2024Q1 projection market sales volume (Image source: Lotu Technology)
In the first quarter of the past year, the projection market ushered in a recovery. According to the latest report released by Lotu Technology, in the first quarter of 2024, the sales volume of China's smart projection market will be 1.443 million units, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%. When TV products in the same scene have not yet come out of the trough, projectors have been sought after by relying on small size, large screen and playable attributes that are more suitable for renters and young users.
Not only the domestic market, but also projectors overseas have received a lot of attention, and Cognitive Market Research has raised its full-year forecast based on the performance of the global projection market. According to the report, the global projector market size will reach $1,508.2 million in 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% from 2024 to 2031.
According to IDC data, from 2019 to 2023, the average growth rate of overall laser projector shipments is 19%, of which the average growth rate of long-focus laser projection reaches 65%.
Vidda C2 series three-color laser projection products (Image source: Titanium Media APP author shooting)
It is foreseeable that laser projectors will become an important track for the active layout of various projection brands in the future for a period of time. Take Hisense's Vidda brand as an example,Recently,It released a three-color laser intelligent projection"Family bucket"C2Series,And simultaneously launchedAIImini LEDTV new productX Ultra series and two self-developed AI microphonesV3、V7。
Among them, Vidda C2 Ultra is equipped with the industry's first MCL 38 laser, with a measured brightness of up to 3000 lumens and a 2000:1 contrast ratio.
Left: Mainstream flagship products in the market, Right: Vidda C2 Ultra (Image source: Photo by the author of Titanium Media APP)
While retaining the 2000:1 contrast ratio, the Vidda C2 Pro has reduced its brightness to 2600 lumens. For projection users,In addition to brightness is a doubt when choosing projection,The limitation of placement is also a major pain point,Especially for home projection,There is no ideal placement environment such as theater or classroom、Office,It is very common to be close to the curtain and wall or can only be placed on one side of the living room。
For this purpose, the Vidda C2 Ultra and C2 Pro are equipped with an optical zoom lens with a 0.9~1.5:1 throw ratio, which can project a 100-inch screen at a distance of 2 meters and a 150-inch picture at a distance of 3 meters. At the same time, it is also equipped with an integrated gimbal base that can be rotated 360°, combined with the upgraded Vi-AI intelligent correction technology, as well as providing functions such as non-inductive focusing, intelligent keystone correction, bilateral automatic screen entry, and precise obstacle avoidance.
With the zoom lens, the product can project a larger screen at a shorter distance (Image source: Photo by the author of the Titanium Media APP)
Looking at the new projection products released in the past two or three years,The PTZ function has been from the flagship exclusive to the trend of decentralization to the mid-range,In the inherent cognition of many users,The projection itself does not have the large screen experience that is ready to use like TV,The emergence of the PTZ function is to solve this problem,The cumbersome image correction in the past、The process of switching the projection placement is omitted,Further reduce the user's learning threshold。
In addition to focusing on the flagship experience, the Vidda C2 Ultra is also certified for IMAX ENHANCED, HDR10+ and FilmMaker Mode, and other models are also certified for IMAX ENHANCED and FilmMaker Mode, allowing users to enjoy the same visual experience as IMAX theaters at home.
From the point of view of parameters and price, Vidda C2 Ultra and Vidda C2 Pro are more suitable for people who have high requirements for image capabilities, or users who are not satisfied with the sound and picture performance of existing projection products and want to upgrade.
The other two models, the Vidda C2S and Vidda C2 Ultimate, offer a greater value for money and are more suitable for those who are new to laser projection and have a budget of 2000 and 1700 lumens, respectively. In terms of sound quality, the Vidda C2 Ultra, C2 Pro, and C2S are all equipped with a 10W×2 speaker from JBL, and the Vidda C2 Ultra also has a 20W independent woofer integrated into its base.
In terms of performance, the Vidda C2 series is equipped with the new MT9679 chip with quad-core 64-bit A73 core and 4GB running memory, and the interface has also been upgraded to HDMI 2.1 and USB 3.0 standards, retaining a full range of audio connections such as eARC, optical digital audio and headphones.
Three-color laser display (Image source: taken by the author of Titanium Media APP)
It is not difficult to find from the projection products released this time,Although Vidda still focuses on the current high price"Laser display"Technology path,But compared with the previous generation of products and competing products of the same level"Upgrade iteration of "increase the volume without increasing the price"。 And with the launch of the C2 series,It also means that in addition to the gradual upgrade of laser TV from monochrome to tricolor,The mid-to-high-end products in the projection track will also fully turn to the three-color laser technology path,Rely on higher brightness、Better color to win the current large screen market with limited capacity。
In addition to projection,Vidda is also deepening the product layout on TVs at the same time,The new products released this timeMini LEDThe whole series have more than 1,000 partitions,X85 UltraStable peak brightness can reachXDR 2600nits,100/75/65Inch isXDR 2500nits。
Vidda X Ultra's AI computational image quality engine can achieve multi-dimensional calculations such as clarity, contrast, and color through powerful neural network algorithms and 20 hybrid training strategies for video classification processing. In addition, AI color temperature adaptation, AI game console recognition, AI game type recognition and other functions also appear in the new Vidda X Ultra products. (This article was first published on Titanium Media APP Author, Photography/Deng Jianyun Editor/Zhong Yi)