Tarsus Technologies has announced the local availability of Samsung’s latest line up of LED projectors, packed with technical innovations that enhance the brightness, colour and accuracy of the projected visuals whilst at the same time providing the functionality needed for academic, corporate, professional or home use.

“The latest projector offerings from Samsung concentrate on exactly what customers are looking for,” says Levina de Matos, Samsung product manager at Tarsus, “delivering faithful, colour-perfect performance, distinctive contemporary designs, an almost whisper-silent operation and multiple connectivity options.”

The new line of data projectors is furthermore also suited to a wide variety of disciplines. For example, of particular interest in the field of home entertainment is the Samsung SP-A600 – a full HD projector that features Digital Light Projection 1080p film technology, which is the same technology used in top-of-the-range high-definition television displays. 

The SP-A600 has a wide variety of connectivity options and offers video support for Blu-ray as well as an input for a PC, making the home entertainment centre possibilities vast.

“With guaranteed colour accuracy, this projector provides the perfect colour gamut for each broadcasting standard. The SP-A600 truly is a dazzling LED data projector with groundbreaking 1,000 ANSI lumens, which lights up the screen with your favourite TV channels, movies and games,” de Matos adds.

“Looking at the portable powerhouses in Samsung’s new line-up, the SP-P400 and SP-410M (differing only in brightness – 150 and 170 respectively) are both LED-based DLP Pocket Projectors that offer the user convenience and mobility by fitting neatly into a laptop bag or briefcase.

“Featuring a USB port and auto play functionality, these projectors support Microsoft PowerPoint, PDF and JPG playback capabilities, allowing road warriors to leave their notebooks at the office and carry nothing more than a USB Flash Memory Stick to their presentations,” de Matos continues.

The LED lamp on these projectors is eco-friendly and never requires replacement, reducing operational costs. It also has a 30,000-hour lifespan with an auto power on/off functionality to preserve the bulb.

With stereo speakers, a remote control and support for USB multimedia with instant media play, as well as an 80-inch maximum screen size, this really is a pocket projector with some serious power.

For academic or corporate environments, such as classrooms and conference rooms, the units in the Samsung L Series (L200, L220, L250, L300, L350) are complete stand-alone multimedia projectors capable of providing sharp colour-true images and sound from any AV or PC source, including HDMI. They come with a full range of inputs and support for USB multimedia, as well as a full range of input options.

Rounding out the new Samsung projector line-up in the mobile professional field, the SP-H05 is a portable handheld device that’s the latest must-have accessory for travel and impromptu presentations.

“It’s small enough to fit in your pocket and it has a built-in player for Microsoft Office file formats, PDF, movies, music and video. It also works with any mp3 player, personal gaming device, cell phone or notebook and has its own built-in battery and speakers, as well as a MicroSD card slot,” de Matos says.

“Samsung’s new line of data projectors offers something innovative for every sector of the market – right from home entertainment, to the classroom, through to the mobile professional – delivering convenience, high performance and practicality,” de Matos concludes.

First it was the flat screen; then there was the fuss about high-definition, and now there is much excitement about the latest development in 3D viewing technology.

3DTV is starting to get serious attention in the quest for the ultimate home entertainment system, but too few people actually understand the difference between 3D capable displays and high-definition panels.

In an effort to make the buying decision simpler so as to prevent disappointment, Levina de Matos, Samsung product manager at Tarsus Technologies says there are a number of significant things about this technology that consumers should know.

“3DTV is a broad term for the display technology that lets home viewers experience video content in a stereoscopic effect. It adds the illusion of a third dimension, depth, to current TV and HDTV display technology, which is typically limited to only height and width – that which we know as 2DTV,” explains de Matos.

“Understanding how the technology works is simple,” de Matos continues, “our eyes are about three inches apart, which allows each eye to see a slightly different perspective of the same picture. The brain takes images from both eyes, collates the visual data and uses the difference between the two images to calculate distance, which then creates the perception of depth.

“3DTV today makes use of active-shutter technology and with this method, a single sequential imager switches very rapidly between the left and right images when projecting the information on a display and the viewer wears a pair of battery-powered glasses that contain shutters that are capable of opening and closing rapidly.

“Each shutter opens and closes in alternation while the screen displays left- and right-eye images in sync with the glasses. The result is that the left eye sees only the intended left view of the image, and the right eye sees the intended right view and the brain can then blend it together into a single, stereoscopic image,” de Matos explains.

“The main improvements afforded by new 3DTV technologies are full colour and a high resolution of 1080p, made possible by Digital Light Projection technology which uses a microchip (or three, one dedicated to each primary colour) that has an array of tiny swiveling mirrors which create the image. While 3D was originally limited to DLP televisions, 3D capability is soon to be available on all the major HDTV technologies,” de Matos notes.

“HDTV is essentially the highest form of digital television, with a 16:9 aspect ratio and high ratios that are either 720p, 1080i and 1080p. The numbers stand for how many lines there are to make up the picture display, and obviously the more the better.

“But then there’s also the ‘i’ and the ‘p’, which represents the type of scan the TV uses and ‘p’ stands for progressive while ‘i’ stands for interlaced.

“Progressive scan is better than interlaced because it processes the images twice as fast. This faster scan rate produces better clarity and colour in the displayed picture. And 1080p is the best resolution on the market today, since it’s the highest,” de Matos continues.

“3D-capable television sets are likely to be limited to the high-end models and are therefore more likely to have a higher price tag than we’re used to seeing. There will be a definite need to purchase the glasses separately, and the quality of the 3D experience is likely to hinge on which type of glasses manufacturers choose to use with their 3D sets.

“Much like Blu-Ray, which took about four years to catch on and become readily available (both in terms of viewable content and a reasonably priced player) it will be some time before 3DTV reaches a point where it will be readily accessible for mainstream consumers. There is still much to come, in terms of development, to ensure that the 3DTV home viewing experience is comfortable,” de Matos explains.

Conservative estimates put it at about six to eight years for 3DTV to be at a point where it can then become a part of consumers’ every day life. Until then it’s going to remain a niche product, which a few early adopters will nonetheless be determined to buy.

Advice for those early adopters would be to ensure that the set they buy works with active-shutter glasses, and not polarised or colour-tinted glasses, since active-shutter technology is designed to eliminate the side-effects associated with polarised or tinted glasses, namely headaches, nausea and blurry vision.

In the meantime, those who are prepared to be patient while the technology is perfected would do well to purchase a really high-quality HD television set.

“Look for one with a 1080p resolution, which has a refresh rate that is as high as possible (i.e. 120Hz) which will ensure that your home entertainment experience is as rich an experience as it can be,” de Matos concludes.

Tarsus Technologies is pleased to announce the local availability of the new Samsung R580 notebook, an entry-level media-centric notebook that is sure to impress with comfortable performance and features.

In terms of looks, this is the first notebook that’s stunning both outside and in.

The unit’s Crystal Wave design features a polished finish chassis with unique colour gradations and an illuminated LED touchpad. 

“That is not all that looks good, however,” says Levina de Matos, product manager at Tarsus Technologies, “the unit’s 15.6-inch LED display also makes for a picture-perfect multimedia experience and provides sharp images and vivid colour.

“Combine that with the built-in Blu-ray optical drive with a 16:9 aspect ratio and the advanced 3D graphics processing capabilities of NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 330M graphics card, with 1GB of GDDR3 memory and the user will be able to enjoy the latest HD games and movies the way they were meant to be enjoyed,” de Matos continues.

The R580 also features the perfect balance between battery life and performance with an Intel Core 5 Processor 520M (2.4GHz) that automatically adjusts processing power and allocates it where it is most needed.

“Kitted out with 802.11b/g wireless, a 3-in-1 memory card reader and three USB 2.0 ports, the R580 is no slouch in the communications and data-sharing department either,” de Matos adds.

de Matos says this notebook is also the perfect addition to the mobile office because of the inclusion of Sleep-and-charge technology on one of the R580′s four USB ports.

“This allows the user to connect any USB-compatible external device, such as an MP3 player or smartphone, and charge the battery even when the laptop itself is switched off, offering more power-up options to users that need them,” she says.“Delivering impressive power and usability, the Samsung R580 is another fantastic addition to the Samsung range,” she adds.

“Its high-speed networking capabilities, powerful graphics and impressive array of ports add to an already desirable package, making this the ultimate media-centric, work-capable notebook,” she concludes.

Tarsus Technologies has announced a renewed thrust into the government sector with Samsung’s X360 and X460 notebook range, since it believes that these units’ high technical specifications, lightweight designs and superior build quality are just what public sector departments require.

“Government is one of the most demanding technology buyers in existence,” says Levina de Matos, Samsung product manager at Tarsus, “and as such is constantly on the lookout for infrastructural elements that are capable of lasting well in excess of three years, both by virtue of their high-performance components and their overall build-quality,” she explains.

“Samsung’s X series notebooks are therefore the perfect choice for the public sector,” she adds.

Starting with the 13.3” X360, de Matos says this compact notebook packs all the punch of a far larger unit into an extremely portable mobile companion that workers on the move can rely on for a full day’s productivity.

“The X360 boasts with an ultra-powerful and removable 6-cell battery, a power-efficient Intel Centrino 2 processor, a bright and power-saving 13.3” LED screen, and an option for a 128GB Solid State Drive.

“All of these components significantly enhance the unit’s performance, yet weigh less and use far less power, and in doing so enable up to 10 hours of continuous use on battery power,” she says.

“These features are rounded out with a powerful and secure biometric fingerprint authentication system and a trusted platform module (TPM), so public sector workers’ valuable information will remain safe from prying eyes, without the need for them to remember any passwords,” she explains.

“In total, the X360 configured with all of these high performing, power-conscious components weighs in at 1.29 kilograms – nothing short of remarkable,” she adds.

Looking at the slightly larger unit in the range, de Matos says the X460 shares most of the X360 design features, but is differentiated by its larger screen, a dedicated graphics card and a built-in optical drive – features that make this unit more suited to the graphics professionals, researchers and other power users within public sector.

“All of this culminates in a veritable mobile powerhouse that weighs a mere 1.9kg and gives users in excess of five hours’ unplugged productivity,” de Matos says.

Thus far, de Matos says that Tarsus has received good interest from a number of government departments and is looking forward to seeing how these units perform at proof of concept stage.

“We’re convinced that Samsung’s X series notebooks have the right stuff for the government market and are certain public sector buyers will agree with this sentiment over the coming year,” she concludes.