Vidikron Reaches 200-Dealer Milestone
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 6/7/2004
NEW YORK— Vidikron used the Home Entertainment Expo here to unveil a family of front-projector models for its fledgling Vidikron line.
In addition to the model 20 and model 40 projectors presented at CES, the company introduced its model 60 and model 100, giving the projector line a range of suggested retail prices from $5,000 to $25,000.
In presenting the new products, Bob Hana, Runco International/Vidikron president, announced that Vidikron had just achieved its 200-dealer mark.
"Vidikron's mission in life is to be limited in distribution and to offer high-end video solutions for flat-screen plasma and projectors," said Hana. "We felt very strongly there was a complement of dealers out there looking for opportunities to make margins in a category that is very difficult to make margins in, and to bring high quality to its customers."
Hana said Vidikron "has been fully up and running" for the last 60 days with four plasma-display models — two 42W-inch models, a 50W-inch and a 60W-inch model."
Those include the VP42 EDTV (853-by-480 pixel resolution) at a $6,495 suggested retail. The VP42HD features 1,024 by 768 pixel resolution at $9,995. The VP50 ($11,995) and VP60 ($19,995) models both offer 1,365 by 768 resolution.
New projector models will be highlighted by the model 100 — Vidikron's new flagship — which is scheduled to ship by the end of this summer at a $25,000 suggested retail. It is powered by a three-panel LCD engine, producing 1,366 by 768 pixel resolution, a 900:1 contrast ratio and 4,000 ANSI lumens of brightness.
The model 60 is Vidikron's latest D-ILA projector, which will feature a three-panel, 1,400 by 788 pixel array with a native 16:9 aspect ratio. It will produce 1,000 ANSI lumens of brightness, an 800:1 contrast ratio and is slated for a late summer delivery at a $15,000 suggested retail.
Both projectors will join the model 20 and model 40 DLP-based front projectors. Both DLP models will be offered with or without extended throw (ET) lens options, which add $1,000 to the base retail prices.
The model 20 is based on Texas Instruments' "Matterhorn chip" with 1,024 by 576 pixels of resolution. It will produce 850 ANSI lumens of brightness, 1,500:1 contrast ratio and will carry a $5,495 suggested retail.
The step-up model 40 uses TI's HD2 chip with 1280 by 720 HDTV resolution and 950 ANSI lumens of brightness, and 1,600:1 contrast ratio.
