The Return of the Projector

There is a renaissance occurring in the projector market. To break down the causes and possible challenges of this renewed interest in projector technology, Ben Thomas turned to Richard Hutton, VP of Demand Generation for Sharp/NEC Displays.

For several years the K-12 segment, which drove projector sales moved towards display technology. Hutton said there are various reasons for the switch, but it mostly has to do with costs coming down for displays, and in the under $5K market, that is what is trending.

“But you start stepping up to the $5K, and above market, many key things are happening,” Hutton said. “The move from lamps to laser has been massive. And that’s a huge part of why this resurgence is happening.” And Hutton added the $5-10K and $10K and above ranges offer some exciting opportunities for growing revenue.

“For me, the most exciting things about what we do in the projection market is when we’re doing things where you normally wouldn’t think that’s a projection product,” Hutton said. Projection mapping and other technology innovations make the use cases for projectors much more varied than in the past.

When new technology combines with lower price points, the creative ideas behind using projectors to create dazzling displays grow. “You can do now more creative things,” Hutton said. “The world’s your oyster. You can put the image anywhere. The technology’s there to support it. There are superpartners out there from a creative standpoint and executing it. It’s super exciting.”

With so much new technology surrounding projectors today, keeping people educated is critical. Hutton said it’s more than that. The customer needs education on the product to make the right decision, but it’s also the support given when implementing the product and afterward that is essential.