Leica has officially unveiled the Cine 1, its first ever ultra-short-throw projector (or Laser TV). As announced by the company prior to this, the new product is co-developed with Chinese television manufacturer Hisense, combining the former’s expertise in the development of high quality projection lenses together with the latter’s laser projection technology.
More specifically, Leica says the new Cine 1 projector utilises its Summicron lens technology with aspherical elements manufactured in accordance with its standards. It is also equipped with a Hisense developed triple-RGB laser with a claimed 25,000 hour service life, as well as a Digital Light Processing (DLP) chip by Texas Instruments. Unfortunately, details such as its colour space coverage and HDR support are still not known at this time.
Leica’s new ultra-short-throw projector will be offered in two variants that can output in either 80-inch or 100-inch screen sizes, both of which featuring 4K resolution. In terms of brightness, the two models are said to produce 2,100 and 2,500 lumens respectively. For optimum image quality, the company recommends setting the 80-inch version at exactly six inches from the wall that you wish to have the images to be projected on, whereas the 100-inch version is to be placed 12-inches away.
Complementing its high quality image projection is an integrated Dolby Atmos audio system for surround sound. The Leica Cine 1 also comes with a tuner for linear TV and operates on Hisense’s VIDAA OS which provides smart TV functions. Additionally, users can plug in their Blu-ray players, video game consoles and so on via the HDMI and USB inputs, as well as install hard drives for expanded storage. In regards to the latter, the company did not specifically mention what type of storage drives that its Laser TV supports.
The new Leica Cine 1 projector is expected to go on sale in the US during the second quarter of 2023, though the company has yet to confirm its availability for other regions. Pricing, on the other hand, has not been announced at this time but it is reported that the 80-inch model will retail at a staggering price point of around US$ 6,900 (~RM 30,960) while the 100-inch variant is said to cost around US$ 7,900 (~RM 35,447).
(Source: Leica [press release] / The Verge)
