On its InfoComm stand, Wavien showed a production prototype of a 1000-lumen projector to be manufactured and sold by AAXA Technologies, Inc. This new projector uses Wavien's proprietary DPR light engine, and Wavien claims it “outperforms LED projectors by producing 1000 lumens of brightness and a lifetime of 25,000 hours at the cost of a conventional desktop projector.”

AAXA, founded in 2008, is a developer and distributor of a new class of projector known as "micro" projectors and "pico" projectors.

"Wavien's DPR light engine provides a maintenance-free light source for projectors suitable for home theater/gaming applications, classrooms and small conference rooms. It outperforms LED projectors, providing a higher output, smaller footprint and longer lifetime, at a lower cost," states Dr. Kenneth Li, President and CEO of Wavien, Inc., who is also the inventor of the DPR technology.

"The maintenance-free features of LED and hybrid projectors created expectations in consumers that all state-of-the-art projectors should use those technologies. We have identified a void in the market for affordably priced projectors with a screen brightness of about 1000 lumens. LED projector outputs are too low, and hybrid projectors are costly," adds Gary Huang, VP Sales and Marketing at AAXA.

Wavien, based in California, is a technology licensing company developing long-life, high-performance light sources and engine prototypes for the projection and general lighting industries. Wavien currently offers its unique "Dual Paraboloid Reflector" ("DPR") technology using ultra-high-pressure arc lamps for education and business uses, and xenon lamps for cinema projectors.

Go Wavien and its "Dual Paraboloid Reflector" technology

Go AAXA Technologies

Vutec introduces its latest projection screen at CEDIA Expo 2011-- the SilverStar 3D-P curved screen.

Targeting the growing demand for passive 3D technology, the Silverstar 3D-P has a patented silver-based material providing what Vutec says is its best 3D (and 2D) performance yet.

The material increases colour saturation and contrast in both controlled and uncontrolled lighting environments-- while reducing brightness by around 50%-- through internal filtering components combining with the 3D glasses viewers wear.

It also delivers a seamless wide viewing area, in sizes of up to 181" (in 2:35:1).

Go Vutec Introduces Silverstar 3D-P

And the winners are…it’s time again for the Buckaroo Awards, those annual InfoComm best-of-show awards from Pacific Media Associates. The Buckaroo award is named after the pioneering cowboys of the Great Basin country of the American West (parts of California, Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon).These cowboys were known for fancy gear that displayed lots of silver ornamentation, so the name is fits as recognition of products that produce the best-looking pictures. The Buckaroo Awards recognize those products in the front projector category that lead the herd by enabling projection of attractive images in a broad range of situations.

Says PMA: “Although data-capable front projectors using digital imager chip technology such as 3LCD, DLP, or LCOS date from 1994, the industry has made giant strides in technology, yielding giant improvements in brightness, resolution, color gamut, and a host of other features and performance measures.”

“Industry growth has attracted numerous major brands, further spurring innovation and continued improvements in price-performance that have led to market expansion. But as is typical of maturing markets, competitive pressures force manufacturers to take new measures such as expanding the boundary of the key measure of performance--in this case brightness--and specializing in narrower and narrower segments.”

Meant for high ambient light conditions, Da-Lite’s new High Contrast version of its popular High Power screen surface provides a unique combination of high gain along with contrast enhancement that Da-Lite says is due to its grey base and highly reflective top surface.

The result is a screen surface with moderate viewing angles (20 degrees) and the ability to reflect light back towards the source.

These characteristics make this surface a good choice for environments with a moderate amount of ambient light and a projector that is placed on a table top or in the same horizontal viewing plane as the audience.

High Contrast High Power is a washable surface with a gain of 2.4 and a 20-degree viewing half angle. The material is available immediately on Da-Lite’s electric, manual and fixed frame screen lines.

Go Da-Lite High Contrast High Power