HDTV Projectors

1080p DLP front projection is slowly starting to dribble into the market but pricing has been high. BenQ is providing the W10000 for the street price of just under $6000, providing a full 1920x1080 DLP Dark Chip3 DMD far closer in price range with other recently released 1080p technology at $5k and below.

As noted, this is a full 1920x1080 chip and does not use wobulation. The advantage here is the potential for a pixel perfect response. Bear in mind this also means pixels are going to be more visible but whether or not that is a problem is a matter of viewing distance. This is a single chip display utilizing an 8 segment color wheel...

Starting with the PT-AE700 720p projector, Panasonic has built quite a reputation around their extremely wide installation capability and inexpensive pricing using transmissive LCD technology for the last couple of years. Panasonic continues their 720p capability with the PT-AX100 while introducing new 1080p24/60 capability in the form of the PT-AE1000U for a mere $4,000 USD street price, which is expected to get even lower as the months pass. This has certainly been the year for new 1080p front projection below $5,000 USD.

Transmissive LCD projection technology is well over a decade old using red, green and blue LCD panels. No color wheel is required and therefore no concerns over rainbows; those are a DLP issue only related to the size and expense of 3 chip capability as well as supply and demand of the devices. In the early days...