Blog

Fremont, CA – January 22, 2024

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) recently announced 16 Scientific and Technical Achievements to be Honored with Academy Awards.

The Laser Illuminated Projection Association (www.LIPAinfo.org) is pleased to announce that seven (7) of the 16 awards went to members, co-founders, or past members of LIPA.

Three (3) Technical Achievement Awards (Academy Certificates) and four (4) Scientific and Engineering Awards (Academy Plaques) will be awarded at the upcoming “Scientific and Technical Awards” ceremony on Friday, February 23, 2024, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles (6067 Wilshire Boulevard at Fairfax).

The announcement by The Academy is significant. It recognizes the technical and engineering contributions of LIPA’s members in the development of laser illuminated projection technology and products over a span of more than 20 years.  The core missions of LIPA being:

• To be a single industry voice in rationalizing laser regulations.
• To provide companies a forum to develop evaluation methods and provide that information to standards bodies
• Educate key constituencies
• Coordinate best practices

Since it was founded in 2011, LIPA has provided the scientific basis for the establishment of rational and practical safety limits and practices, enabling the broadest possible adoption of laser illumination – for digital cinema and nearly all other projection applications. Furthermore, it has led multi-year efforts to rationalize, update and codify ISO/IEC international laser safety standards in coordination with the updating of the historical regulations of the US-FDA.

LIPA Scientific and Technical Academy Award Recipients (from the Academy’s January 11, 2024, press release – LIPA member companies and recipients in Bold)

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS (ACADEMY CERTIFICATES)

To Bill Beck for his pioneering utilization of semiconductor lasers for theatrical laser projection systems.

Bill Beck’s advocacy and education to the cinema industry while at Laser Light Engines contributed to the transition to laser projection in theatrical exhibition.

To Gregory T. Niven for his pioneering work in using laser diodes for theatrical laser projection systems.

At Novalux and Necsel, Gregory T. Niven demonstrated and refined specifications for laser light sources for theatrical exhibition, leading the industry’s transition to laser cinema projection technology. [ed. note: Necsel was a member of LIPA and was acquired by USHIO/Christie]

To Yoshitaka Nakatsu, Yoji Nagao, Tsuyoshi Hirao, Tomonori Morizumi and Kazuma Kozuru for their development of laser diodes for theatrical laser projection systems.

Yoshitaka Nakatsu, Yoji Nagao, Tsuyoshi Hirao, Tomonori Morizumi and Kazuma Kozuru collaborated closely with cinema professionals and manufacturers while at Nichia Corporation’s Laser Diode Division, leading to the development and industry-wide adoption of blue and green laser modules producing wavelengths and power levels matching the specific needs of the cinema market.

SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING AWARDS (ACADEMY PLAQUES)

To Steve Read and Barry Silverstein for their contributions to the design and development of the IMAX Prismless Laser Projector.

Utilizing a novel optical mirror system, the IMAX Prismless Laser Projector removes prisms from the laser light path to create the high brightness and contrast required for IMAX theatrical presentation.



To Peter Janssens, Goran Stojmenovik and Wouter D’Oosterlinck for the design and development of the Barco RGB Laser Projector.

The Barco RGB Laser Projector’s novel and modular design with an internally integrated laser light source produces flicker-free uniform image fields with improved contrast and brightness, enabling a widely adopted upgrade path from xenon to laser presentation without the need for alteration to screen or projection booth layout of existing theaters.



To Michael Perkins, Gerwin Damberg, Trevor Davies and Martin J. Richards for the design and development of the Christie E3LH Dolby Vision Cinema Projection System, implemented in collaboration between Dolby Cinema and Christie engineering teams.


Note that these 16 recipients, from 7 current or past LIPA member companies, were supported in their efforts by a large cast of supporting actors from their respective organizations and many other parts of the Digital Cinema ecosystem.

LIPA, along with its founders, officers, and members both current and past, can take great pride in their contributions to the global cinema industry.  They have together combined the many benefits of laser illumination to provide better and more consistent image quality with lower total cost of ownership and greater sustainability – making Laser the light source of choice for all Cinema exhibitors.  From intimate “art house” theaters to the largest multiplex 3D-capable screens to the most advanced Premium Large Format (PLF) integrated facilities, laser illuminated cinema delivers the original creative intent: the best possible images – show after show after show.

Introduction – LIPA’s Communications Working Group (CWG) Identified the topic of Laser Engine Architecture as an important subject for a technology update Webinar in 2023.

Title: Evolution, Status and Applications of Laser Light Engines for Projection

August 3, 2023, 06:30-0800 US Pacific time 

54 people attended representing all LIPA members

Our LIPA Member Speakers

Zuqiang Guo

Director R&D – Laser Device and Laser Light Source, Appotronics

Lead off with a review of terminology, the evolution of Laser diodes and Laser-pumped phosphor architectures over the past 10 years; current status and the direction of future developments and applications.

Eric Vieth

Sr. Product Developer, Projection Engineering, Christie Digital  

Focused on “direct” RGB architectures, the rationale for their use, current status, and future development.

Goran Stojmenovik, Ph.D.

Director R&D, Barco NV

Presented Barco’s “agnostic path” for engine architecture development and describe how different approaches can best support an expanding range of application requirements. 

Tom Bert, Ph.D.

VP Product, Barco NV

Wrapped up the presentations with a discussion of current status and a new types of laser sources, spatial light modulation and engine architectures to support new high dynamic range (HDR) applications.

Major Takeaways

• Both major architectures, “Pure” RGB and Laser-Phosphor “La-Ph”, have been under development for nearly 20 years with commercialization beginning around 2008 for La-Ph and 2014 for Cinema RGB
• RGB is used primarily for large screen Cinema and Professional applications
  • Highest possible lumen output (75K+) with widest color gamut (near Rec 2020)
  • Required for efficient fiber coupling for ultra-high brightness or remote source/modular systems
  • Required for special “Cascaded” HDR and High Contrast systems enabled by high f# (small étendue) Laser input.
• Lower output RGB engines are finding applications where they can enable both brightness and resolution from a smaller SLM chip.
• Original Blue Laser Pumped Phosphor (BPP) has evolved into many special architectures, with direct Red, Green and Blue diode “boost” to achieve a target mix of performance optimizations such as higher lumen output, wider gamut, speckle mitigation/reduction, higher wall plug efficiency etc.
• Care must be taken when comparing efficiency metrics (i.e., lm/W), as these can be affected by gamut primaries, white-point, cooling system design, expected lifetime and other system level differences.  (Wall plug efficiency should always be considered in the context of other performance metrics.)
• All speakers mentioned that operating efficiency (lm/wall plug watt) has become a very important performance metric for Cinema Projectors and all high duty cycle applications due to the recent and rapid increases in power costs.
• A new type of architecture called “light Steering” was described, where additional RGB light is efficiently added to the base laser-illumination with a spatially controlled distribution, increasing the dynamic range and maximum pixel brightness of the final image.

LIPA will hold a companion Tech Webinar on Wide Color Gamut/Volume September 28, 2023, open to members and the A/V public.

Some good news for the kickoff of CineEurope 2023 for Cinema Exhibitors – and Laser Illuminated Projectors are there.

Lead post from Digital Cinema Report…

Weekly Digest – June 19, 2023 A summary of last week’s top stories

International Box Office Surges in May    In May, and for the first time since January 2020, the international market (excluding China) reached the same box office level as the comparable month in 2017-2019 on average, according to a report released by the London-based analytics firm Gower Street. The international box office (excluding China), reached $1.54 billion in May, just shy of the pre-pandemic average at today’s exchange rates. Globally the third part of Guardians of the Galaxy achieved the highest box office in May with around $750 million. Only once since the start of the pandemic had the international box office previously achieved even a single-digit deficit compared to the average of 2017-2019 – in June 2022 with -4 percent. This is a major milestone in the recovery process. The global box office reached $2.8 billion in May, following April’s $2.9 billion. It’s the first time since the beginning of 2020 that two consecutive months have delivered over $2.8 billion. Last summer June ($2.7 billion) and July ($3.2 billion) delivered above $2.7 billion in back-to-back months. https://rb.gy/21puj

It looks like the content pipeline is full and people are back in theaters everywhere.  Box Office Revenue is Back!

Speaker: James P. Nole, Director, Business Development at TelAztec LLC.
Burlington, Massachusetts, USA (see: TelAztec.com)

Introduction

LIPA provides its membership with exclusive, Laser illumination related educational webinars. These sessions include technology, devices, integration, optics, testing, applications, trend analysis; regulatory; business and market development and even “Blue Sky” topics, which are designed to stimulate new thinking about the longer-term direction of our industry.

Recap

The Telztec webinar was held on April 25, 2023. Jim Nole introduced the LIPA audience to the history and evolution of TelAztec and then did a “deep-dive” into its unique, optical surface treatment technology. Starting with general capabilities and processes, the presentation then reviewed the primary capability of interest – broad band, anti-reflection surface treatment for high power, laser, fiber, SLM and projector optics.

The last 15 minutes of the session were devoted to audience questions and a discussion of how the technology could support further improvements in Laser-Illuminated projector performance, reliability, and lifetime.

In Case You Missed It…

A PDF of the TelAztec technical presentation and/or a video recording of the session + Q&A, are available to LIPA MEMBERS ONLY by logging in to the LIPA member site, Documents section.

Engineers, R&D personnel, QA professional, reliability specialists will find the presentation both novel and useful. Please promote LIPA and its educational mission within your organization.

Feedback on the presentation as well as suggestions for future technical and business Webinars are welcome. Send to billbeck59a2@gmail.com for incorporation into our ongoing project planning process.

Tim Ryan, Senior Systems Architect at Texas Instruments, was elected chairman of the Laser Illuminated Projector Association at the end of 2022. [see: www.LIPAinfo.org] He succeeds Dr. Goran Stojmenovik of Barco, who served as LIPA’s Chairman from 2019 through the end of 2022. Tim and TI were there at the founding of LIPA in May of 2011 and have continued to provide strong support for LIPA’s mission to enable and promote the safe adoption of Laser Illumination Projectors, aka LIPs.

Tim’s long tenure at TI and intimate knowledge of its foundational DLP® spatial light modulation technology provide him with unique perspectives on Laser illuminated projection as LIPA moves into its second decade of industry development.  TI was instrumental in bringing digital projection to Cinema and other important industry segments.  As a chip supplier to numerous projector OEMs and brands, TI was directly involved in the wider adoption of Laser Illumination.

As the early pioneers of Laser projection planned for commercial introduction, they all realized that existing laser light show safety regulations would have to be rationalized for laser illuminated projectors.  This objective was shared by a diverse group of interested parties from chip manufacturers to projector makers, investors, channel partners and end-users and led to the formation of LIPA as a single voice and technical resource for regulatory reform.

LIPA has been very successful in achieving ‘part one’ of its mission with both the US FDA and the IEC.  Global regulations are substantially harmonized, and LIPA has continued to simplify and reduce the cost of compliance for the sale and use of LIPs.

LIPA members have paved the way for the transition from lamp to solid-state Laser illumination for the entire projection industry.  The industry moved from a model of costly lamp replacement to one of Laser light “engines” that can match the longer lifetimes of projectors; save energy and maintenance and eliminate  environmentally unfriendly lamp replacement.  As of 2021, over 50% of projectors sold worldwide (by value) were laser illuminated.

Tim Ryan has built his career seeing the future and building it at TI.  It will be no surprise that he brings this experience to LIPA as well.  His vision for LIPA goes well beyond its original mission of regulatory reform to a much broader approach to future industry and technology development:  He states that “LIPA needs advocates to promote the safe use of Laser projection and a much broader definition of what ‘projection’ itself means.”

This new guiding principal may not seem different from LIPA’s original mission. The “Safe use of LIPs” goal has not changed.  What has and will continue to change is the breadth of technology and application development that now defines “Laser illumination”.  LIPA will extend its efforts to include a much more expansive definition of “projection” including specialized hybrid/adaptive projected lighting; fiber-delivered Laser illumination for remote source lighting; Laser illumination for manufacturing, sensing, remote metrology; even major new applications for location-based Art, Experience and Entertainment. 

This broader vision for LIPA will require the disruptive energy of start-ups, non-traditional partnerships, new Laser technology and the adaptation of Lasers used in other fields.  Consequently, Tim feels that LIPA will also have to recruit new and different types of members from all corners of the industry.  Tim states, “Anyone who is interested in the future of lighting the world around us in an energy efficient and safe manner should consider membership in LIPA essential.”

As Laser illuminated “projection” moves further from the controlled environment of a movie theater, new regulatory cases will arise, continuing the need for the single voice that LIPA helped develop over its first ten years.  Tim Ryan, TI and all of LIPA’s members are well positioned – with the experience, dedication, persistence, and creativity needed for the next decade of application and business development and to continue to promote the safe use of Laser illumination.

BB TR  4/20/23

Highlights from the 2022 LIPA Annual General Meeting (AGM22)

Overview

The purpose of this past year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM22) was to provide membership with a formal, “hybrid” (in-person and virtual), update of LIPA’s activities and progress for 2022, via reports from Regulatory, Membership, and Communications committee chairs and support personnel and a wide range of invited speakers and panelists.

The meeting ran for 6+ hours and was divided into 4 sessions: LIPA/Committee Updates; Cinema Update and Roundtable Discussion; Technology Updates and “Blue Sky”- future view.  There were approximately 15 in-person attendees who met in the main theater at Barco and 32 online attendees from around the world.

• Held (virtually) on Tuesday, December 14, 2022, from 09:00-16:45 CET (3:00 am-10:45pm EST)
• First in-person AGM since 2019, in Sonoma, California; first at Barco HQ since 2016
• 17 speakers from 15 companies; 7 members, 4 consultants, 2 guests
• LIPA membership manufactures and/or supports ~75% of global projector share

Summary of Presenters

Speaker	Company	Title/Topic
Dr. Goran Stojmenovik	Barco	Chairman’s Welcome Message and Summary Update; First in-person Meeting since 2019 – at Barco HQ, Kortrijk, Belgium and online
Anabel Martinez	AMS – Admin	Membership Summary – 11 members + 2 subsidiaries
Bill Beck	BTM Consulting	Membership updates – Nichia rejoins; Cinionic/Barco, ForMovie/Appotronics subsidiary participation (LIPA Co-founder and former chairman)
Mark Roslon	Seiko-Epson	Communications Update: Communications and Membership merged for 2023; Rich McPherson/NEC retires after 11 years on board; replaced by Reiner Doetzkies as Treasurer
Bill Beck	BTM Consulting	Communications Committee Annual Report: – 8K Update; Global Business Update and HDR/WCG Tutorial Webinar; Types of LIPs article published.
Dr. Goran Stojmenovik	Barco	Regulatory Business Committee report and update
Dr. Karl Schulmeister	Seibersdorf Laboratories	New standard for EU Consumer Laser Product Safety (EN 50689 )
David Hancock	OMDIA	Cinema Market Update
Dr. Tom Bert Eric Vieth Rich McPherson Jan Rasmussen Wouter Vander Elst	Barco, Christie, NEC, NordiskFilm/UNIC, CinemaNext	Cinema Roundtable: Discussed Market, content supply, LIP technology and market penetration; Energy price and ongoing Covid impact
Shinya Matsuda	Nichia-Europe	Nichia Laser Presentation LIPA 2022 – Status update and Roadmap for RGB laser technology, performance, and potential; multi-die packaging and integration
Mark Roslon	SeikoEpson	New Light Source (multi-die) Packaging Technology
Dr. Tom Bert	Barco	New Light Steering Projector and HDR Cinema Specifications
Zu Qiang Guo	Appotronics	Light Engine of 4K Laser TV (Ultra-Short Throw)
Jason Jiang	ForMovie	Go Big with Laser Display in Home (application or 4K light engine)
Roslon/Beck	SeikoEpson/BTM	Lumen Metrology Working Group (LMWG) – Progress Update
Dr. Alberto Alfier	ClayPaky	Lasers for Entertainment – Progress report on performance and regulatory compliance
Pete Ludé	Mission Rock Digital	Keynote: DVLED Update – Progress and Challenges (LIPA Co-founder/first chairman/former SMPTE president)

BOLD Denotes current LIPA member/liaison partner

LIPA AGM 2022 Highlights

• Dr. Goran Stojmenovik, long-time Chairman and supporter of LIPA welcomed incoming chairman, Tim Ryan, of Texas Instruments, a founding member of LIPA.  He thanked founding member Richard McPherson of SharpNEC Displays for his service as Finance Chair and welcomed Rich’s replacement, Reiner Doetzkies, also of SharpNEC. Goran also thanked retiring member Hideyuki Kanayama of Panasonic for his long service as Regulatory Chairman.
• Anabel Martinez presented Membership status and announced that Nichia will rejoin LIPA. [Note that Anabel has recently left LIPA/AMS for another position and has been replaced by AMS veteran, Lisa Rodriguez.]
• Mark Roslon, Communications Chair updated the group on progress and announced the merging of the Membership and Communications committees for 2023.
• Bill Beck presented a brief overview of the Communications Committee’s activities, highlighting major webinars:  Global Market Update; HDR/WCG for LIPS and DVLEDs and a seminal article on Types of LIPs.
• Goran presented a short update for the Regulatory Business Committee (RBC) which has focused on evolving regulations for Small Source LIPs.
• Dr. Karl Schulmeister of Seibersdorf Labs (Austria) presented an update on EU Consumer Laser Product Safety Standard EN 50689 on behalf of the RBC.
• David Hancock of OMDIA, a longtime supporter of LIPA and current chair of the EDCF (European Digital Cinema Forum) gave an overview of the global cinema business and exhibition as context for a Cinema Roundtable, that included panelists from the three Cinema suppliers (LIPA founding members, Barco, Christie, and NEC), exhibition and distribution.  This session enjoyed vigorous Q&A, was full of insights and challenges and could have gone on for another hour or more.
• Cinema revenues are still not back to 2019 peak of ~40B USD vs ~27B for 2022. Note however, that this is no longer Covid/exhibition-dominated but driven by the ~24-month lead-time on content still limiting global box office growth.  Residual impact is very much regional with France back to ~75% v. Italy at ~45% of 2019 level revenue.  Global screen count is ~ 212,000.
• Panelists stressed the importance of sustainability as selling point for LIPs, especially in the context of sharply increasing energy costs.  DVLEDs is still 5 years out and niche.
• Nichia, a very important global technology leader, presented their comprehensive roadmap for Laser diode fabrication and multi-die packaging.  Of note was their commitment to produce and package Red laser diodes, going beyond their historical leadership in GaN-based Blue and Green devices.
• Mark Roslon, of SeikoEpson, continued the technology session with a presentation on multi-die packaging of RGB diodes. [Note: Mark will leave LIPA on March 31, as Communications/Membership chair and will be replaced by Jason Meyer, also of SeikoEpson, starting on April 1, 2023.]
• The technology section continued with a presentation by Dr. Tom Bert of Barco on Light Steering and new HDR specifications for Cinema, recently finalized.  Two presentations on UST 4K Laser TV – technology by Zu Qiang Guo of Appotronics, and home cinema applications by Jason Jiang of ForMovie, an Appotronics subsidiary.
• Mark Roslon and Bill Beck of the ad hoc Lumen Metrology Working Group (LMWG) gave a progress report of the committee’s study of global specifications and practices for measuring and reporting projector light output (lumens).  The final report of the LMWG will publish April 2023.
• The AGM wrapped up with its customary “Blue Sky” future view session.  LIPA member Dr. Alberto Alfier of ClayPaky (formerly part of Osram) provided a progress update on the application of Laser Illumination for high function event and stage lighting and the need for precise radiance metrology and “audience sensing” to assure safe operation in public spaces.
• Invited speaker Pete Ludé, of Mission Rock Digital and LIPA co-founder, presented a comprehensive update of DVLED technology for cinema and professional applications in the context of his 2022 LIPA Webinar on new Cinema (DCI) HDR specifications and other evolving performance vectors. 

Goran closed out the AGM22 by expressing appreciation for all LIPA and invited speakers, members, and guests. He then hosted a tour of the Barco Headquarters facilities and a LIPA networking dinner.

Novel Anti-Reflective Surface Treatment Webinar

We will be hosting an interactive Webinar to present and discuss a Novel Anti-Reflective Surface Treatment on April 25, 2023 from 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM PDT (10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EDT). Please join us and please share with your Product Management, Technical, R&D, Engineering and QA personnel!

Jim Nole of TelAztec (www.telaztec.com) will be presenting a webinar on a novel Anti-Reflective surface treatment (not coating) technology for optics that can provide broadband anti-reflection and other controllable properties heretofore not possible or practical with traditional multi-layer A-R coatings.  As laser sources and aggregated RGB beam power levels continue to increase, this technology could provide performance and reliability improvements for LIP systems. 

Jim will present the technology, its application and performance benefits, including narrow or broadband operation, high thermal resistance and large area capability for lenses, mirrors, homogenizing optics, device windows and fiber-end facets.

The webinar will be interactive with a 10-15 minute Q&A session at the end.  

Feel free to invite a colleague or two and submit topics or questions in advance to billbeck59a2@gmail.com

Title: Types of Laser Illuminated Projectors (LIPs) – Evolution, Tradeoffs and Trends

Author: Bill Beck, aka “The Laser Guy” – with contributions and assistance from LIPA members, past and present; industry pioneers, colleagues, and friends…and several great editors!

The objective of this article is to provide industry participants and observers a framework with which to view the history and evolution of Laser Illuminated Projectors (LIPs). This evolution spans over three decades, although most current movie-goers and projector users know little or nothing about it.

The article attempts to answer big questions like: why did it take so long? What were the major technical challenges? What were the business and external cultural challenges? What is the status of LIP Development? And what are the trends impacting different types of LIPs? The narrative follows the two major technological tracks, namely, Red-Green-Blue lasers (RGB) and Blue Laser-pumped Phosphor (La-Ph), that evolved independently at first, but then synergistically converged and now provide a broad foundation for future innovation and continuous improvement.

Since commercial introduction over 10 years ago, “Laser”, both RGB and La-Ph technologies have grown rapidly, displacing lamp illumination. Laser is truly the “4th generation” of Cinema Projector light and the end of “lamp changes” for all kinds of projectors.

Like many transformational new technologies, it took a very long time for Laser to equal and then surpass lamp illumination in terms of performance and lower total cost of ownership. But as many now have done both, LIPs will continue to grow as the dominant light source for projection.

The article was originally released on 8/31/22 to members only. LIPA is now making an updated version available to the public to help recognize and highlight the contributions that its members have made to the industry and its key role in Laser Safety and regulatory reform. We encourage all to share the article and its extensive Glossary of Technical Terms with colleagues in their various areas of endeavor.

Download Here!

Disclaimer: The author does not represent that all dates, data, and details are precise, but that they are true to the general story line. Photos, diagrams, charts, and captions are for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to endorse or promote any product, technology, or approach.

LIPA hosted an informative webinar on 9/29/22. Rosemary Abowd of PMA Research and David Hancock of OMDIA, presented their company data and forecasts for the first half of 2022 (1H22). PMA covered the Global Display market and focused on Professional and Consumer projector segments. OMDIA covered the Global Cinema projector market.

Below are some of the Key Takeaways from the presentations and Q&A exchange with LIPA members.

Overall Projection Market

• Neither Professional + Consumer nor Cinema markets will finish 2022 ahead of 2019 (pre-pandemic) unit sales levels but for different reasons.
• Pro/Con has been supply-constrained for a variety of reasons into 2022, but will accelerate into 1H23 as supply catches up with demand
• Cinema is still content-constrained and will also face additional headwinds in 2023, as disposable income is eaten up by higher energy and other non-discretionary costs
• The percentage of LIPs sold continues to increase in nearly all categories with shares ranging from 50-90+%, depending on a number of factors
• Penetration shares increase with price point, lumen level and resolution; with LIPs now available from 3,000 – 60,000 lumens, and up to 8K resolution

Professional and Consumer (Pro/Con)

• Global Display markets continue to be impacted by Covid and Government policies, past and current and more recently, historic increases in inflation.
• Global unit volumes declined 6%; revenues declined 4% in 1H22 compared with the same period last year.
• Full year revenues for 2022 are expected to finish up 5%, and grow 13% in 2023
• Revenue growth from 2022 to 2026 is forecast to be $8.5B to $12.5B, reversing a 5-year (slight) downtrend
• Laser share is now over 90% by revenue and units for models 6000lm and up; with resolutions of 4K UHD and higher available
• LIP growth opportunities exist in Consumer, Education, Corporate and Immersive Venues, based on improved Image Quality, lamp cost elimination, increased light source lifetime and reduced power consumption

Cinema

• Global screen count continues to grow – up 3% to 213,000, by the end of 2021 vs. the end of 2020 – with nearly all the growth coming from the Asia/Pacific Region.
• There are now ~7,000 “premium screens”, or roughly 1 in 30. Most of these are laser-illuminated
• Exhibition has lost an estimated ~$60B since the Pandemic began early in 2020, sending many circuits into survival mode. Since then, there have been a number of acquisitions and consolidations, but few outright bankruptcies, as the industry adjusts to the return of patrons and content flow increases
• Nearly all countries are “fully open” with China being an important exception. Regional lockdowns there continue to cause uncertainty in a country that now generates 1/3rd of global box office receipts
• OMDIA reported that the global installed base of LIPs in Cinema is ~16% of the total, equating to ~35,000 worldwide. [Ed. Note: there may be some error in this estimate as some of the data is inferential]
• They also report that 2 of the 3 Cinema projector suppliers are selling >50% LIPs in 2022
• The Pandemic and resulting disruption and uncertainty have destroyed the idea of an orderly “replacement wave”, anticipated as Series 1 and 2 projectors reached the end of their expected life. Instead, exhibitors often “repair rather than replace” and have converted to laser on an “as needed” basis.
• At this point, Cinema revenue is still not back to peak 2019 level. This is largely due to the 18 to 24 month lead-time needed to produce new content. Two “Billion Dollar” titles this summer proved that if the content is compelling the patrons will come out, indicating that for the most part, direct Pandemic impact is over.
• Depending on region, box office is back to 50-90% of pre-pandemic levels with an overall recovery of ~80% vs. 2019.
• Cinema will not return to 2019 (previous peak) level until 2023. Timing will be region dependent

Laser Illumination progress

• Cinema installed base is ~15-20% Laser, with much higher penetration rates for PLF and new multiplexes
• The overwhelming majority of both Cinema and non-cinema LIPs are Laser-Phosphor (or more recently, RGB+Laser-Phosphor Hybrids) with “pure” RGB growing slowly. RGB acceptance is still held back by the perception of speckle
• Rapidly increasing Energy costs will favor LIPs, as they are more efficient and require less cooling than Xenon based projectors
• Highly optimized RGB+Laser-Phosphor hybrid light engines continue to reduce the TCO of LIPs vs Lamps
• In the Professional/Consumer segments, Laser Illumination shares of unit volumes and revenues are forecast to increase in 2023 to 28% and 62% respectively; with RGB attaining ~5% share by revenue
• LIPA member manufacturers LIP shares ranged from 50% to near 100% by revenue in 2Q2022

Question and Answer Session

• The group discussed the likely impact of rapidly increasing Energy costs and concluded that given a desire and ability to purchase, LIP direct and indirect OPEX savings would be higher with higher power costs, but that general inflation might discourage that decision to purchase. This could substantially impact various business models.
• PMA pointed out that in general FPDs are competitive with Projectors, but above 80” diagonal image size, laser projectors begin to have a price advantage for both hardware and installation that increases as image size gets bigger
• DVLEDs were discussed in the context of their threat to LIPs. Although comparable in terms of image quality, they are still more expensive and even more so when construction, installation, and skilled installation-labor shortages are considered.
• However, DVLEDs are making inroads in content production workflows (virtual movie sets) where they have higher prices, unique benefits and custom installation costs are supportable
• Some Cinema DVLED are “HDR-capable” but so far, little content is available that is mastered in HDR (for Cinema or Streaming). This will change over time as DCI has recently ratified a new HDR specification for Cinema exhibition. Note that HDR/WCG will be the topic of the next LIPA Webinar on October 26, 2022. See: www.LIPAinfo.org for details.

Types of Laser-Illuminated Projectors – History, Evolution, Trends and Technical Glossary

The following article was written by Bill Beck, co-founder, past chairman and current Communications Consultant for LIPA.  It provides the reader with a structured history of the technical and then commercial developments that have brought Laser illumination from the R&D labs to its current position as the dominant new illumination technology.

The article includes the early history of Laser illuminated (LIP) prototyping; the evolution of both RGB Laser and Laser-Phosphor (La-Ph) illumination technologies; the two main application tracks of early commercialization and the current proliferation of optimized Laser and La-Ph technologies and LIP applications of all kinds. It also includes an extensive “LIP Glossary” with in -document links to the definitions of acronyms, technical terms and “buzz words”.

The purpose of the article is to provide LIPA Members – their Representatives and colleagues – with a common historical and technical framework from which to view and discuss the current-status and future trends of LIPs and their applications.  The author does not claim that the article is 100% accurate in all details; but rather, conceptually, and usefully descriptive of past developments and current trends. The author and LIPA welcome comments, corrections, additions, and clarifications and where material, will publish them from time to time in future Blog Posts.

The governing board of LIPA has reserved the use of this article for members only for the next 90 days (through the end of November 30, 2022) as a benefit of their paid membership.  During this time, LIPA Members and Representatives are encouraged to read, share, and discuss with colleagues, both to develop a consensus historical record and to educate their newer members who may not have personally “lived through” the long and complex development of this important new product category.

The article will be distributed to LIPA Members only on Wednesday, August 31, 2022.  We look forward to your comments and their contribution to a more complete and colorful understanding of the story of LIPs.