Two new solid-state illumination projectors from Optoma are now available to schools for evaluation. The EcoBright WXGA resolution ZW210ST and the EcoBright XGA resolution ZX210ST both employ Optoma’s fifth generation laser/LED hybrid solid state illumination technology. This green technology offers lower cost of ownership due to reduced power consumption, instant on/off, and the lamp-free and maintenance-free design.

Aimed at the education market, both short-throw DLP units deliver a 2000 lumen brightness and have a contrast ratio of 80,000:1. Because of the performance of the SSI light source, Optoma has upgraded it’s warranty to 3 years for the projectors and 10,000 for the light source.

The EcoBright units offer a ton of connectivity, including HDMI, VGA-in, VGA-out, mini-USB, USB, RS232, RJ45, S-video, composite, audio in/out and an SD slot with 2GB of internal memory.

The EcoBright ZW210ST will have an MSRP of  $1,499 and the EcoBright ZX210ST will have an MSRP of $1,399.

The latest projector market forecast from Pacific Media Associates predicts shipments of Laser/LED hybrid models will grow modestly this year, and then are expected to grow by more than 40% each year during 2013-2015.