Cinionic announces end of service for Barco Series 1 projectors, effective 9/30/20

[Dave Macaulay]

Not defending the decision to discontinue film print distribution and force the conversion to video projection. In the end the exhibitors (particularly small independents) got hosed, no argument.
Series 2 Barco projectors passed DCI certification in 2010, so presumably series 1 was discontinued around then. I don't have any data on the actual end of production/sale.
Roughly 10 years of full support after discontinuing production is pretty good in my opinion.

[Steve Guttag]

Dave, the last series 1 projector in the .98" chipset was December 2009. It is possible that the DP3000 continued but I don't think so. We never sold any so I don't know for sure. The "B" series Barcos were not ready in early 2010 so if they couldn't deliver DP3000s, Barco would have had a void in the upper-end (light wise) projectors.

[Tom Bert]

The end-of-life (last orders accepted) was indeed 10y ago. I don't have the numbers readily available, but the number of Series1 projectors manufactured in 2009-2010 was very low. Series2 kicked in hard in 2009 already

[Steve Guttag]

Tom, You may have had orders in 2009 for series 2 but I don't believe you shipped any (beyond prototypes). I remember vividly, if not painfully, how bad it was getting the various server companies talking with the various projectors as nobody had final versions of each other's "DCI Compliant" products, particularly the series 2 projectors. I was doing software updates weekly if not daily trying to keep up with the changes. I was hit a bit harder because the Dolby DSS software required different versions based on projector brand for series 2...and then the whole DH versus TLS encryption plus the changes to the 3D configurations...it was nuts in 2010.

[Daniel Fredrickson]

I think there's about to be a large market for second-hand Series 2 and 3 projectors.

I don't know that any theater under 12 screens ever really "saved money" by going digital and cutting back on projection staff.

I'd be willing to bet however that overall costs for running Series 4 SP4K-12's would be cheaper than running film. The fact though that a Series 4 projector costs around 40% less (~50k) in 2020 dollars than a Series 1 cost in 2005 dollars (~90k), and doesn't need a new xenon lamp every 3,500 hours makes the savings comparison seem plausible. And lest we forget that there's also the server replacement costs that you have to factor in every four or five years now. Maybe a break-even?

Either way, for an independent exhibitor with just a few screens that probably went with a pricey secondhand Series 1 during the big changeover of 2012/13, dropping money this soon on a new Series 4 is tough stuff... but I can't say that the end of life is surprising.

[Leo Enticknap]

The market for second-hand Series 2 and 3 projectors will be interesting to watch.

I have two customers currently using Series 1 Barcos, both of them nonprofit arthouses that are struggling (though at least one of them is currently attempting) to raise the money to replace them with a new Series 2. If the conversion by the big chains to the new, cheap lasers happens quickly enough and on a large enough scale, it will likely put a glut of used Series 2s onto the market, and I can see the price of high hours (which any projector running in a typical 'plex for the best part of a decade will be) ones plummeting.

However, what might dampen the attraction of them for venues such as my two remaining DP1500 users is the availability of xenon bulbs, especially the smaller ones, going forward. Right now, at any rate, the new, cheaper laser projectors don't (AFAIK) have enough power to replace a big ass xenon (e.g. NC3240 or DP4K-32B) running a 6.5 or 7kW bulb: to replace that, you will still need a laser projector costing six figures. But when $50k buys you a 3P laser-illuminated DP2K-20C or NC2000 replacement, I can see the manufacturing volume of xenon bulbs in the 2 to 4kW range collapse, prices of them rise, and even for availability to become a problem. The timescale in which this happens is anyone's guess, though.

[Steve Guttag]

The cost variance really doesn't favor laser until 3KW xenon. I think the 2KW and below will safely remain xenon for many as a reasonably priced solution. a 2KW lamp going over 3000 hours is tough to beat.

I think it is the "B" series Barcos and the larger xenon Christies and NECs that are in danger...in fact NEC doesn't really have a cost effective RGB laser solution yet. They still seem to be banking on LP, which I still claim is the CFL of the cinema projector market.

I recently saw an article where UHP lamps are to be phased out in the EU starting late 2021 due to the Mercury in the lamp as a continuing RoHS thing. Perhaps a baby LP could find a home there.

[Tom Bert]

Note that other regions (including US) are also looking into banning mercury (lamps):
- https://www.epa.gov/mercury/environm...-apply-mercury
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-c...-idUSKCN1AW0RI