October 20, 2006

Hi folks,

I was planning to post two reviews this week. One of them went up yesterday, which was of the Boxlight Broadview. This little 4.4 lb projector packs a lot of light and widescreen resolution into a little box. It is the only 1280x768 projector currently on the market that is under five pounds, and as such it is the only game in town for mobile presenters who desire to present in widescreen format. We like this unit a lot, and wanted to give it a spotlight on the site.

The other review that I hoped to post today was of the amazing new 1080p projector from Mitsubishi, which is the Mitsubishi HC5000. We are still doing some last minute testing with it, so it probably won't post until Tuesday. But I can give you a brief assessment right now. In short, the Mitsubishi HC5000 is one of those dynamite, groundbreaking products that will elevate the already well-respected Mitsubishi brand to a new level in the world of home theater projectors. In our opinion it is without a doubt the best projector they've ever made. And not just because it is 1080p resolution. That is certainly its most obvious feature, but beyond its 1080p format Mitsubishi has pulled out all the stops on this one. Color is extremely accurate, and about as good as it gets in digital projectors. Deinterlacing of standard definition signals is virtually flawless--quite literally the best we've ever seen in any product under $10,000. And the picture has a beautifully natural quality to it, which is an elusive attribute that digital projectors continue to get better at but so often fall just a bit short of.

In addition to the superb image quality, the HC5000 has a number of other noteworthy attributes. Fan noise is extremely low. A 1.6x powered zoom and focus lens with extensive lens shift capability will make it easy to install in a wide variety of viewing spaces. Lamp life in low power mode is 5000 hours. And most remarkably, all of this is delivered for a price of just $4,495, which is the lowest price for 1080p resolution on the market today. We were expecting Mitsubishi to have cut some corners in getting 1080p to this price point, but we are having trouble finding anything to highlight as a fault or shortcoming.

The full review will be posted next week. But we want to alert you to the fact that the Mitsubishi HC5000 will be one of the hottest products of the fall season. Those who do not order early can expect to be standing in line to get one.

Thanks for using ProjectorCentral,