DWIN Unveils 'PlasmaImage' Trio
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 10/11/2004
BURBANK, Calif. — High-end video display supplier DWIN Electronics unveiled three plasma display systems in its PlasmaImage HD Series and announced a new DuoVision video processor.
The new plasma displays, which were recently demonstrated at CEDIA Expo, feature a two-component design including a TranScanner that integrates all video sources for easy control of a digital home theater.
Two of the new plasma panels in the 61W-inch and 50W-inch screen sizes, respectively, offer 1365 by 768 native pixel resolution. The 50W-inch HD-150 ($10,995 suggested retail) and the 61W-inch HD-161 ($19,995) are currently shipping.
A new 42W-inch PlasmaImage panel offers 1024 by 768 pixel resolution. The 42W-inch HD-142 carries a $8,995 suggested retail price.
All of the new PlasmaImage HD systems ship with DWIN's TranScanner outboard native-rate processor/scaler.
Each pixel in the panel is comprised of color cells for red, green and blue with individual color filters encapsulated in the glass substrate. Black stripes are also embedded between each cell to absorb ambient light and enhance black levels.
A 12-bit color processor renders more than 68.7 billion color shades.
DWIN also includes a dynamic luminance control feature to optimize luminance and contrast to smooth out sudden changes in image brightness.
The outboard TranScanner processor/controller is connected to the panel via a DVI-HDCP connection, which is said to simplify installation. The processor accepts 10 digital or analog video inputs, including six HD sources: two DVI/HDCP, two RGB, two S-video, two component and two composite.
A MotionAdaptive screen saver circuit is employed to prevent phosphor burn-in. The feature engages after sensing a non-moving picture for two minutes and automatically powers off the panel if the image remains static longer than five minutes.
DWIN also showed its new DuoVision high-definition dual-display system that provides full digital connectivity to DWIN's TransVision 3 720p DLP projector and PlasmaImage HD-series plasma displays.
The processor can be placed near all the video gear in one central location in the home theater to avoid the added expense of separate video source devices to support high-definition video displays in multiple rooms.
DuoVision includes two independent video signal processing modules supporting two different DWIN high-definition displays simultaneously.
The circuitry delivers native resolution digital video signals to each display via a single high-bandwidth DVI-HDCP cable. Displays can be located up to 100 feet from the processor with a new DWIN DVI Cable Extender device.
The DuoVision processor accepts 10 digital or analog video inputs, including six HD sources: two DVI/HDCP, two RGB, two S-video, two component and two composite.
The system is sold in several different configurations with the choice of DWIN's DLP projectors and plasma displays. The system packages begin at a $17,990 suggested retail.
