CES 2022 – Projector Reviews Tradeshow Report Page 2

HISENSE

On January 5th, 2022 (Wednesday), Phil and I visited Hisense and their relatively large demonstration area at CES. A large portion of their demonstration area was dedicated to their Laser TV product offerings. Chief Scientist at Hisense’s Laser Display division, Xianrong Liu, Ph.D., (Dr. Liu) and Hisense Product Marketing Manager Chris Miller were quite proud of their 8K technology. Chris stated Hisense Visual Technology CO., LTD was looking to establish themselves as the leaders in ultra-short-throw smart laser projectors. Ultra-short-throw laser projectors have many of the features found on a modern TV. Therefore, some have given UST projectors alternative names like Ultra Short Throw TV, Laser TV, Laser Projector, or Laser Projector TV. Hisense has coined the term “Laser TV,” which is easier to say than saying ultra-short-throw smart laser projector.

Chris went on to say Hisense is really leaning in and focusing on Laser TVs and owning the category. Today, consumers are starting to see Laser TV as a viable replacement for their living room televisions thanks to advancements in light sources, imaging sensors, and proprietary processing technologies. Combine these three things with the steady decline of component costs, and Laser TV sales are steadily increasing. In addition, Chris told us to be on the lookout for NextGen TV tuners in their projectors starting in 2023.

The Hisense L9G TriChroma Laser TV 4K is their top-of-the-line projector for the United States. The L9G ships with either a 100-inch or 120-inch Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screen; it is a complete system. Hisense had a 100-inch model on display in the booth.

They also had a sizeable double L9G TriChroma Laser TV demonstration that blended the two projector video images into a single extra-large video image. Just take a look at the photo above; you cannot tell where the images are blended together. The demonstration looked simply marvelous.

Phil Jones actually had the Hisense L9G TriChroma Laser TV for testing and ran it through its paces. He was incredibly impressed and gave the unit a Projector Reviews "Best in Class" award. For his full review on the Hisense L9G projector, click here.

Additionally, Hisense was demonstrating a 120-inch L9G Pro TriChroma Laser TV. Think of the L9G Pro TriChroma Laser TV as an L9G TriChroma Laser TV with some extra goodies. For example, the L9G Pro has a digital front display, increased lumens, and a built-in subwoofer, whereas the L9G does not. Sadly, the L9G Pro TriChroma Laser TV is not available for sale in the United States. Perhaps, if we all keep asking for it, we can get Hisense to change their mind and make the L9G Pro available for sale stateside.

Hisense made an 8K Laser Cinema announcement introducing the Hisense 8K Laser Cinema. Hisense stated they have the world’s first 8K resolution TriChroma Laser Projector. The projector played 8K demo videos in a room with little ambient light control. However, the images still looked bright and vivid! Click here for Projector Reviews’ article on Hisense’s 8K Laser Projector announcement.

While it wasn’t displayed in their booth, Hisense also announced the PX1-PRO. This unit should offer comparable performance to their award-winning L9G, but it has a different form factor, and it is not bundled with an ALR screen. It includes a new adjustable digital focus for better capability with multiple screen sizes. It is an excellent option for customers who want to utilize a custom motorized UST screen.

BENQ

We had a meeting with Lars Yoder, President, BenQ America Corp., and Jeffrey Hsieh, BenQ Director of Consumer Projector Line of Business. BenQ had a tremendous amount of gaming products out on display and numerous hands-on demonstrations. I had to pull myself back from their gaming monitors and Esports monitors that were the first things seen when entering their meeting room. I was redirected to the back room, where they had two of their gaming projectors. They had BenQ TK700 and their newest gaming projector, the BenQ X3000i, hooked up to a Sony PS5 for demonstration purposes.

Both gaming projectors come with unique game modes for FPS (First-Person Shooter), RPG (Role-Playing Game), and SPG (Sports Game) gaming modes with audio, visual, and optimized latency settings for each type of game. Jeehwan “Jee” Shin, BenQ Campaign Marketing Specialist, gave us gaming demos on both projectors, and I must say they both worked well and looked great.

What do I mean but “looked great”? Looked great, meaning the excellent color accuracy and the images were bright and clear.

Lars mentioned that accurate color reproduction is important to BenQ. While wide color gamut coverage is great for advertising/marketing, proper color tracking is critical. . Lars stated that not only can the BenQ X3000i reproduce 100% DCI-P3 color space and color tracks properly for great picture quality.

We have a full review of the little brother of the BenQ X3000i, the BenQ X1300i, on ProjectorReviews.com. BenQ X1300i is a Full HD (1920 x 1080) 4LED light sourced DLP HDR projector that, like the X3000i, is specifically designed with a gaming focus.

BenQ states the X3000i has100% DCI-P3 brilliant colors for lifelike immersion, true 4K HDR10 paired with16ms low input lag, and enhanced dynamic stereo speakers for object-based sounds. The BenQ X3000i is aimed at helping gamers win, especially open-world gamers.

BenQ states their gaming projectors provide an immersive gaming experience that blends breathtaking images, exceptional audio, and a gigantic screen to make you feel like you are IN the game, not just playing it.

In addition to the X3000i, BenQ was also demonstrating the TK700 which is essentially the same as the BenQ TK700STi I did a full review back on July 7^th, 2021. The TK700 has some differences, like a 1.3X zoom versus the 1.2X zoom on the TK700STi.

Also, the TK700STi is powered by Android TV and is Google-certified for smart connectivity, and the TK700 is not. Since the TK700 will most likely be connected to a gaming system. BenQ figures that most users will rely on the smart features built into their gaming systems.

The BenQ TK700 is available now for an MSRP of $1,499. The all-new BenQ X3000i should hit the shelves around February or March of 2022 with an MSRP of $1,999. Check out Philip Boyle’s detailed Industry News Article on the BenQ X3000i here for more information.

JVC

JVC had a suite at the Venetian that they turned into an 8K demo room. To demonstrate 8K content JVC utilized a DLA-NZ9 which is their flagship Laser D-ILA home theater projector capable of displaying a resolution of 8192 x 4320 (with 8K/e-shiftX). While the DLA-NZ9 was not new for CES 2022, the JVC DLA-NZ9 was relatively new since it was released in September 2021, so it is probably the first time most attendees had seen it. The projector's picture quality was outstanding.

The JVC DLA-NZ9’s Ultra-High Contrast Optics with BLU-Escent laser light source contributes to an optical brightness of 3,000 lumens and a light source life of 20,000 hours. The DLA-NZ9 even comes with ISF C3 (Certified Calibration Controls), making certified ISF calibrators like me very happy.

But wait, there is more! While the demo room was utilizing their flagship DLA-NZ9 D-ILA projector, JVC also announce two new projectors for their 2022 D-ILA projector lineup; the DLA-NP5 and DLA-RS1100. These projectors utilize JVC’s three 0.69-inch native 4K (4096×2160) D-ILA devices to deliver outstanding black-level performance and awe-inspiring contrast. In addition, the projectors have a rated native contrast of 40,000:1 and 400,000:1 dynamic contrast. Also new for this year is HDR10+ support. In 2022, HDR10+ content will be available from select streaming services like Disney+ and on certain 4K UHD Discs.

The JVC DLA-NP5 and DLA-RS1100 have an MSRP of only $6,999 compared to $24,999 for the flagship DLA-NZ9. So as you can see, JVC is bringing their D-ILA technology in for a broader group of consumers and a much more affordable price point. Get detailed information on the DLA-NP5 and DLA-RS1100 by clicking here.

LG

I cannot write a CES 2022 summary report without mentioning LG and their business decision to participate and yet not participate at the same time in CES 2022. LG decided to make an LG exhibition which was called the “Life’s Good Lounge.” The Life’s Good Lounge was essentially a bunch of wood framing and seats with QR codes for more information scattered all over the zones of their exhibition. The Life’s Good Lounge had a total of four zones. Zone one was “The history of the OLED experience,” zone two was “CES 2022 innovation awards honorees,” zone three was “LG world premier.” Lastly, zone four was the “exploration spot.” You have to zoom into the photos above to really see the detail of the LG exhibition.

CES 2022 – FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I wholeheartedly believe CES 2022 was well worthwhile. As previously mentioned, approximately 2,300 exhibitors were on hand at CES 2022, with about 900 of those being startups who were launching innovative products. We at Projector Reviews, of course, focused on projectors and projector-related items. The exhibitors at the show were very excited to be there and welcomed the opportunity to talk about their products. We at Projector Reviews wanted our readers to see and read how CES 2022 went from a boots-on-the-ground perspective. Hopefully, I provided you a peek into what projectors were at the show, either on display or as a full-on demonstration. I hope to see you all at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.