New heavyweight enters the laser projector market

Weighing in at 65kg, the projector features a full metal casing body, a fully sealed laser optical engine and inorganic components. It utilises laser light sources and comes with 4K compatible lenses and 4K enhancement technology.

Epson, who has been in the projector business since 1994, has been delivering increasingly brighter data projectors over time.

According to Keijiro Naito, deputy chief operating officer, Seiko Epson Corporation, the secret to its brightness is through the use of its solid state laser light source. “Epson uses inorganic phosphor to achieve the higher brightness,” stated Naito.

The inorganic phosphor is a critical development as it not only increases brightness of the display it also increases the reliability of the projectors. “There is a lot of UV light produced inside the projector and this breaks down organic compounds after a while,” explained Naito. The use of inorganic material makes it resistant to such decay. Organic compounds in this case include plastics used inside projectors.

Epson’s laser projectors came late to the market, as the company took time to address issues like these in its efforts to deliver a brighter and more reliable projector. The EB -L25000U model is able to operate continuously for 20,000 hours before the brightness decreases. It uses not one but three of these laser light sources to deliver crisper images.

The new projectors cost a staggering US$80,000 a unit. However, Epson believes that companies will pay this amount to future proof their business. Amy Kwa, head of department (Southeast Asia) for the projector division with Epson Singapore, said the key target market for these devices are event staging companies and owners of large auditoriums and ballrooms.

“The laser light source means that you won’t need to warm up the projector. You can get the device up and running faster, ” said Kwa.

The EB-L25000U comes with a fully sealed optical engine compartment to prevent dust and vapour from entering the unit. “Dust and humidity is no longer an issue,” added Kwa. Projectors often go hand in hand with fog machines at events and the two don’t really work well together.

Much of the weight of the unit comes from its full metal body which is required to get it past any knocks that might occur during the installation process.

It also comes with versatile connectivity that supports a full range of inputs that include HDBaseT, 3G-SDI and is compatible with Crestron Room View, AMX, Extron XTP, Control4 and Art-Net. The emulation feature gives installers the benefit of plugging out the old projector and plugging in the EB-L25000U, said Kwa.

The projector comes with a range of optional 4K ready lenses that cost between US$5,000 and US$8,000.

The projector was launched with much fanfare in Yogyakarta, with a special projection display at Prambanan temple, a UNESCO world heritage site. However, the new projectors were not used in the display as, according to Epson officials, there were none to spare for the event. So be quick if you want to get a look at this device.

The Prambanan temple projection display was achieved with a total of 14 EB-Z11000, EB-L1505U and EB-Z10000 projectors.

Epson’s new projector features a full metal casing body, a fully sealed laser optical engine and inorganic components.