ISE: Barco F90 4K projector

[donaldk]

Nice picture rec.709 guaranteed 120 fps 13K lumens single 0.90" DMD with pixel shift. Awaiting On-off and other contrast figures.



This PD/Barco Norway designed machine will also become part of the Barco Residential line-up. Will ask about the residential version later today.






Barco Residential will offer a mediaroom version with full Rec. 709 color space and around 8500 lumens, as well as a theater version with enhanced contrast at around 6500 lumens. Development only just started on these. The 4K version should ship by CEDIA, but Barco Residential is entertaining the option to deliver  WQXGA (2560x1600) before that with a swap programme to replace it by the 4K when it arrives. Contrast of the early demo model was limited, but other aspects of the image looked good.

[donaldk]

Promovideo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DMhSSnnq1Y

[donaldk]

8500 Lumens with more or less only rec. 709 as only modification will be the media room version of the Barco Residential Loki. Then there will be an HT version at a maxiumum of 6500 lumens. This will offer slightly improved contrast as even I noticed the very lacking on-off and black floor of this F90 they had just received and only tuned to rec. 709. Both the F-90 and the Loki on show were both still prototypes/engineering samples.

Not noticable in the bright room with the F90 that was only showing bright colored car advertising slides. I was told earlier that day that the F90 would do full Rec. 709 at the full 13K lumens, but then Residential told me that Rec. 709 was only possible with between 8000 and 9000 lumens max. Even the Standard F-90 does very nice REDS, so I didn't questin Barco's Rec. 709 claim.

When pixelpeeping at the F-90 there was the fine flickering line ínterference'pattern I also saw at the TI prototype and the Optoma HLD 4K prototype.

The non pixel shifting version (WQXGA 2560x1600) will be available first, that is the F-90 version. But Tim Sinnaeve Barco Residential's MD told me he is considering a swap programme setting people up with the WQXA version (with Mediaroom/HT modifications) replacing these with the 4K version when available. Hmm, 4K was what September and WXQXGA without shifting would be what June, from memory.

I didn't discuss pricing for the Loki's, but MSRP for the F-90, yes it is a true Projection Design Design on steroids, is €38K plus VAT.

[donaldk]

F-90 announcement:

Barco sets the standard at 13,000 lumens with the
world’s smallest and lightest 4K laser phosphor
projector

Kortrijk, Belgium, 9 February 2016 – Global projection technology leader Barco is
launching the F90 series, a brand-new portfolio of DLP® laser phosphor projectors
for the ProAV and events market. Featuring a laser phosphor light source, the
projectors offer up to 13,000 lumens brightness and long lifetime with reduced total
cost of ownership. The first two models launched at ISE 2016 offer 4K UHD and
WUXGA native resolution. The WUXGA F90-W13 will be shipping from early Q3 2016
onwards, and the 4K UHD F90-4K13 will be commercially available from Q4 2016.

“Professionals in the venue and visitor attractions markets are facing a number of challenges
where visitors expect to be wowed by a unique experience. This demands AV products to
deliver superior image quality, while reducing installation time, downtime, and setup and
maintenance costs,” comments Gary Fuller, VP ProAV at Barco. “When developing our latest
projector platform, we investigated how we could address these challenges. The razor-sharp
image quality and laser phosphor light source of the 1-chip DLP® F90 projectors enable
venues to provide stunning experiences while saving both time and money.”

Solid performer in a wide range of applications
Designed for installation in boardrooms, auditoriums, and visitor attractions such as museums
and planetariums, the rugged F90 projectors are equally suited for concerts and events.
Thanks to their motion platform compatibility and 3D functionality, they’re a perfect match for
theme park dark rides and interactive experiences.
Unprecedented business value

By using an F90 projector, customers increase uptime while driving costs down. A solid-state
laser-phosphor light source combined with advanced cooling design provides up to 40,000
hours operating time without need for lamp changes and virtually maintenance-free. This
results in considerable cost-savings on maintenance and consumables.

Superior image quality
The F90-4K13 delivers razor-sharp images at 4K UHD resolution – projecting over 8 million
pixels on screen – with a high level of detail, and highly saturated colors that meet the Rec.
709 color space. Featuring an advanced optical design, the projectors provide a constant light
output, which makes them more dependable, for long-term, worry-free operation.

Ultimate flexibility
The solid-state Barco laser light engine allows the projectors to run in any orientation. This
gives system designers extended flexibility in projector location and orientation for complex
setups, demanding applications, and blends. Coupled with a wide array of high-resolution
Barco FLD and FLD+ lenses – ranging from ultra-short throw (0.28:1) to long throw (9.75:1)
– each providing a wide lens shift range, the F90 series can accommodate almost any
projector configuration. What’s more, these lenses are compatible with the Barco F32 and F35
projectors.

Choose the future
“By expanding our projector fleet with a 4K, laser phosphor unit, we’ve also made a significant
move in the 13,000-lumen projector segment for the rental and staging and corporate events
industries,” says Carl Rijsbrack, VP Events at Barco. “Excelling in image quality and flexibility,
rental customers can now choose for the future – reaping the business benefits for many
years to come.”

[donaldk]

Barco F-90 Brochure
Barco F-90 Specifications.

Interesting whitepaper on Texas Instruments’ pixel shifting technology together with the superb Single Step Processing (SSP™) image processing technique from Barco. Barco SSP replaces TI's own XPR Technology as found in the new 0.67" 4K (2x4.15 million pixels/micromirrors) DMD plus mirror offer.

This says the:

"The image presented on the DLP® chip is synchronized with the (optical) pixel shifting device − called the Optical Actuator − with the result that,
after the pixel shift of half a pixel over the diagonal, a Processed Display Resolution of 5120x3200 addressable pixels is created. This means an
addressable canvas of 16 million pixels. These 16 million pixels guarantee the accurate and (quasi) lossless formation of the 4K UHD image on the screen, which includes all of the 4K content that was present in the 4K input. And this is achieved without using an expensive native 4K DLP® chip but with a more affordable DLP® chip and the Optical Actuator."

Eventhough the diagonal shift by half a pixel as shown in figure 4 shows there will be overlap between the first set of pixels and the second optically off-set pixels.

"To summarize: When 4K content is fed to the projector, that complete 4K input information is processed in a single step (SSP™) and presented to the single chip (in a single-chip DLP® projector) or to the 3 DLP® chips (in a 3-chip DLP® projector). Barco’s unique Single Step Processing (SSP™) image processing technique includes all possible electronic manipulations of the image - warping, blending, scaling, preparing the image for the pixel shifting device, gamma correction, color correction, etc. − and integrates them into a single module. Barco’s SSP™ has clear advantages over sequential processing"

[donaldk]