“Only the cabinet design, the naming ‘PA’ and the lenses are the same as the current PA Series. Everything else is completely different, new and innovative,” remarks NEC Display Solutions Europe’s product line manager large venue projectors, Gerd Kaiser, of the newly ‘revitalised’ PA Series professional range.
In total, the company has introduced seven new LCD projectors that are said to be ideal for customers seeking larger brighter pictures in high quality. Among many other features, they incorporate NEC’s NV1301 Scaler Chip, capable of managing input for the new Ultra HD format, 4K, and sharing the signal with connected projectors.
4K is still very much in its infancy, but Kaiser is in doubt about its potential. “4K is the professional resolution of the future,” he tells Commercial Integrator Europe. “The benefit of up to 4K signal support is not only the possibility of 4K input. The customer can input up to 4K signal, which is distributed via the unique HDMI-out to the next projector. The projector is picking its part of the picture via the tiling function. The combination of pictures is realised via built-in Edge blending without any additional device.”
Other aspects of the new products include: extended geometric control; a selection of lens options; portrait mode support; one projector 3D presentation; contrast ratios of up to 6,000:1; a 10-bit video processor; and connectivity and multimedia features including DisplayPort, HDMI In and HDBaseT (selected models). In line with NEC’s Green Vision, the projectors also offer advanced green eco features including low-energy consumption settings, with only 0.16W of power used in Stand-By mode.
Regarding specific models, Kaiser identifies the PA572W as being suitable for small and mid-sized integration projects. “WXGA is a very nice resolution and 5700 ANSI lumen is more than enough brightness in most cases,” he says. “Meanwhile, the built-in HDBaseT interface enables very easy installation by using just a long, low-cost network cable for signal transfer.”
As for future developments in the realm of professional projectors, Kaiser reveals that laser light source “will be the next step. We will offer PX602UL Series, a blue laser projector with the same benefits and features, and 20.000H maintenance-free ‘lamp’ life in an autumn timeframe.”
