Consumer Driven

2004 was the year that the large screen displays hit the mainstream. Prices on every technology, from plasma and LCD monitors to front and rear projectors, went down, and sales volumes were up. And if you go to a major market consumer electronics store today, you're likely not to see a single, big belly CRT TV set.

As consumers increasingly drive most display technology innovation—and favor 16:9 and sub-$1000 price points—video projector manufacturers must factor these preferences in their own R&D.

For years the majority of display manufacturers have catered to business professionals displaying presentation slides and spreadsheets rather than motion video movies, video promos, or sporting events. But, realizing that few consumers are likely to relax in the evening in front of PowerPoint slides, display makers are paying greater attention to video image processing, including de-interlacing, noise reduction, and film cadence detection. Naturally, those are all features that serve video professionals very well.

Flat panel vendors have embraced this new video-oriented broad audience. According to Pacific Media Associates, flat panel (30in. and higher) unit sales more than doubled between 2003 and 2004, from just fewer than 400,000 to about 850,000 units. Roughly 75 percent to 80 percent of those sales, or about 650,000 units, are to television- and movie-watching consumers, and that's up from five-digit sales figures in just a few years. Just as interestingly, the focus of flat panel manufacturers' research and development has shifted from higher-margin professional AV products to higher-volume consumer products, and CES and CEDIA effectively displaced InfoComm as the shows where more new technologies are announced.

Yet, front projector manufacturers seem to be slow in getting the message that consumers are spending money on large screen display products. While the projector industry continues to grow overall, the number of consumer and video-oriented projectors still represent a very small percentage of the total units. Of the roughly 160 different projector models (less than 10lbs.) on the market this past fall, less than 10 percent had a native 16:9 aspect ratio. That percentage is going up with recent new product announcements, and about 25 percent of larger 10lb. to 15lb. models are widescreen. But, as a very base indicator of consumer vs. corporate target audiences, it still is low compared to other large screen technologies.

Admittedly, it's no secret that the “multimedia projector” industry has always been a lot less “multi” and more about displaying straight business presentation media. Every projector comes with composite and S-Video inputs, but presenters displaying spreadsheets and bulleted slides rarely use those ports. With such an emphasis on displaying sharp computer images and text, it's no wonder, for example, that DLP-based business projectors commonly offer a healthy color wheel segment to “white,” in addition to the red, green, and blue segments that combine to produce color. Mixing white light with RGB color sharpens the edges of text and numbers, but it sure doesn't make for the most accurate colors when it comes to video.

Front projectors have continued to do well, too, with sales volumes up steadily in the last year. But it's the breakdown of those numbers that is more revealing. Pacific Media Associates breaks down projector sales in a couple of different ways, tracking projectors with prices less than $1,000 and those units with 16:9 aspect ratios. Of the 910,000 products sold at more than $1,000, only about 12 percent have a 16:9 aspect ratio. Again, making the somewhat crass assumption that widescreen models are mostly bought by consumers and that the 4:3 units are mostly purchased for corporate/educational use, front projection seems to have a fairly exclusive appeal in the consumer marketplace.

And why would it? Traditional thinking suggests that setting up a projector is too complicated for the average consumer. Consumer electronics stores have a physical space problem displaying front projectors, compared to direct view technologies, due primarily to the distance between the projector and the screen. High ambient light in stores can create washed-out appearances and thus presents a clear deterrent to presenting front projection as a worthy alternative to the others.

But Pacific Media Associates says consumers are buying projectors, and not just at the 12 percent number of 16:9 units, but at a much higher, surprising rate. It's that sub-$1,000 category that has seen easily the highest growth since vendors hit that price point a little more than a year and a half ago. Today, more than 30% of all projectors sold fall into that category, and they are all 4:3 (a few 16:9 models are in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, but none has yet reached three digits). Still, while most are sold through business channels such as office supply stores, Pacific Media Associates estimates that about one half are going into consumer homes for entertainment and video watching purposes.

So what might happen if projector manufacturers could get 16:9 models under that seemingly magical $1,000 price point? And, what might happen if there were more than just an apparent two-tiered approach to widescreen video projectors, with one class of very exclusive and expensive models targeting the home theater room of the wealthiest of users and an emerging class of lower resolution, feature-limited models? What if front projector makers offer a range of video-centric products that could compete against RPTV products on good prices and blow away plasma and LCD TV on diagonal inch per dollar?

I'm not sure I have an answer to those questions. I can say that the consumers I know are intrigued by the idea of buying an affordable front projector for their homes since flat panel prices on any reasonable sized “large screen” still remain out of reach for most. The video people I know, those folks who shoot, edit, and distribute video at all levels, would like to view it on a large 16:9, video-centric display. Those folks tend to spend a lot of money on cameras, editing systems, and production monitors. Why not on a projector, if it were reasonably priced and displayed ood video?

To comment on this article, email the Video Systems editorial staff at vsfeedback@primediabusiness.com.