#digital light processing

Origami, 3D printing merge to make complex structures in one shot

By merging the ancient art of origami with 21st century technology, researchers have created a one-step approach to fabricating complex origami structures whose light weight, expandability, and strength could have applications in everything from biomedical devices to equipment used in space exploration. Until now, making such structures has involved multiple steps, more than one material, and assembly from smaller parts.

"What we have here is the proof of concept of an integrated system for manufacturing complex origami. It has tremendous potential applications," said Glaucio H. Paulino, a professor at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a leader in the growing field of origami engineering, or using the principles of origami, mathematics and geometry to make useful things. Last fall Georgia Tech became the first university in the country to offer a course on origami engineering, which Paulino taught.

 The Global 3D Projector market size is forecast to reach $4.7 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR 7.2% from 2021 to 2026. The increasing adoption of 3D visualizations across various end-use applications including cinema, public places such as museums, shopping stores and many others has been propelling the growth of 3D projectors market. Factors such as improving educational sector through adopting digitalization along with surge of demand for gaming projection applications are the major driving factors boosting the market growth of 3D Digital Light Processing and Liquid Crystal on Silicon projectors. Growing popularity of laser-based projectors as well as high investments from key players to develop new products overtime can further help in advancing the growth rate of 3D projectors during the forecast period. With the surge of COVID-19 pandemic, there is significant growth in adoption of home theatre for watching movies, playing games and so on, this is set further assist the 3D projector market growth during 2021-2026.

3D Projector Market Report Coverage

The report: “3D Projector Industry Outlook – Forecast (2021-2026)”, by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the 3D Projector industry.

By Projection Technology: DLP (Digital Light Processing), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) By Type: Full HD 3D and PC 3D Ready By Display Brightness: Less than 2000 Lumens, 2000 to 3999 Lumens, 4000 to 9999 Lumens, 10000 Lumens and above By Light Source: Laser, LED, Others By End Users: Cinema, Education, Home Theatres & Gaming, Corporate Office, Public Events & Large Gatherings, Others By Geography: North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), Europe (U.K, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Others), APAC (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Others), South America (Brazil, Argentina and Others) and RoW (Middle East, Africa)

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Key Takeaways

Increasing adoption in gaming applications as well as growing digitalization towards improving educational sector is analyzed to significantly drive the 3D Projector market during the forecast period 2021-2026.

DLP technology based 3D projectors market is anticipated to grow with the highest CAGR during the forecast period 2021-2026, attributing to factors like ease of maintenance, growing research & development activities and high display efficiency with others.

APAC is analyzed to account for the fastest growing region during 2021-2026, due to growing adoption of smart learning to transform educational sector along with technological advances across entertainment sector.

3D Projector Market Segment Analysis- By Projection Technology

Based on projection technology segmentation, Digital Light Processing (DLP) market is analysed to grow with the highest CAGR of 6.8% in the global 3D Projector market during the forecast period 2021-2026. Factors such as providing improved, colorful as well as clear image projection capabilities with a comparatively higher contrast ratio have been attributing to its market growth. Compared to other technologies, DLP based 3D projectors are lighter, portable with high reliability, thus gaining its wide popularity across application areas including home theatres, digital cinema projection and so on. Due to its sealed image mirrors used for keeping projection chips dust free, such type of 3D projectors offer easy maintenance and incur less repair expenses, thus making it a cost effective alternative in the end-use markets. In February 2021, Digital Projection announced about the launch of the brightest single chip DLP laser phosphor projector, named M-Vision 23000 projector incorporated with 23000 lumens of brightness, 10000:1 contrast ratio and direct-red assist lasers. With the optical system completely sealed with IP60 rating for lens to light source, these projectors can eliminate light output or colour performance related degradation due to dust or contaminants. Such developments towards DLP 3D projectors with displaying capability of 4K-UHD, top bottom 3D formats and others is analysed to drive the market growth forward during the forecast period.

3D Projector Market Segment Analysis- By Application

Cinema is analyzed to account for the highest CAGR of around 8.2% in the global 3D projector market during 2021-2026. Entertainment industry has been rapidly evolving over the years now, supporting the widespread concept of 3D visualized projection cinema multiplexes globally as a part of gaining larger customer attention. Due to growing demand towards 3D movies for gaining huge audience base, 3D projectors serve as an idea choice to showcase the best cinematic experience, thus aiding its market growth. Owing to better audience response and high profits, various film production companies have started highly focusing towards producing high definition animated as well as 3D movies to maintain their position in this competitive marketplace. Deployment of 3D projection system helps the cinema hall or theatre owners to deliver realistic movie experience, gaining wide traction worldwide. For instance, the Solaria CP42LH projectors from Christie Digital is one of the most advanced RGB laser cinema projection system available in the market, capable of producing higher brightness levels with vivid colors replicating the Rec. 2020 space. Availability of such advanced projectors proves to be a crucial factor owing to surge of switching to 3D digital cinema screens. In October 2019, Gemini Man a Hollywood movie from Ang Lee was announced of getting premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre. For this premiere, the cinema system in the theatre was configured to produce brightness upto 28 foot lamberts, deploying Christie’s laser optical system, in order to deliver a 3D viewing experience in 4K resolution. In 2020, according to statement of a leading entertainment company, Sony Pictures Films India, 3D films are considered to be one of the biggest contributors to the growth of Hollywood in India, drawing huge audiences with movies like Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame and so on. This shows the growing dominance of 3D movies across the Indian entertainment industry, thus creating a positive impact on the growth of 3D projectors in the long run.

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3D Projector Market Segment Analysis- Geography

APAC region held the highest share of around 39% in the global 3D Projector market in 2020, and is further set to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period 2021-2026. Technological advancements within the entertainment sector along with adopting smart learning or digitalization to transform the education sector can be considered as some of the prime factors analysed to drive the market growth of 3D projectors across the region. Factors such as increasing number of movie screens along with high preference of audience towards 3D movies across various Asian countries like China, India and so on, will drive the market growth forward. In February 2019, the Fulldome 3D digital theatre was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Culture, Government of India at Science City, Kolkata making it first facility of its kind. With this establishment, the theatre aimed at scaling up the viewing experience in terms of both content as well as use of advanced technology offering high-resolution digital 2D/3D projection. High investments from some of the key market vendors like Optoma, BenQ Corporation, Epson and many others related to R&D activities along with rising demand for home theater and gaming projectors will also fuel the growth of 3D projection in the coming years. In February 2021, Indian government announced about the inauguration of the world’s largest cricket stadium incorporated with world-class facilities ranging from gym, indoor or outdoor gaming and so on. With an investment of over INR 700 crores, this stadium was equipped with a 3D projector theatre. Such investments by the government towards establishment of modern sports infrastructures has been analysed to have a positive impact 3D projectors adoption in the future.

3D Projector Market Drivers

Growing digitalization towards improving education sector:

Growing digitalization towards improving education sector can be considered as one of the major drivers for the market growth of 3D projectors. Several advancements have been made in order to modernize educational training facilities including smart learning for improve student’s engagement and communication capabilities. Further from recent studies it has been concluded that opting for 3D presentation study acts more effective compared to traditional methods, due to higher benefits in learning and gaining student’s attention. With dependency on video streaming, multimedia and many others growing over the years, adopting 3D video presentations by the educators can serve as a better way of teaching with higher efficiency and better results in the long-term. Deployment of 3D projectors for offering 3D display learning help in increasing test scores, improve knowledge retention, raise student’s attention and many more, acting as the major advantages. Additionally, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a transition towards online learning, eventually compelling the educational providers towards ramping up their investments in digitally aided education approach, in order to improve operational efficiencies, positively impacting the growth towards 3D projectors. In July 2020, a research study was carried on for studying use of hologram technology across educational theatres within Egyptian schools or educational institutions. Since educational theatre is considered as one of the instructional methods adopted by the Egyptian Ministry of Education in the school curriculum, use of advanced technology like holographic imaging can help in improving spatial visualization due to its progressive impact on the learning and cognitive development of children. However, this study concluded that integrating 3D visualization technology within the curriculum needs to be done by educators, as a part of notable investment, thereby anticipated to propel the need for 3D projectors in the long run.      

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Increasing adoption for gaming applications drives the market forward:

Increasing adoption for gaming applications is analyzed to be one of the major drivers in the market growth of 3D projectors. With surge of high-definition video gaming majorly by the teenagers and youth overtime, the need for 3D projectors is getting impacted significantly. In comparison to television screens, opting for 3D projectors benefit the users by offering high resolution images, adjustable screen size, displaying capability on any surface, lesser eye strains and many others. In October 2020, Optoma had revealed about its launch of three projectors, namely GT1090 HDR, HZ3HDR and HD28HDR, particularly aimed for serving home theatre and gaming market. These gaming projectors support 120Hz refresh rate and Blu-ray 3D, combined with enhanced gaming modes to optimize gaming experience. Such developments are set to drive the demand towards these gaming projectors capable of offering 3D visualization. With advent of advanced technologies, including augmented and virtual reality, various gaming companies have been highly focusing towards developing high-definition AR/VR games with cutting edge graphics to improve game play experiences. In December 2020, pair of Zynga veterans had jointly launched a VR game studio in California, named ForeVR, which will be focusing on the development of virtual reality gaming experiences for all age groups and geographies. Such establishments to enhance virtual reality gaming in the markets are analysed to create a positive impact on the demand for 3D projection systems in the long run.

3D Projector Market Challenges

Growing adoption of substitutes such as LED screens or wall panels:

Growing adoption of LED screens or wall panels as a better alternative for 3D projectors act as a major factor restraining its market growth. With repeated usage, projectors tend to lose their display brightness which acts as a major drawback, thus creating wider adoption of LED screens independent of such issues. Owing to capabilities such as bright image displays along with easy setup requirement of LED wall panels, it has emerged as an attractive choice for serving applications be it billboards, store signage and advertising, indoor displays, stage shows and so on. In addition, 3D projection is comparitively expensive than LED displays attributing to difficulties in displaying deep saturated colours with less contrast. The main issue which had helped gain LED displays wide popularity is the associated maintenance or repair costs. Repairing a LED wall is easier with requirement of only updating programming software and replacement of broken bulbs, while projector displays need to be repaired under skilled expertise, resulting in work delays. Since saving additional upfront costs associated with projection, has been slowing down the adoption rates of 3D projections across small scale or mid-sized organizations, hampering its market growth.

3D Projector Market Landscape

Product launches, acquisitions, and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the 3D Projector market. The key players in the 3D Projector market include Optoma Corporation, BenQ Corporation, ViewSonic Corporation, Seiko Epson Corporation, Vivitek Corporation, Barco NV, Sony Corporation, InFocus Corporation, Panasonic Corporation and Christie Digital among others.

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Acquisitions/Technology Launches/Partnerships

In March 2021, Optoma announced about the launch of low-latency 4K UHD home entertainment and gaming projectors named UHD35 and UHD38, as a part of improving its popular UHD30 model. Leveraging DLP technology, these projectors offer capability of delivering brightness of about 3600 to 4000 lumens along with outstanding response times for unmatched 4K UHD cinematic as well as gaming experiences.

The technologies behind projectors are evolving with an incredible pace. Factors like space is no more a problem, if you are thinking your home theater is too small for a projector, you can now get larger-than-life movies, games and sports in your theater rooms with the best short throw projectors. Short throw and the ultra-short throw projectors allow you create large pictures in tight spaces, without worrying about shadows obstructing the image or light shining in the presenter’s/user’s face. These projectors have very short throw ratios, the distance from projector to screen compared to the screen size is also shorter.

What to look out for before choosing a short throw projector to buy;

Before finally choosing the short throw projector you wish to buy, you may want to pay some attention to a few mechanical factors, let’s dive into some:

1. Throw Ratio:

This is one important factor to consider. It is simply defined as the ratio of the width of the projected image to the distance of the projector to the projected screen. Did you get that?

In other words it is width of projected image: distance of projector to screen.

The bigger the value of the throw ratio, the better. It’s crucial especially because of the space factor.

When the term ‘small throw ratio’ is used, it simply means you will get a wider projected image from a projector that is closer to the screen. And small throw ratio range for quality projectors to look out for is 0.38 to 0.60.

2. Lumens:

This basically refers to the brightness of the projected image. It is something to consider if you are planning to use the projector in a brightly-lit room. Therefore go for a higher lumen value, like 2000 to 3000 if you wish to use it in a brightly-lit environment/area/room. For a projector you wish to use in a dark home theater room: A 1500–3600 lumens is great and would not be too harsh on the eyes over a period of time. N/B- Some short throw projectors may not have adjustable lenses, have this in mind while searching for a short throw projector to purchase.

3. Sound Quality:

Not all short throw projectors have audio capability and this is an important factor to consider, especially if you plan to use your projector for movies or on the other end- Presentations. These are the both sides, the latter may not require the use of high sound quality projectors.

Although you could also consider a separate sound system like powered speakers.

4. Technology

There are 4 technologies that are used in modern projectors. The technologies include the DLP (Digital Light Processing), LCD (Liquid crystal Display), LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) and laser raster.

The Standard LCOS and LCD are generally taken as the best because it projects the colors of the images at once, hence avoiding the annoying “rainbow effect”; which is seen in images projected by cheap DLP and LCOS projectors.

And other factors like Bluetooth, connectivity (VGA, HDMI etc.), Resolution and other specs needed should be checked.

5. The Contrast Ratio