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SubscribeProjectorCentral has launched a new sister site called LED Wall Central, which includes a database of more than 3,000 LED panels from 32 manufacturers, an EZ quote tool, and a brand-new universal LED wall calculator. The calculator was just released this week in time for InfoComm 2025 in Orlando, FL and is the most advanced universal LED wall calculator, in the world. Check out the site, sign up for email alerts, and join our Facebook group and page. Help us get the word out.
Our History
Projector Central was launched in 1999 with the purpose of educating and assisting projector buyers on the brand-new technology of digital projectors. It was formed from three employees from the projector manufacturer Chisholm out of Silicon Valley in California. David Dicklich, president; Evan Powell, editor in chief; and Jerry Cintas, CTO built the website from scratch and launched to the internet.
The website morphed and grew with independent projector reviews being the bedrock of the site. To support the reviews, a database was needed to help keep track of product specifications. The company hired Bobette McCann to maintain the database full time, and the database became unique to Projector Central, marking it even more unique from other tech review sites. The database allowed searching and comparing of projectors as buyers were trying to make decisions and was soon drawing as much traffic as reviews.
A simple HTML-form-based projection calculator was built a year later to assist users with calculating throw distance and screen size. With the connection of that tool with the growing database of projectors, the calculator soon started drawing an increase in web traffic. After redesigning it multiple times, it soon became a primary destination on the internet for calculations.
What's Going on in the Industry
In the last 26 years, Projector Central has been covering the industry and we have seen a lot of change. SVGA 800x600 resolution, 500 lumen, 15 pound, active matrix LCD, lamp based projectors were the king of projectors when we started. They were portable and brighter than the alternative of placing a large transparent 12-inch LCD panel on an overhead projector. Soon Texas Instruments recognized this growing market and introduced the bulky but bright first generation DLP engine into the field and the brightness and resolution wars began.
More and more projector manufacturers wanted to get into the market, and this competition drove innovation. Projector specifications thrived to be brighter, lighter, higher contrast, smaller, last longer, and cost less. Plus innovations were being made with ultra short throw lenses and new body styles that made projectors even easier to install in a home.
But the one spec that projectors lost out on every time compared to other display technologies was contrast. How black can you get your blacks? Projectors, which are a reflective technology, could never compete against ambient light, but the new kid on the block, LED walls could. With its direct emitting pixels that could completely shut off, an LED Wall could give you a very high contrast image.
Daytime outdoor concert screens were now achievable thanks to LED wall black levels and brightness. Church services with LED screens no longer had to turn down the lights or drape the windows. Actors could now stand in front of giant displays and not block the projected image. A new industry was born and it feels like 1999 all over again with a new opportunity for the Projector Central team to be an information leader.
LED Wall Central
For the last year ProjectorCentral has been silently building a new sister site called LEDWallCentral.com. The database has passed 3,000 panels, an EZ quote tool has been built, and finally our universal LED Wall Calculator has launched this week.
Let's Talk Projectors!
The ProjectorCentral Forums is a great place to chat with other projector enthusiasts about all things projectors.
Join the Discussion
This doesn't mean projectors and ProjectorCentral are going anywhere, it just means there is also a large group of people that have questions about LED Wall technology and applications and we want to help.
We have hired additional staffing to work alongside our existing team to build out the new site. New tools like searching the database and educational articles are in the works and coming soon.
Check out what we have started at LEDWallCentral.com. Sign up for the email list. Join our Facebook group and page. And let us know how it looks. It took 26 years of tweaking and innovating to get Projector Central where it is, and we look forward to your feedback on the new site.
