Are Solid State Hybrid LED/Laser Projectors gaining popularity?

With a rated light-source life of 20,000 hours, the new solid state hybrid LED/LASER projectors are definitely getting some positive attention. But will they eventually replace the LCD/DLP projectors?

The current breed of projectors have been increasing in popularity due to higher brightness, higher resolution, excellent picture clarity, HD/3D support and other features. Projectors have been getting increasingly affordable and that’s one reason why home-theater projectors have become a reality, today.

When you think of buying a projector, the first thing you might want to know is – What’s the lamp life, lamp warranty and lamp replacement cost? Generally projectors come with 3000 – 5000 hours of rated lamp-life, do not carry any significant lamp warranty at all and lamp replacement cost is almost 25-35% of the value of the projector!

This is the exact reason why solid state hybrid LED/Laser projectors are getting increased attention – They come with 20,000 hours of rated light-source life, lamp is warranted for 3 years/6000 hours (mostly) and there is no need to replace lamps during its life-time!

Here are some more advantages of Hybrid LED/Laser projectors –

  • Maintenance free (no need to clean/change filters)
  • Low power consumption
  • Runs cooler
  • Mercury free
  • Quick switch-on & switch-off
  • No moving parts
  • Uniform brightness throughout the life of the projector
  • Technology has been around for sometime and is being increasingly accepted
  • Models are available for purchase, today

Of course, there maybe a few limitations to the Hybrid LED/LASER projectors, as well. For example, the color accuracy may degrade with time, and the clarity of pictures may not (yet) be as good as LCD/DLP. Since it is a relatively new technology, there is no way to test the vendor’s claim that the light-source life is 20,000 hours. But even if their life is anywhere near that figure, it will still be much higher than current LCD/DLP projectors.

The price of these projectors is another concern. The low-end pico projectors and other home-theater/mobile projectors with a capacity of less than 500 Lumens (approx) are very affordable. These 500 Lumens projectors have got good reviews in the demanding home-theater segment. But that brightness level is just not sufficient for office/organizational usage.

There are Hybrid LED/Laser projectors that have higher brightness levels (1500 – 3500 Lumens, and higher), but these are typically priced very high. But with recent releases of Hybrid LED Projectors from Optoma and Casio that are rated at 2500 Lumens and are priced around $1500 USD, are LED/Hybrid Laser projectors for business use, finally in the limelight?

We have seen in other fields that technology eventually moves to solid-state. If that is any indication, it is only time before the Hybrid LED/Laser projectors become mainstream.

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