In The Pink: It was a Good Year for Projectors

Projectors, which were previously popular across large enterprises only, now have found its many usages beyond conference rooms- particularly in the classrooms, gaming, and home entertainment.

With the rising popularity of digital and collaborative learning methods, interactive whiteboards and projectors are going to become a permanent fixture in the conference rooms and digital classrooms soon. Interactive projectors are good for sharing notes or feedbacks during presenting information and for sharing notes digitally at the end of the presentation.

Today, it is not even very unusual to own a projector for personal entertainment as well. Because gone are the days when the projector displays were not preferred much at homes for the blurry and fuzzy images. Thanks to the advanced technology, 4K UHD home projector images now match the 4K viewing experience in movie theatres. The short-throw projectors are able to create massive screens even when placed very close to the projection surface. Seamless images with the higher refresh rates enhance the gaming experience too. Smartphones with embedded projectors have also made things easier for someone who is always on the go.

MARKET DYNAMICS

The overall projector market in India in FY 2017-18 was around 3.5 lakh units, as per DQ estimates. The market grew by 24 percent. India Projector market is rising steadily across various sectors such as education, IT, healthcare, home entertainment, etc.

However, with a rising adoption of digital learning among educational institutions, the education sector is reportedly growing to be the biggest buyers of digital projectors after the corporates and enterprises in India, followed by small and medium businesses.

On the other hand, the adoption in the home entertainment and gaming segment has also been growing significantly with the arrival of 3D, HD and Wi-Fi support features in various projector models.

The market is driven mainly by three types of projectors- LCD, DLP (Digital Light Processing) categories. Both the technologies have an almost equal market share, with DLP technology slightly higher than LCD. However, the market will continue to shift towards new technologies like LED due to advanced technologies, greater lifespan, low maintenance cost, and less heat generation as compared to the DLP and LCD variants.

The adoption of liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology is also growing in the market. LCoS is a hybrid of both the LCD as well as the DLP technology. The adoption is largely due to the fact that the LCoS projectors offer higher image resolution and better picture quality, in a compact format. It has less-visible pixel structures and a high refresh rate that reduces the flicker effect.

As the demand is growing steadily, the vendors are now looking to resort to more state-of-the-art technologies to bring in more enhanced display experience. For example, projectors with LBS (Laser beam steering) technology can provide sharp image quality as compared to DLP and LCD.

Standard-Definition (SD) projectors are gradually getting replaced by the High-Definition (HD) and 4K UHD projectors. An almost one-third of the market is now captured by 1024x768 display resolutions. Higher resolution projectors are less likely to require signal compression and its associated loss in quality. 4K UHD resolution brings four times more detail than full HD, and deliver sharper, life-like images and richer colours for a more immersive experience.

VENDOR PLAY

The key vendors in the projectors market are BenQ, Epson, Acer, Optoma, Viewsonic, InFocus, Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony, Barco, etc.

“India’s projector sales will continue to grow with IT, corporate, media, entertainment, rental, BPO and education sectors being the major industries drivers. Although in its nascent stage, the home segment is also showing good signs of growth. Users will see the benefit of using projectors over flat panel displays especially in medium to large meeting rooms,” said Satyanarayanan P, Director of LFP, Visual products & Robots, Epson India, a leading player in the projector market.

Ramya Chatterjee, Director-Sales, Barco Electronic Systems , another leading player in the entertainment, ProAV events said, ”The Indian film industry is expected to grow at 11.5pc YoY reaching the total gross realisation of Rs 23,800 crore by 2020, which is again a huge opportunity for the entire projector market in India.” In healthcare, Barco is guiding 5,000 surgical procedures each day using a network of medical imaging solutions and is playing a major role in smart cities also.

“Our major focus will be on high-end projectors which are mainly used for auditoriums, rental business events,” said Vijay Wadhwan, Business Head System and Solution Business, Panasonic India.

MARKET OUTLOOK

It is very difficult to identify the overall market trend of the projectors market as it is a highly fragmented market catering to varied 7 segments with their unique needs.

But, like all other technologies, projection technologies have also evolved to a great extent. For example, Sony has launched a portable short-throw laser projector called Xperia Touch that turns any surface into an Android touchscreen and can be used for gaming, education, online video streaming and communication. The device is compatible with the full range of Android apps and Google Play Store downloads.

The market is likely to see smaller, lighter and cheaper projectors with better resolution and performance going forward, as no one wants an old-fashioned clunky device, taking up unnecessary space. Therefore, the smaller, portable, pico projectors are gaining significant momentum in the market.

The integration of pico projectors in smartphones provides a huge scope of growth simply for the fact that it will make things a lot easier for a person, who travels a lot for work. Apart from smartphones, pico projectors can be integrated into other smart devices like digital photo frames, digital cameras, laptops, portable media players, and portable gaming devices.