Road-Show Romance

Innovative optics and integrated Adobe Player firmware make Proxima's new projector a presentation stunner.

G. Armour Van Horn

By combining Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processor (DLP) optics and Adobe Acrobat technology into its Desktop Projector 4100Z , Proxima has set a new standard for direct digital projection systems. The $7750 DP4100Z uses DLP optics to project bright, sharp, 24-bit, 640- by 480-pixel color images through its 1.5-to-1 zoom lens. With the optional Media Express package ($1495), you can present slides in Acrobat .PDF file format without an attached computer.

After carrying the unit through several airports on a speaking engagement, I have only one complaint: its 27-pound weight. That said, the projector's brigh tness (3 50 ANSI lumens), clarity, and flexibility impressed fellow speakers.

The DP4100Z's DLP display engine uses an active semiconductor reflective surface that modulates red, green, and blue images in turn as a tricolor filter rotates through the illumination source (see "Micromirrors Project Better Images," July BYTE). The filter absorbs less light than polarizers, so the image is brighter than images from LCD-based projectors. Because the same addressable matrix forms the three component images, there is no color misregistration.

The DP4100Z accepts 24-bit video from two computers, has RCA jacks and S-Video inputs for two video sources, and accepts stereo sound from all four. Other connections include a microphone jack, a serial-mouse connector, and outputs for VGA and stereo sound. Its 3-W stereo speakers face backward.

The Media Express option includes Acrobat Exchange PDF editing software (five-user Windows and Mac licenses; Unix is optional), an internal floppy drive to hold PDF presentations, and a plug-in cartridge with a Motorola 68EC040 processor and Acrobat Player firmware to present the slides. Exchange lets you rotate images (a crucial feature), establish transitions between slides (e.g., wipes, window blinds, zooms, and dissolves), crop, set display intervals, and combine different presentations. The cartridge firmware includes limited Exchange capabilities: deleting and sorting slides, adding some transitions, and setting intervals.

The optional Optimizer plug-in compresses PDF presentations. You can fit 1000 slides on a floppy disk. An optional 540-MB hard drive increases capacity.

Equipped with Media Express, the DP4100Z is both a sophisticated presentation system and an "appliance" that requires only the remote control to advance from slide to slide -- you can leave your notebook home. Either way, the DLP optical system is superb.

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Product Information

Desktop Projector 4100Z..........
..................$9745

(with Media Express option and 540-MB hard drive)
Proxima Corp.
San Diego, CA
Phone:    (800) 447-7692 or (619) 457-5500
Fax:      (619) 457-9647
Internet: 
http://www.prxm.com

Circle 976 on Inquiry Card.

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Ratings

Technology      *****
Implementation  ****


Key

***** Outstanding 
 **** Very Good
  *** Good
   ** Fair
    * Poor

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Many Routes to PDF

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Acrobat Turns Options Around

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Adobe Acrobat technology turns the DP4100Z into a presentation appliance. DLP optics provide big, bright, razor-sharp images.

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G. Armour Van Horn is a production artist and consultant in electronic imaging and prepress. You can reach him at vanhorn@bix.com .