InfoComm 2019 Overview and Speculation Posted on June 11, 2019 By Nikki Zelinger InfoComm is the largest Pro AV event in North America, and takes place every year in June. This year, InfoComm is being held on June 8th to the 14th at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida (open to the public from June 12th to the 14th). Art is attending the event to round up the latest news on all things projector, to report back to you after InfoComm’s conclusion. Projector Manufacturers and Speculation There are a handful of major players attending this year’s InfoComm, including Epson America, Optoma, and Casio. LG, Dell, Maxell, and Christie will also have exhibits. We are hoping for some new announcements from these manufacturers and are looking forward to seeing what they bring to the event. Earlier this year, Epson announced the Home Cinema 4010 and 4050, as well as the Epson Home Cinema 5050UB and HC5050UBe models. The Epson HC5050UBe has added wireless capabilities. Though unlikely they’ll be announcing any new home theater projectors, we have received confirmation of some of the projectors and accessories they will be showing. They will be showcasing their newest large venue projection lineup, including its new interchangeable-lens Pro L10-Series, the new Pro L30000U and its ELPLX01 and ELPLX02 ultra short-throw lenses, which are now available in white, and the LightScene we reviewed for our education report. Epson will also be featuring Moverio AR smart glasses, as well as their BrightLink interactive display technologies. Casio just received an award this year for their Superior Series XJS400UN projector, so I imagine they’ll want to have that on display at their InfoComm 2019 booth. Casio is known for their mercury-free, hybrid laser and LED light engines, and for making projectors exclusively for the business and education market. This new projector claims 20,000 hours, the standard for Casio’s projectors, which translates to up to 18 years of use in a typical school environment. LG’s Cinebeam HU85LA is an ultra short throw 4K UHD projector that won a CES 2019 Innovation Award, so I think we can expect that they will be showing this projector again at InfoComm. On LG’s website, the HU85LA is noted as “coming soon” and that we should look for the projector “later in 2019.” As a gamer, I am a huge fan of ultra short throw projectors, so I will be keeping a lookout for this one. We also expect Christie to be unveiling exciting new projectors, as we received an invite to their exhibit. Christie specializes in high-end, large venue projectors. We don’t typically review their models, as they tend to weigh quite a lot. However, we have been reviewing some higher-end, high-brightness large venue projectors lately, and depending on what Christie brings to the table this InfoComm, we may see something that makes sense to bring in for review! Projector Technologies Texas Instruments DLP will be at InfoComm as well! Art usually makes it a point to meet with the representatives from TI at these events, so we’re sure to hear about any updates they may have, if any. HDBaseT Alliance will be in attendance, as well as Crestron, which, if you’re unfamiliar, is used for command-and-control of multi-projector installations, particularly in schools. Projector Accessories If you are a projector fan and are attending InfoComm 2019, make a point to stop by the Salamander Designs exhibit. They make custom credenzas for ultra short throw projectors, so that the top of the projector is flush with the surface of the table. They currently have designs that suit Epson, HiSense, Sony, and Vivitek projectors. Salamander Designs also sells AV cabinets, racks and stands, and home theater seating. Screen Innovations, a highly respected screen manufacturer, will have an exhibit as well. Although we don’t often review projector screens, we do have a good number of SI reviews on our site, and a longstanding professional relationship with the company. There are a multitude of audio manufacturers at InfoComm this year, including Bose, so there’s plenty to look forward to if you attend!
