About Solid State Light Engines Posted on May 3, 2014 By Lisa Feierman 1. The 2014-2015 Classroom Projector Report: Special Features and Considerations - Table of Contents: Things to Consider!2. About Ultra Short Throw, and Very Short Throw Projectors - About Ultra Short Throw, and Very Short Throw Projectors3. About Interactive Projectors - About Interactive Projectors4. About Laser Pointers, Optical Pointers, Tablets and General Remote Mousing - About About Laser Pointers, Optical Pointers, Tablets and General Remote Mousing5. About Pocket Projectors - Pocket Projectors - They Have Come of Age6. About Solid State Light Engines - About Solid State Light Engines7. About Interchangeable Lenses - About Interchangeable Lenses8. About PC Free Presenting, BYOD, Presenting Over Network - About PC Free Presenting, BYOD, Presenting Over Network9. About HDMI (or DVI), USB, DisplayLink USB Interfacing - About HDMI (or DVI), USB, DisplayLink USB Interfacing10. About Picture Quality – Brightness, Color Fidelity, Accuracy, Color vs Brightness - About Picture Quality – Brightness, Color Fidelity, Accuracy, Color vs Brightness11. About Cost of Operation, Maintenance, Filters - About Cost of Operation, Maintenance, Filters - Cost of Installation - Cost of Replacement Lamps - Cost of Replacing Lamps - Filter Costs12. About Wireless Networking - About Wireless Networking13. About Wired Networking and Networking Protocols - About Wired Networking and Networking Protocols14. About Cloud Presenting/Teaching - About Cloud Presenting/Teaching15. About Presenting / Teaching from iOS and Android devices - About Presenting / Teaching from iOS and Android devices16. About Active and Passive 3D In the Classroom - About Active and Passive 3D In the Classroom - Active vs. Passive17. About Cost of Operation and Ownership - Upfront Costs - Post-Sale Costs - That's A Wrap About Solid State Light EnginesWhile the pocket projectors all use various solid state light engines, we’re seeing a second group which tend to be rather expensive projectors. In this report we have two serious solid state, bright, full featured projectors. Panasonic’s RW430 is one, and it offers lots of zoom range, WXGA resolution and a full feature set. Sony’s Laser Projectors, the FHZ55 is the other. It’s a good deal brighter, and is WUXGA/ 1080p and also is fully featured, from networking to interchangeable lenses. Solid state light engines are long life, so lamp replacement is not a factor. They dim in brightness more slowly. They also start up and have a usable image in just a couple of seconds, not more like 30 seconds to a minute for most conventional lamp based projectors. These solid state projectors are truly more expensive per lumen, and that remains the case even when you figure in replacement lamps for the competition, but they do provide a long life, install and forget advantage, with what should be the lowest operational costs. (They are typically more energy efficient as well.) Solid state projectors can typically work 360 degrees and off access – not something needed in the classroom, but often ideal for special projects like a museum art display. That’s doubly true of the projectors also offer edge blending. Click Image to Enlarge