International. The Japanese city of Yamagata is home to Casio's LampFree projector manufacturing plant, which works from product research and development, to the complete manufacture of components and final assembly of equipment. Here is a brief overview of the development and manufacturing process that takes place at the Yamagata Casio Factory.
Casio is a Japanese company that was born in 1957 (Casio Computer Co.) as a manufacturer of calculators. Over the years it incorporated new products such as musical instruments, cameras and watches. In 2003 it began with the development of its line of projectors, focusing on compact, light and high-performance models. In 2010 it launched its first projector free of the use of mercury lamp, for which it developed an efficient laser-LED hybrid light source, which is produced with the highest levels of engineering under demanding specifications.
To this end, Casio has implemented a manufacturing system that integrates both the Research and Development department of the Hamura Technology Center, as well as the manufacturing and inspection areas of the Yamagata Casio Factory, which allows the production of LampFree projectors to be done with great speed and precision.
The Yamagata Casio Factory has a fully automated production line, which combines the use of robotic equipment with careful Japanese workmanship, as well as a highly accurate quality control managed through the use of inspection software created by the company itself.
Projectors for the future
When designing the LampFree projectors, it was thought to create a projector with clean technology, without substances hazardous to the environment, such as mercury used in conventional projector lamps. In 2010 it was possible to manufacture the first projector with hybrid laser-LED lighting source.
For six consecutive years, LampFree models have been the best sellers in the laser-LED projector category in the market segment of models below 4,000 lumens of brightness.
"Our next goal is to push LampFree technology forward until it becomes a brand itself. To do this, we seek to optimize manufacturing processes to such a degree that, without sacrificing quality, it allows us to maintain or reduce prices to the public. We definitely want market leadership in this new category," says Toshiyuki Iguchi, Senior General Manager of the Digital Signage Division at Casio's Japanese corporate.
The projectors stand out for their useful life of 20,000 hours and energy savings of up to 40 to 50%. They do not require fans to control the temperature, nor filters to prevent the passage of dust, as is common in mercury lamp projectors. This results in an economic product that contributes to a sustainable society.
The development of the concept of LampFree projectors
The light hybrid source of the Casio projectors creates the blue and green colors with the laser component, while the red color is generated with the LED component. The research and development team knew that the biggest challenge was to increase efficiency in green, the color on which the luminosity level of the light source depends.
"After many tests, multiple trials and errors, one of our engineers looked up at the ceiling of the laboratory and fixed his eyes on the fluorescent lamps. Minutes later, he proposed the idea of using phosphorus to increase the brilliance in green. From this hunch, the team managed to improve the luminous efficiency by integrating phosphorus into the blue laser to generate a more powerful green. This huge step allowed us to create a very bright light source and need to use a mercury lamp," says Koji Deguchi, Planning Manager of the Product Development Department, in the Digital Signage Division of Casio.
Long-lasting service life and compact design
When comparing the hybrid light source of the LampFree against the mercury lamps of conventional projectors, we find that the first reaches a useful life of up to 20 thousand hours, in addition to being ready to display images just after pressing the power button.
"We are pleased to say that our projectors are far superior to semiconductor light source projectors. For example, competing 100% laser models require more laser components to increase their brightness, which increases the cost and size of the equipment. In contrast, the laser-LED hybrid source of the LampFree is very efficient, with a very small structure that emits images of extraordinary brightness. Thanks to its use, Casio offers a projector with low power consumption, great performance, compact size and affordable price," added Osamu Umamine, Product Development Department Leader, in Casio's Digital Signage Division.
