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In 2024, the domestic smart projection market experienced a slight contraction, while the global market continued to grow at a moderate pace. Despite this, 1LCD technology in smart projectors still emerged victorious in the market! A significant indicator of this success is the entry of TCL CSOT, another major player in the LCD panel industry, into the 1LCD projection panel market. Their advancements in 1LCD smart projectors, 1LCD VR panels, and 1LCD HUD panels further solidify the consensus that 1LCD technology remains highly promising in terms of market competitiveness and future industry scale.
2024: Market Growth Driven by Comparative Competitive Advantages
For 1LCD projectors, 2024 saw limited progress in new technologies. For instance, 4K models and those with around 1000 lumens were already in development by 2022 and largely launched by the end of 2023. However, this did not hinder the enhanced competitiveness of 1LCD projectors in the market.
The core factor driving this competitiveness is the price reduction of products with equivalent brightness. In the 1500-2000 yuan price range, consumers can now purchase 1LCD projectors with 750-950 lumens. Even in the 500 yuan range, nearly 300-lumen 1LCD projectors are available. This price reduction has significantly improved the product quality in the 500-2000 yuan segment, which accounts for the majority of smart projector sales.
From a competitive standpoint, DLP models under 3000 yuan have not yet surpassed 1000 lumens in brightness. Additionally, these DLP models primarily use 1080P dithering technology, which still lags behind the native 1080p resolution widely adopted by 1LCD models in terms of clarity. In the sub-1000 yuan market, many DLP models still rely on 720P dithering, whereas 1080p has become the mainstream specification for 1LCD projectors.
Moreover, in the 2000+ yuan price range, only 1LCD models currently offer 4K resolution, and these are native 4K products. In the sub-2000 yuan 1080p smart projector market, 1LCD continues to lead in terms of brightness, price, and resolution, maintaining a strong competitive edge.
Overall, 1LCD projectors hold their own in brightness, lead in resolution, and have a clear price advantage. While they may slightly lag in brightness uniformity and aperture ratio, their overall experience and competitiveness remain commendable. This is why 1LCD continues to dominate the global smart projector market, with over half of the market growth in 2024 attributed to 1LCD's expansion.
Technical Bottlenecks Loom: How Will 1LCD Break Through in the Future?
In 2024, the increased competitiveness of 1LCD projectors primarily stemmed from systematic price reductions across all brightness and resolution specifications, rather than significant technological advancements.
The main bottleneck for 1LCD's further growth lies in panel light efficiency. While 4K 1LCD panels could theoretically be made smaller, such as 3.5 inches or even smaller, this would result in insufficient brightness. As a result, 4K 1LCD panels have adopted larger sizes, which in turn increases design challenges related to product size and image uniformity.
Additionally, 1LCD's maximum brightness has yet to surpass 1000 lumens. The reason is that simply increasing light source brightness, without improving panel efficiency, leads to increased heat waste and reduced low-level grayscale performance. Thus, the benefits of higher brightness are offset by the drawbacks of increased thermal noise, larger product size, and degraded grayscale.
However, 4K + high brightness is undoubtedly the future trend in projector consumption. To achieve this, a new technological solution is needed—one that maintains low-cost competitiveness while upgrading light valve efficiency.
Historically, the earliest LCD projectors were 1LCD models introduced over thirty years ago, but they were quickly phased out due to their low light efficiency, which was less than a third of today's standards, and poor performance when combined with mercury light sources. The technology that replaced 1LCD was 3LCD, which uses three LCD panels to separately process red, green, and blue light, eliminating the need for a color filter that absorbs 60-70% of the light. This approach triples the brightness, reduces heat waste, and lowers system noise, all while maintaining a compact design.
From a practical perspective, by the end of December 2024, Zhongguang launched a single-chip LCOS light valve projector with native 4K resolution, achieving around 1000 lumens of brightness. It is reported that 2K/4K 1LCOS models can meet the design requirements for low-cost 1000-lumen projectors in the 1500-2500 yuan range, offering a new solution for the mid-to-low-end smart projector market.
Meanwhile, the LCD projector market is also exploring dual-LCD configurations to achieve higher brightness. This technology separates green light as a standalone optical path, bypassing the color filter and directly imaging, thereby alleviating 1LCD's brightness limitations without the cost increase associated with 3LCD's three-light-valve structure.
More LCD screens are being used to mitigate the impact of color filters, or technologies like LCOS with higher aperture ratios are being employed to improve light efficiency. Achieving higher brightness in 1LCD projectors will inevitably require higher light efficiency, which is also the foundation for maintaining compact 4K products. There are no shortcuts in this regard, making it the primary obstacle for 1LCD's future evolution.
Brands Seek Innovation: Diverse Technical Pathways Available
From the perspective of 1LCD's own technological evolution, its potential for further display performance improvements is limited. This has become a key pressure point restricting the industry's development. However, from the viewpoint of industry players, their focus is not solely tied to 1LCD but rather on delivering better and more affordable projection solutions. These companies face two layers of challenges:
First, the product innovation and performance limitations imposed by 1LCD technology; second, the supply bottleneck for high-quality products, even premium models, demanded by consumers. Even if 1LCD's technical ceiling cannot be breached, industry players can address the second challenge by aligning with demand-side upgrades and adopting new projection technologies.
Therefore, as 1LCD brands contemplate their upgrade paths, a variety of alternative technologies become viable. These include 2LCD, 3LCD, 1LCOS, and even 3LCOS. Beyond these traditional options, silicon-based Micro LED micro-display projection also presents a feasible solution. The key is that these diverse approaches can expand the supply boundaries of existing 1LCD projector companies, offering more growth opportunities.
Additionally, many mainstream 1LCD projector companies have not ventured into DLP product lines. This results in two scenarios: first, 1LCD projector companies generally lack mid-to-high-end smart projector models, focusing instead on the entry-level market; second, these companies face less pressure in their upstream supply chains when adopting new light valve technologies, making it easier for them to make strategic new choices. After all, the 1LCD light valve supply chain is not monopolized and is domestically sourced, giving brands greater autonomy.
Industry insiders point out that 1LCD projector companies have their own supply-side upgrade needs, while emerging domestic light valve technologies and new projection systems require brand support. At least on the surface, this appears to be a mutually beneficial and symbiotic partnership.
Viewing the development of 1LCD technology and 1LCD companies as related but not identical issues, and recognizing that 1LCD companies have the right and ability to choose other projection technologies, is key to overcoming supply-side bottlenecks. The core idea here is to not put all eggs in one basket—projection solutions can be as diverse as a forest!
In summary, while 1LCD projectors faced technical bottlenecks in 2024, their market success was driven by the price reduction of high-quality products. However, for long-term industry growth, companies must plan ahead to break through 1LCD's current performance ceiling. Beyond 1LCD's own innovations, exploring more technological options will be crucial. These alternatives may well become the game-changers for 1LCD projector companies in 2025!
2024: Market Growth Driven by Comparative Competitive Advantages
For 1LCD projectors, 2024 saw limited progress in new technologies. For instance, 4K models and those with around 1000 lumens were already in development by 2022 and largely launched by the end of 2023. However, this did not hinder the enhanced competitiveness of 1LCD projectors in the market.
The core factor driving this competitiveness is the price reduction of products with equivalent brightness. In the 1500-2000 yuan price range, consumers can now purchase 1LCD projectors with 750-950 lumens. Even in the 500 yuan range, nearly 300-lumen 1LCD projectors are available. This price reduction has significantly improved the product quality in the 500-2000 yuan segment, which accounts for the majority of smart projector sales.
From a competitive standpoint, DLP models under 3000 yuan have not yet surpassed 1000 lumens in brightness. Additionally, these DLP models primarily use 1080P dithering technology, which still lags behind the native 1080p resolution widely adopted by 1LCD models in terms of clarity. In the sub-1000 yuan market, many DLP models still rely on 720P dithering, whereas 1080p has become the mainstream specification for 1LCD projectors.
Moreover, in the 2000+ yuan price range, only 1LCD models currently offer 4K resolution, and these are native 4K products. In the sub-2000 yuan 1080p smart projector market, 1LCD continues to lead in terms of brightness, price, and resolution, maintaining a strong competitive edge.
Overall, 1LCD projectors hold their own in brightness, lead in resolution, and have a clear price advantage. While they may slightly lag in brightness uniformity and aperture ratio, their overall experience and competitiveness remain commendable. This is why 1LCD continues to dominate the global smart projector market, with over half of the market growth in 2024 attributed to 1LCD's expansion.
Technical Bottlenecks Loom: How Will 1LCD Break Through in the Future?
In 2024, the increased competitiveness of 1LCD projectors primarily stemmed from systematic price reductions across all brightness and resolution specifications, rather than significant technological advancements.
The main bottleneck for 1LCD's further growth lies in panel light efficiency. While 4K 1LCD panels could theoretically be made smaller, such as 3.5 inches or even smaller, this would result in insufficient brightness. As a result, 4K 1LCD panels have adopted larger sizes, which in turn increases design challenges related to product size and image uniformity.
Additionally, 1LCD's maximum brightness has yet to surpass 1000 lumens. The reason is that simply increasing light source brightness, without improving panel efficiency, leads to increased heat waste and reduced low-level grayscale performance. Thus, the benefits of higher brightness are offset by the drawbacks of increased thermal noise, larger product size, and degraded grayscale.
However, 4K + high brightness is undoubtedly the future trend in projector consumption. To achieve this, a new technological solution is needed—one that maintains low-cost competitiveness while upgrading light valve efficiency.
Historically, the earliest LCD projectors were 1LCD models introduced over thirty years ago, but they were quickly phased out due to their low light efficiency, which was less than a third of today's standards, and poor performance when combined with mercury light sources. The technology that replaced 1LCD was 3LCD, which uses three LCD panels to separately process red, green, and blue light, eliminating the need for a color filter that absorbs 60-70% of the light. This approach triples the brightness, reduces heat waste, and lowers system noise, all while maintaining a compact design.
From a practical perspective, by the end of December 2024, Zhongguang launched a single-chip LCOS light valve projector with native 4K resolution, achieving around 1000 lumens of brightness. It is reported that 2K/4K 1LCOS models can meet the design requirements for low-cost 1000-lumen projectors in the 1500-2500 yuan range, offering a new solution for the mid-to-low-end smart projector market.
Meanwhile, the LCD projector market is also exploring dual-LCD configurations to achieve higher brightness. This technology separates green light as a standalone optical path, bypassing the color filter and directly imaging, thereby alleviating 1LCD's brightness limitations without the cost increase associated with 3LCD's three-light-valve structure.
More LCD screens are being used to mitigate the impact of color filters, or technologies like LCOS with higher aperture ratios are being employed to improve light efficiency. Achieving higher brightness in 1LCD projectors will inevitably require higher light efficiency, which is also the foundation for maintaining compact 4K products. There are no shortcuts in this regard, making it the primary obstacle for 1LCD's future evolution.
Brands Seek Innovation: Diverse Technical Pathways Available
From the perspective of 1LCD's own technological evolution, its potential for further display performance improvements is limited. This has become a key pressure point restricting the industry's development. However, from the viewpoint of industry players, their focus is not solely tied to 1LCD but rather on delivering better and more affordable projection solutions. These companies face two layers of challenges:
First, the product innovation and performance limitations imposed by 1LCD technology; second, the supply bottleneck for high-quality products, even premium models, demanded by consumers. Even if 1LCD's technical ceiling cannot be breached, industry players can address the second challenge by aligning with demand-side upgrades and adopting new projection technologies.
Therefore, as 1LCD brands contemplate their upgrade paths, a variety of alternative technologies become viable. These include 2LCD, 3LCD, 1LCOS, and even 3LCOS. Beyond these traditional options, silicon-based Micro LED micro-display projection also presents a feasible solution. The key is that these diverse approaches can expand the supply boundaries of existing 1LCD projector companies, offering more growth opportunities.
Additionally, many mainstream 1LCD projector companies have not ventured into DLP product lines. This results in two scenarios: first, 1LCD projector companies generally lack mid-to-high-end smart projector models, focusing instead on the entry-level market; second, these companies face less pressure in their upstream supply chains when adopting new light valve technologies, making it easier for them to make strategic new choices. After all, the 1LCD light valve supply chain is not monopolized and is domestically sourced, giving brands greater autonomy.
Industry insiders point out that 1LCD projector companies have their own supply-side upgrade needs, while emerging domestic light valve technologies and new projection systems require brand support. At least on the surface, this appears to be a mutually beneficial and symbiotic partnership.
Viewing the development of 1LCD technology and 1LCD companies as related but not identical issues, and recognizing that 1LCD companies have the right and ability to choose other projection technologies, is key to overcoming supply-side bottlenecks. The core idea here is to not put all eggs in one basket—projection solutions can be as diverse as a forest!
In summary, while 1LCD projectors faced technical bottlenecks in 2024, their market success was driven by the price reduction of high-quality products. However, for long-term industry growth, companies must plan ahead to break through 1LCD's current performance ceiling. Beyond 1LCD's own innovations, exploring more technological options will be crucial. These alternatives may well become the game-changers for 1LCD projector companies in 2025!
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