Casio Announces World’s First Mercury-Free Projectors

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We’re in a world where everyone is trying to be green and companies are trying to make their products greener to stop global warming (read whatever you want into that), and Casio is the latest company to eliminate mercury from their products. The new “Green Slim” line of projectors have a mercury-free laser and LED hybrid light source that is capable up to 3000 lumens. These can easily be used in well-lit rooms and have allowed Casio to package all of it inside of a thinner design. The body of these new projectors are no bigger than a piece of letter paper and weigh only 5 pounds.

The new “Green Slim” line offers two distinct series of models, the XJ-A2XX series, which can display a resolution up to 1280×800, and the XJ-A1XX series which can display a resolution up to 1024×768. Select models can to connect wirelessly to a PC and projection without a PC through a USB port. Speaking of ports, these new projectors include a standard VGA port, which doubles as a component input, a HDMI port, and a 3.5mm mini-jack which serves as an audio terminal and a composite input. Full press release below.

CASIO RELEASES WORLD’S FIRST MERCURY-FREE HIGH-BRIGHTNESS PROJECTORS

New SuperSlim Projectors Feature Newly Developed Laser & LED Hybrid Light Source

LAS VEGAS, NV, January 6, 2010 — Casio America, Inc., and its parent company, Casio Computer Co., Ltd., today announced that it has created a mercury-free laser & LED hybrid light source, capable of high-brightness projection for use in the next-generation projectors the company has developed under its “clean & green” concept. Casio is releasing a line of GREEN SLIM projectors with the new light source, introducing the world’s first^* mercury-free high-brightness data projectors.

Currently, high-pressure mercury lamps are used as the light source for data projectors capable of producing 2,000 or more lumens. Semiconductor light sources that do not contain environmentally harmful mercury such as Laser and LED offer promising light sources for next-generation DLP® projectors. Until now, however, they were only usable as light sources for small, low-lumen projectors because high-output sources capable of producing green light have not been possible for mass production.

Casio has changed all this by creating an original mercury-free hybrid light source capable of generating high brightness by combining a laser, a fluorescent element and an LED. Casio has achieved high output of green light, which has been considered difficult with conventional semiconductor light sources, by very efficiently converting blue laser light into green light, using the fluorescent element. The high-brightness light of 2,000 or more lumens was then attained by projecting blue laser light, green light converted from blue laser light with the fluorescent element, and light emitted by a red LED through a DLP^® chip onto the screen.

Use of the laser & LED hybrid light source makes Casio’s GREEN SLIM projectors the world’s first data projectors bright enough (2,000-3,000 lumens) for projection in a well lit room without using a high-pressure mercury lamp. Usability features have also been greatly improved: the

* As of January 7, 2010, for high-brightness data projectors with at least 2,000 lumens. According to a Casio survey.

body, no bigger than the size of a standard 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper, is slim (1.7 inches) and lightweight (5 lbs).  Additional qualities include: the projector produces bright colors through upgraded color purity,  the light source has a life of approximately 20,000 hours, projection at maximum brightness is possible in a minimum of eight seconds and no cool down is needed when turning the projectors off.

“Casio is thrilled to introduce this entirely new lineup of eco-friendly Super Slim projectors,” said Toshiharu Okimuro, Chairman of Casio America, Inc.  “The advances we have made to provide superior brightness and energy-saving features make it the perfect tool for the road warrior, instructor, gamer and general consumer for home entertainment.”

GREEN SLIM Projectors will be available in a diverse lineup, including a model that can accommodate WXGA Real display at 1280 × 800 dots (16:10) and a model that can project without a PC and can communicate wirelessly with PCs.  These projectors will greatly broaden the possibilities for visual communication thanks to Casio’s advanced laser & LED hybrid light source, which will fundamentally change the status quo in projectors and provide enhanced features that make the projectors usable in diverse situations.

■ Laser & LED hybrid light source that enables mercury-free high-brightness projectors with high picture quality, long light source life, and quick powering on and off

■ Slim (1.7 inches) and light (5 lbs) highly portable 8 ½ x 11 inch body

■ Wide-angle 2X optical zoom for use in diverse settings, ranging from small meeting spaces to large conference rooms

■ USB host function for projection without a PC and capability for wireless communication with PCs (XJ-A255/A245/155/145)