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NEC intros new digital signage and multimedia projectors

Commercial LCD display and projector solutions provider NEC Display Solutions of America today announced its latest generation of PA Series projectors, succeeding NEC's previous models in the installation projector category.

September 9, 2014

Commercial LCD display and projector solutions provider NEC Display Solutions of America today announced its latest generation of PA Series projectors, succeeding NEC's previous models in the installation projector category.

The PA521U (1920x1200 resolution), PA571W (1280x800) and PA621X (1024x768) projectors are designed to be "ideal choices" for many applications, including those in business, government and house of worship, but "offer the greatest opportunity" for instructors in higher education, according to NEC. The LCD projectors offer bright images transmitted from laptops, tablets, smartphones and local area networks, allowing interactivity in the classroom "to be done with ease," NEC said.

The projectors also offer tilt-free and portrait mode technology that can be used in unique installations, such as those for museums and corporate events. Tilt-free capabilities allow ceiling, floor or rear projection to be accomplished, and portrait mode can be used as an added artistic element.   

Built on the same chassis as the previous generation, the PA Series is billed by NEC as the first in the industry to use a screen splitter (multidisplay) via daisy chain to connect four projectors through TileMatrix to create a 4K resolution image. That allows for brighter images, easier installations and a lower total cost of ownership by negating the need for extra processing equipment, NEC said.

"In a digital, global economy, it's imperative that educators, business professionals and others have multimedia projectors with wired and wireless options that connect with PCs, tablets as well as smartphones," said Richard McPherson, senior product manager of projectors at NEC Display, in the announcement. "The latest PA Series projectors fulfill those objectives and build on the market-leading reputations of their predecessors for linking multiple projectors with the ability to now create 4K images."

Edge blending software lets people link up to four PA Series projectors for panoramic images; edge-blending hardware enables an unlimited number of PA Series projector combinations. Useful in applications in which geometric manipulation of the image is required, such as a flight simulator, the PA Series' Geometric Correction Tool lets users project images onto any surface, such as a cylinder, sphere or corner, according to NEC.

Among the other key features of the PA Series projectors are:

• 5,200, 5,700 and 6,200 lumens of brightness, respectively;
• WUXGA, WXGA and XGA native resolutions, respectively;
• 5000:1 contrast ratios;
• 4,000 hours of lamp and filter life with ECO Mode;
• TileMatrix;
• Stacking capabilities to boost image brightness (up to four projectors);
• 3D capabilities using XPAND glasses and emitters;
• Horizontal and vertical lens shift;
• Dual HDMI inputs/outputs and DisplayPort for looping up to four projectors;
• Wired and wireless networking; and
• Bundled options with lenses available.

The PA521U, PA571W and PA621X projectors ship with a three-year limited parts and labor warranty, and will be available in September 2014 at an estimated street price of $5,799, $3,899 and $4,499, respectively. Lamps are covered for one year or 500 hours, whichever comes first. To register for Star Student, visit www.necstarstudent.com for more information.