta save everyone a nice chunk o’ change. Units containing the new awesomely-named PhlatLight technology will be shipping “in late 2008,” according to the company.

Texas Instruments also announced “the world’s first DLP 3-D front projector product,” which has a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,400 x 1,050 resolution. It’ll be used “for the demanding scientific visualisation, simulation and entertainment environments.”

Finally, those Pico-Projectors we’ve all been waiting for will finally be made into actual products. They’ll start to show up in Europe and Asia later this year, with the rest of the world to get them early next year.

Today, TI announced that the DLP group has implemented the world’s first WUXGA DLP chip into the F10 and F30 projectors. The new chip boasts a native resolution of 1,920×1,200 in a 16:10 aspect ratio. Hot diggity, TI.