Projection Summit Early Bird Registration Expires April 8

PS05 to focus on developing survival and prospering strategies for the projection industry in Las Vegas June 6-7, 2005

Updated Agenda posted on web site

April 1, 2005 – The prognostications for the projection industry vary widely, from stagnation to the promise of sustained high growth.

For example, many flat-panel display industry experts see the current decade of projection growth coming to an end as large sized, low-priced flat-panel displays increasingly take share away from front projectors in presentation markets and limit the role of microdisplay rear-projection TVs to simply displacing old tech CRT RPTVs. They see plasma and LCD-TVs positioned to take the lion’s share of home big screens. To them, the recent growth pop of RPTV is a bubble that will be burst as huge flat-panel fabs hit stride and flood the market with low-priced big-screen displays.

Projection proponents, on the other hand, see another decade of high growth ahead. They see projection as the only display technology for big screens, and they see a lot of mileage in both the professional AV and education markets to justify investment in front projectors. Further these projection fans foresee big-screen home televisions as a sustained market opportunity for both microdisplay RPTVs and home front projectors.

The divergent points of view about the future role of projection can be directly related to differences in the perceptions of the prospects for improved projection image quality and lower prices for RPTV systems.

Strategies to Be Debated

The fourth annual Projection Summit Conference, June 6-7, in Las Vegas will focus on these critical strategic issues. How can the industry rapidly improve image quality to match that of big flat-screen displays? How can costs and prices be dramatically reduced to match the incredible cost reductions of the flat panel benchmarks? How the industry responds to these questions will shape its prospects for success going forward.

Business, market and technology leaders from the projection and flat-panel display industry will meet with market analysts and display investment experts to discuss what each player is doing to improve projection competitiveness and how the industry can work together to sustain growth and success as the flat-panel products get better and cheaper.

The conference agenda will focus on the industry insiders view on Monday with the following sessions.

Image Quality and Electronics Review Session - The developers of the media processors used in projectors and flat panels are at the center of industry wide effort to improve image quality on two fronts: minimizing problems associated with scaling and de-interlacing source images, and processing video signals to get the best our each display technology. Several of these chip companies are well down the path toward developing a battery of image quality metrics. A panel of the experts will discuss their data on image quality measurement and the differences between various approaches. They will also discuss what they can do to improve competitiveness of projection products.

Illumination Review Session - Arc lamps are expensive, age, then die. What is more important – lower cost, longer life, or more lumens? How much will the incumbent products improve? Can we expect new LED or laser light sources to be competitive in mainstream products in the near term? Can the lamp weakness of projection become a competitive strength? Is there enough lamp supply?

Microdisplay & Engine Review Session - To remain competitive with LCD and PDP products, projection products will need to find ways to cope with 15% to 20% annual price reductions over the next few years. Can cost reductions keep pace with price reductions? What are the plans of the major imager providers, key optical component providers and engine makers to address this challenge? What are the technical, manufacturing and supply chain management improvements that are underway?

Screen Review Session - Current RPTV screens do not come close to delivering the brightness, wide angles, and quality of most LCD and PDP displays. Is there hope to close the image quality gap? Can screen makers hold, or drop the price line while simultaneously offering higher quality screens?

Panel Discussion - The day will conclude with representatives from each session discussing how the supply chain can integrate their efforts to make projection more competitive with flat panels. Can an integrated program on the supply side encourage branders and integrators to invest in and promote projection?

On Tuesday, the agenda will shift to new product and market opportunities with developers, investors, and international integrators sharing their views with those of industry analysts. Sessions will include:

Opportunities for LED and Laser-Based Projection Systems Session - When and how will LED and laser-based projection systems enter the market? How will pocket projectors, embedded projectors, RPTVs and large venue applications be empowered by these new technologies? What should be our expectations?

Investment Community Debate - After a decade of growth, there are some real success stories in the projection community, but there is also the reality that the Asian companies rule. What is the view of the investment community of the projection opportunities? Where do they see areas of growth and areas of concern? Where are they placing their money?

The China Impact - Clearly the projection supply chain has moved to China. What are the implications for cost reduction and competitiveness? But as importantly, China has been touted as a huge potential market for projection systems for presentations and home. In a keynote address, get the inside scoop from a special invited speaker on the challenges, opportunities and prospects for projection systems in China.

The format for the Tuesday afternoon analyst presentations and debate will be changed this year to allow a more detailed discussion of the major projection market channels in the US. Three sessions will present a few brief presentations on pertinent research and present the forecast views of the analysts who study each segment in depth.

ProAV - What is happening in the ProAV channel? We all hear the name of the game is selling solutions, not boxes, but what does that really mean? How should box makers position their projectors for this market? What are the key segments and what is the name of the game in the lucrative segments? eCinema? Digital Signage? Government? What is the forecast for systems and revenue? Are flat panels impacting projector sales? Are new business models emerging? What strategies are working and what is not?

The IT channel - Have HP and Dell taken over the channel to corporate sales? Is it strictly boxes on-line and how low can you go? What about the education market, especially the K-12 segment? What do projector manufacturers need to know to be successful? What is the forecast, including the crossover segment? Are selling low cost projectors a loss leader and an ante to play in the game? Is there a better solution?

The Home - This is the market that all analysts have their eye on and opinions vary. Come hear the flat panel experts tell why RPTV will stagnate and debate with the projector analysts who see sustained growth. What are the performance and price issues? Who will win?

A preliminary agenda for Projection Summit 2005 is viewable at: http://www.projectionsummit.com

Following the Projection Summit, attendees can close out the day at the annual InfoComm Manufacturers Forum, Opening Reception, and Awards Banquet. More information on the InfoComm exhibition, which features over 10,000 audiovisual communications products and services, as well as events and courses, is available at www.infocommshow.org.

Discounted, early-bird registration ends April 8,2005, so hurry to register at:

http://ww4.expocard.com/inf051/summit/registrant.asp

Conference Sponsors include:

Scram Technologies, Pixelworks