Back in January, Sony announces their PJ Series. This series is the company’s latest line of HD digital cameras. In the series is the HDR-PJ50, which is the company’s first projector camera hybrid. Today, the company was proud to announce that this device was released in India. The HDR-PJ50’s main feature is the HD digital camera. It is capable of recording 7.1 megapixel still images or full HD (1920 x 1080) video. It comes with a 220GB internal memory and slots to connect external storage devices. The projector is attached to the flip-out LCD panel and it is capable of displaying up to a 1.5 meter (60 inches), diagonally, from a distance of 3 meter (9.8 feet) away. Sony did not announce a retail price for the HDR-PJ50 at this time.

[via Projector Point]

One of the latest projectors to come from Digital Projection is the M-Vision Cine 230. This model has two versions, the M-Vision Cine 230-HC w/1.56-1.86 lens and the M-Vision Cine 230-HC w/1.85-2.40 lens. Both models are capable of displaying 3000:1 contrast ratio, 1000 ANSI lumens, and full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. Today, the writers from Wired got to review the Cine 230 to see how good it is. They start off by stating that a good home theater projector is one that makes you not want to go to the actual theater. The writers think that the Cine 230 is one of those projectors that accomplish this job nicely. They were very happy with the projector’s performance and its ability to display large screen displays. The writers highlighted the connection panel, which has a wide selection of options. There were a few problems though, one being the contrast and black levels. Also the writers would have liked to see some more lumens from the device. But even with these problems, the writers conclude, “Only the most persnickety videophiles will care or even notice. For everyone else, the Cine 230 offers cinema-quality images for a matinee price.”

[via Wired]

One of the new pico projectors from Favi Entertainment is the E1-LED-Pico. This device features 15 ANSI lumens, LCoS display technology and a VGA (640 x 480) resolution. Today, the writers from PC Magazine released their review of this particular display. The one aspect that everyone likes about pico projectors is the compact size. The E1-LED-Pico measures only 4.5” x 1.0” x 2.4” and weighs just over a quarter pound. The writers thought that the overall image quality was decent for a pico projector, but they would have liked to see a brighter image. 15 lumens is not a lot and means that the projector needs to be in almost complete darkness in order to display correctly. Another problem the writers noticed was that the projector had trouble focusing. But even with all the problems, the writers give the E1-LED-Pico a high score and state, “The Favi E1-LED-Pico doesn’t have the range of connection options or the brightness of the B1-LED-Pico or the Editors’ Choice Optoma PK301 Pico Pocket Projector ($400 street, 4 stars). However, it costs less than the B1 and just half as much as the PK301, and can run off batteries, which the B1 can’t. It’s well worth consideration as a decent, low-priced entertainment projector that needn’t be tied to a wall wart.”

[via PC Magazine]

Christie is the leader in digital cinema projection technologies. Today, the company announced that they have shipped and installed more than 20000 digital cinema projectors worldwide. The majority of their sells have been from the company’s Solaria Series 2K and 4K projectors. Two of the more popular models include the CP2220 and CP2230. The CP2220 features 22000 ANSI lumens, a 2100:1 contrast ratio, and 2K HD (2048 x 1080) resolution, while the CP2230 has the same contrast ratio and resolution, but includes 32000 ANSI lumens. “Projectors were shipped to cinema customers in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Turkey and the United States in May, with the 20,000th shipment going to Cinema City International in Arad, Romania,” said Jack Kline, president and chief operating officer, Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. “Whether it is 2D or 3D, 2K or 4K, small or large screens, we are honored that our customers continue to rely on Christie to deliver the brightest, most reliable projection solutions for their theaters.”

[via Christie]

BenQ announced last year their DV-S11 projector camera. Today, the company finally released the device in the USA. The DV-S11 is one of the few camera-projector hybrids currently on the market. It looks like a typical pico projector with a 3.5” LCD touchscreen. The camera is able to record full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution video or a 5MP still frame. The projector is capable of displaying a 50 inch screen, but unfortunately that’s all the specifications the company is giving. The DV-S11 is available now through the company’s website or through select retailers for $229.

[via Pico Projector Info]

Today, Barco announced that they have signed a Supply Agreement and Support Agreement with Empire Theaters. Under the agreement, Barco will convert 386 of Empire’s auditoriums to a new digital projection system. This conversion will complete Empire Theater’s conversion process from film to digital projectors. Barco will be providing a variety of projectors from the digital cinema lineup. The projectors will vary between 2k HD (2048 x 1080) and 4K HD (4096 x 2160) resolution. “We are ecstatic to be expanding our digital cinema footprint in Canada with Empire Theatres and committed to continuing their rapid, smooth deployment,” commented Danny Sergeant, VP Sales and Managing Director for Barco Canada. “We continue to strengthen our commitment to Canada, evidenced by the ongoing expansion of our dedicated Canadian Barco team, as well as a wide network of local parts depots across Canada, and 24/7/365 technical support. With this focus, we believe our growing installed base will benefit from ‘projecting the magic’ across the country.”

[via Barco]

Netflix is one of the top ways to view thousands of movies and TV shows at home. But now there is a new service coming out that will allow viewers to see the latest movies while they are still in the theaters. The service is called MoviePass and for a monthly subscription, customers can visit the theater anytime they wish without having to wait in the ticket line first. The subscription is $50 a month and only applies to the standard 2D movies. If a customer wants to watch anything in 3D or on IMAX, they will have to pay a $3 surchange per viewing. MoviePass is also thinking about a lesser subscription of $30 per month, but it will only limit customers to 4 movies per month. The service is expected to launch in San Francisco this coming weekend.

[via Engadget]

Back in May you may have read about a head tracking system that was designed by the engineers at the University of Texas. Today, the engineers released a second video giving a closer look at the technology that is involved in their design. The system requires two main components; a laptop with a webcam, and a pico projector mounted on a robotic stand. The system is designed to recognize were a user is looking and then point the projector in that direction. When used with video games, the system can be used to change the view in game. In the video above, the user shows how turning his head not only changes where the image is being displayed, but also changes the player’s view point. The design is specifically designed to be a cost effective method to bring realism to gaming. The narrator in the video says that, without the laptop, all the components cost him less than $500.

[via Pico Projector Info]

Today, a new pico projector was revealed from a new company called Rundex. The model is being called the Oyap Panda, but some reports have stated that it was called the Pico Panda at this year’s Microvision Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The Oyap features 15 ANSI lumens, a WVGA (848 x 480) resolution and an 8000:1 contrast ratio. The main feature though is the laser-based projection system. This technology has proven very popular due to its impressive image quality but more so to its ability to display on any surface and not need focusing. The laser system allows the image to display on curved and edged screens without distortion. Unfortunately there is no information about when the Oyap Panda will be available, but it is priced at just under $800.

[via Pico Pros]

Texas Instruments is proud to announce that this year they are celebrating 15 years of proven digital deployments worldwide. The company is known for their DLP display technology that has been integrated into thousands of projectors. The company is also using this anniversary to celebrate their success and growth from 2010. The company stated that over 40000 movie screens worldwide have been converted to the new digital projection technology. Drew Kaza, Executive Vice President of Digital Development for Europe’s leading exhibitor chain, Odeon & UCI Cinemas Ltd., shared the following sentiments, “Our conversion to digital cinema is going extremely well with a majority of our screens in the UK, Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain already up and running with digital 3D. We selected digital projectors with TI’s DLP Cinema technology, and since the reliability and support has been excellent, we are ramping installation to have our entire circuit converted by 2013.”

[via D Cinema Today]