The local subsidiary of Dutch electronics giant, Philips, has unveiled its first LCD projector, dubbed the bTender, targeted and priced primarily at the home cinema market.
According to Tyrone Young, marketing manager: monitors and LCD projectors at Philips, the new model boasts a brightness rating of 1200 ANSI lumens. "This means that the bTender is not limited to use in dark rooms and makes it suitable for the screening of sports events in the lounge at home," he says.
The new projector features high picture quality and low noise emission - under 27dB. "It is unlikely that you will hear the unit over the soundtrack of the movie or sports event that you`re watching, even if you`re sitting quite close to it," Young says.
Lamp life on the bTender is rated at 3 000 hours. This, according to Young, equates to 1 500 rugby games or the same number of two-hour movies. "If you watch sport or movies for six hours a time every weekend you are unlikely to need a new lamp for at least six years," he says.
The new projector also provides dual video/computer input functionality making it suitable for playing video games. Other features include SecurityMax theft protection, SmartSet automatic image quality optimisation, SmartSave auto-standby mode for improved lamp life, colour tracking, digital keystone correction in the horizontal plane of up to 15 degrees as well as digital zoom (16x) and freeze.
Because it is targeted at the consumer market, Philips is pricing the bTender to retail as low as R12 999. "It`s a natural accessory for the DVD player and provides the ultimate home theatre experience - something that is borne out by the tremendous demand we are seeing from retail outlets," he concludes.
Share
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world`s biggest electronics companies and Europe`s largest, with sales of EUR 31.5 billion in 1999. It is a global leader in colour television sets, lighting, electric razors, colour picture tubes for televisions and monitors, and one-chip TV products. Its 232 433 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems and IT services (Origin).
Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. In South Africa, Philips is directly represented with regional headquarters located in Martindale, Johannesburg, and branch offices in most major centres around the country.
Editorial contacts