The company also expects to rank among the top-three projector makers in 2005, up from its top-five ranking in 2004, according to Peter Chen, general manager of BenQ's digital-media division.

The new projectors, models PB7110, PB7210 and PB7230, provide a high brightness level, as well as high-quality color saturation, the company said. The models have lumens ratings ranging from 1,800 to 2,500 and a resolution of either 800?600 or 1,280?768.

The global crossover-projector market will jump 54.9% from 266,000 units in 2003 to 412,000 in 2004 and increase another 16.5% to 480,000 units in 2005, according to Japan-based Techno Systems Research (TSR). Compared with an annual growth of 10% for the home-projector-market, the crossover-projector market is fairly promising, Chen said.

With projector shipments expected to grow 220% from 125,000 units in 2003 to 400,000 in 2004 and monthly shipments currently reaching 50,000, BenQ stands a good chance of becoming one of the top-three worldwide projector brands in 2005, Chen indicated. Currently, half of its projector shipments are own-brand.

BenQ is developing dual-lamp DLP projectors that have a rating of 5,000-6,000 lumens. The new models will be priced lower than LCD projectors of the same (or lower) brightness and will be showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next year, the company said.

From DogoTimes