Projector News and Industry Commentary

Bulletins about upcoming product reviews and releases, tradeshows, new technology and advanced product features as well as our thoughts and observations on all things related to projectors.

While awaiting arrival of the Epson 6500 UB, we've been able to put up a couple of reviews on two exciting home theater components you'll want to know about. One is the new Da-lite JKP Affinity HD screen. This really is an amazing screen as far as purity of image goes. I was quite surprised to see that the extremely smooth screen surface really did make a difference in how natural the picture looks. We have already ordered a 10.5 foot wide JKP Affinity screen in 2.35 format, and we will be using it on all reviews of 1080p projectors once we get it installed in a few weeks.more

Well, last week we posted the review of the Sanyo Z3000, as well as the comparison between the Z3000 and the Panny AE3000. (By the way, I initially reported in the Z3000 review that the seven user programmable memories could not be custom labeled. They can, in fact, it was just not intuitive in the menu. I have corrected that statement in the review as of this morning.)more

We've got a lot going on here. The Sanyo PLV-Z3000 is currently in review, and we expect to have this one posted next Wednesday. We are still waiting to hear arrival dates for review units from Epson. They told us back in September that we wouldn't see anything until December, and they were right about that. As soon as we know anything more we will let you know.more

In case you missed it, Mitsubishi has announced rebates on several of its home theater projectors including the HC6500, the HC5500, and the HC1600. The rebate on the HC6500 is $200, bringing the official street price down to $2,295. As luck would have it, this rebate is well-timed. We are planning to do a shoot-out comparison between the Mits HC6500 and the Panny AE3000 next week. However, since it is Thanksgiving week, we expect to post it a week from Monday.more

We just posted the review of the Sony VPL-HW10 earlier today. Overall, a great product from Sony with one of the brightest video optimized pictures we've ever seen. Several requests have already come in for a shootout between the Sony HW10 and the Panny AE3000. We will have that posted no later than the middle of next week.more

We've just posted a review of the Samsung SP-A800B, which is the 1080p DLP projector designed in consultation with Joe Kane. It's an elegant projector with excellent color and gray scale performance, and those who need a projector with perfect color should have it at the top of their list. However, with the latest competitive releases this fall the SP-A800B is not on the leading edge of price/performance. This industry just moves too quickly these days.more

Just a quick note to let you know what we've got going at the moment. Currently we've got the Samsung SP-A800 and the Mitsubishi HC6500 in review. Those reviews should appear later this week and early next week, although I'm not sure which will be done first. The Sony VPL-HW10 and the Optoma HD806 are expected to arrive shortly. So there are a lot more 1080p reviews in the pipeline.

We just posted a new review of Mitsubishi's HC7000 Diamond Series home theater projector. The 5-star ratings are not included since we are withholding those until we've done some side by side testing with other 1080p models being released this fall.more

The review of the Sanyo Z700 has just been posted. Don't miss this one if you are looking for 1080p at a rock bottom price. As we did last year, the reviews of this year's 1080p models will be posted, initially, without the 5-star ratings. We want to be able to do some shootouts before making final 5-star rating assessments.more

Well, we were able to get the Sanyo Z60 review posted last week, but I decided to hold the Z700 review until tomorrow. The reason is that we have received the Mitsubishi HC7000, and the Panasonic AE3000 is arriving today. Since we have the opportunity, we want to see these units side by side before publishing any comments.more