August 10, 2006

Hi folks,

Yesterday we posted Bill's review of the Optoma EP1690, another of the new WXGA resolution DLP projectors. This one is smaller, lighter, and less fully featured than the Mitsubishi WD2000. The EP1690 doesn't put out as much light, but it is much less expensive. So for those who need portability or want to save some money, the EP1690 is a great alternative. Neither is particularly well suited to dedicated home theater use since they have 2x color wheels and they are built to favor light output over contrast. But they can certainly function well as video projectors as a secondary application.

As far as home theater is concerned, we are finishing up the review of the SharpVision Z3000, and it should be posted by Monday. This is a fine projector, and among the most impressive product releases from Sharp in recent years.

Thanks very much to all of you who wrote in with feedback on the recent Blu-ray and HD-DVD article. It stimulated a lot of spirited reaction, from highly supportive to thoughtfully critical. I appreciate all of the feedback. I will post a follow-up article next week to address all of the key issues our readers have raised, as it is vitally important to continue this dialog on the next generation DVD formats.

Thanks for using ProjectorCentral,