It's been a while since we've written about Vivitek here at Projector Reviews, so imagine my excitement when I discovered that Vivitek, a brand of Delta, is announcing the launch of a new heavy-duty laser projector.
Vivitek is part of the Delta family of brands for those unfamiliar with the company. Vivitek currently has a wide range of visual display and presentation products, including digital projection products. We’ve written about several Vivitek projectors in the past here at Projector Reviews. Vivitek offers a wide array of innovative products and technologies designed to meet the ever-increasing demands of the education, business, home theater, and large venue segments of the projector industry.
Vivitek's new projector model is the DU9900Z. The DU9900Z is a laser-powered, large-format (0.96 inches), Darkchip series DLP projector. This Vivitek professional projector features a motorized lens-shift/focus/zoom and lens position memory for easy installation. And if that's not enough, the DU9900Z is really bright, coming in at a listed 22,000 lumens. Let's take a closer look at the projector.
LASER LIGHT ENGINE
Laser Phosphor Light Engine
Vivitek is able to generate a full spectrum of color by starting with a single color – in this case, a cluster of blue lasers that shine onto a spinning yellow phosphor wheel that also incorporates a clear segment that allows the blue light from the lasers to shine through (this is the blue primary color).l. The yellow light generated by the phosphor wheel then passes through a color wheel that creates red and green light – the remaining primary colors.
The new DU9900Z laser light source is so reliable it can run continuously for 30,000 hours in "Eco Mode," guaranteeing 24/7 operation. Compared with more traditional light source products, it can significantly reduce the maintenance cost for replacing the lamps.
DLP DARKCHIP™ AND BRILLIANT COLOR TECHNOLOGIES™
The Texas Instruments Darkchip DLP® imager in the DU9900Z uses millions of tiny mirrors to reflect all the colors of visible light to project a digital image onto a screen. DLP technology delivers high contrast ratios and minimizes gaps between pixels for bright, sharp pictures.
At this point in the image production process, the light generated by the laser light engine passes through a diffusion window, and the colored light is presented to the Digital MicroMirror chip, the imaging device. The DMD switches at a very high rate and transmits the colored pixels to the optical lens system for display on the screen or projected surface.
One of the significant benefits of using TI DLP imaging is a technology called BrilliantColor, a multi-color processing technology that produces vibrant images. This technology uses up to six colors, not just the three primary colors, red, green, and blue, to improve color accuracy and brighten secondary colors.
As a single-chip DLP laser projector, Vivitek DU9900Z is equipped with a powerful 0.96-inch DMD chip. It can easily deliver 22,000 lumens of high brightness, 3,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and WUXGA resolution.
LENS OPTIONS
DU9900Z can support five different motorized lenses with LPM (Lens Positioning Memory) to meet all installation requirements. LPM enables the position of the lens to be easily adjusted by electrical control. This projector can display image sizes ranging from 40" to 500" without visible image distortion and can be easily calibrated using the projector's horizontal and vertical keystone correction.
The DU9900Z comes with edge-blending and warping technology allowing multiple projectors to simultaneously project a combined and seamless image for large displays.
BRIGHTNESS TO SPARE
Vivitek describes the DU9900Z as being designed for the ProAV rental, staging, outdoor, and large venues, industry segments. Generally, the one feature that all these customers require is bright and stable light output.
The new DU9900Z features an incredibly bright light output listed by Vivitek as 22,000 lumens of stable and high brightness quality.
INSTALLATION FLEXIBILITY AND IMPROVED SYSTEM INTEGRATION
For Systems Integrators
The DU9900Z offers an incredible range of installation flexibility by providing a choice of optional lenses, 360-degree and portrait projection, and 24/7 operation capability.
With support for HDBaseT™ connectivity, image signals can be conveniently transmitted to the projector over long distances via cable and a standard CAT5e/6-LAN interface that has been integrated into the DU9900Z for digital audio content. This allows the projector to be placed up to 100 meters from the source using low-cost cabling. In addition, the projector has a 3G-SDI connector, which enables a camera to be used as an image source.
Vivitek has also thought about making life easier for Systems Integrators (SI). That's why the DU9900Z has been engineered to support Art-Net, a royalty-free communication protocol that enables DMX512-A, RDM (Remote Device Management), and lighting data to be transported over an Ethernet network. Art-Net uses a simple UDP-based packet structure designed to provide efficient and low overhead data flow. It is used to communicate between 'Nodes' (e.g., intelligent lighting instruments) and 'Server' (a lighting desk or general-purpose computer running lighting control software). Previously, an SI would need to build up two control systems with two operators: lighting and projector. With Art-Net, SIs now only need to build up one system that controls the lighting and the projector simultaneously, with the projector responding immediately via a compiler program with DMX.
The DU9900Z also supports Vivitek's PJ-Control tool. This simple and easy-to-use UI design further controls viewing options, settings, scheduling, and display adjustment features that can be operated over a network. For added convenience, it also helps users control multiple projectors remotely, allowing for the creation of projector groups with simultaneous control. This not only means a simple setup for users, but it also provides relevant information on projector status. Other projectors on the same network can be automatically detected and visualized, for easy navigation combined with an intuitive design, making for a completely user-friendly experience.
Vivitek's DU9900Z weighs only 101 lbs or 49 kg which is competitively light for this class of projector. This projector provides options for more flexible installations, such as optional lenses and more. Below are more of the projector's key features.
Bright 22,000 ANSI lumens with a native WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution with up to 20,000 hours of operating time
DLP® DarkChip™ and BrilliantColor™ technologies for optimal black levels and vibrant, colorful images
Solid-state, laser-phosphor light source for reliable projection and performance
Laser light source produces rich colors for an incredible cinematic experience
Built-in hardware edge-blending and warping functionality
Powered zoom, focus and lens shift (horizontal/vertical) for easy adjustment and positioning flexibility
Full suite of display connectivity inputs and outputs
Portrait mode projection allows the projector to be easily set up and installed in a 90° installation
360° operation and projection design for setup in all angles
Instantaneous power on & off, so there is no need for system preheating and post-cooling
Airtight sealed engine and filter-less design for improved performance against dust and fibers
Complete range of motorized interchangeable lenses in sizes from 0.9 to 7:1 (optional)
24/7 continuous operation with no downtime
Network ready for integration and system administration via RJ45
The Vivitek DU9900Z is available for purchase from authorized Vivitek distributors for $25,999.00 MSRP. For more information about Vivitek, please visit www.vivitekcorp.com or www.vivitek.eu, and be sure to check out www.projectorreviews.com for our full review of this projector when we get a sample.
