Norwegian digital display specialist Davis A/S has launched Powerscreen, a home theater application which it claims is the first digital rear projection device to connect to PC, video, TV, satellite, the Internet and audio speakers. The device also links up to Integrated Services Digital Network to provide video conferencing applications says the company. Davis claims the product is the only screen on the market designed for Texas Instruments Inc’s costly Digital Light Processing Technology, although it looks to be facing competition from New York-based Projectavision Inc and Proxima Corp who also use the technology in their projection television and professional projection systems (CI No 3,146). However, the company is billing its offering as an intelligent output device, saying its rivals offer only a passive display. Powerscreen comes with a 133MHz Pentium PC module, with 16 speed CD ROM, floppy disk, 1.4Gb hard drive and twin TV tuner for screen-in-screen display, all controlled either by wireless keyboard or mouse. Davis also claims its product allows connection to a greater range of peripherals and external devices, including support for video conferencing modules, ethernet boards and various video interfaces including super video and composite video. The screen itself measures 60 inches with a total installed height of 70 inches. In September the company signed an agreement with Curtis Mathes Holding Corp to jointly market Powerscreen in the consumer arena, hoping to tap into the large screen device market in the US which is worth around 1 million units a year. However Vice President John Rortveit says so far it’s been a matter of preparing the groundwork and that such devices are currently at the beginning of their lifecycle in the consumer marketplace. The company is evaluating vertical business markets in the US in areas like the legal sector and distance learning but says it expects to shift around 10,000 units worldwide in 1998. Powerscreen is available now, priced around $10,000.
