If you're a Leica fan who also enjoys watching movies and television shows in the best possible image quality, you're going to like this.
Leica recently announced the Cine 1, an ultra-short-throw projector made for home theaters. Ultra-short-throw projectors are designed with convenience in mind, allowing the user to forgo the need for a ceiling mount or to clear out space by allowing a large image (80 or 100 inches in this case) to be projected upward from just a few inches away. It actually makes sense to see an optical company making such a projector. Because ultra-short-throw projectors need to create very large, crisp images from a quite short distance, they require a lot of optical savvy, making a company like Leica an appropriate choice.
While official details are light at the moment, The Verge spoke to Leica a bit and confirmed there will be two models, both capable of 4K at 60 Hz, with one projecting a 100-inch image at 2,500 lumens from 12 inches away and costing $7,900 and the other projecting an 80-inch image at 2,100 lumens from 6 inches away and costing $6,900. Both projectors use a triple RGB laser light engine, DLP chip from Texas Instruments, and offer 30-millisecond latency.
In terms of connectivity, expect three HDMI ports (one HDMI 2.1 with eARC), a USB 3.0 port, and a USB 2.0 port, plus an integrated tuner with DVB-CI slot. You can also expect Dolby Atmos audio. Of course, what photography fans will be most interested in is the Summicron projection lens that features aspherical elements and Leica's respected standards of engineering. Beyond the lens and laser technology, information on the projector's visuals, such as HDR support, is scarce, but hopefully, we'll hear more soon.
Leica says the Cine 1 will be available in the second quarter of 2023.
I'm sure it's awesome but for 8k you can buy a pretty big TV that I guarantee has better image quality.
The thing is, who has 8K footage to even watch? I was looking at those Epson projectors before I bought my 82" TV and they were like $3k on Epson's ebay page. Still think about those a lot but need a pretty dark room with less ambient bounce. White everything isn't always best for projectors.