Three new multipurpose widescreen projectors are hitting the market as of right about now. One is the Mitsubishi WD2000U, which commenced shipments last month. Another new model is the Sanyo PLV-75, which just started to ship this week. Finally, there is the big, muscular Panasonic PT-DW5000, which also just began to ship.

These projectors all feature 768-line displays and high light output. The Mits WD2000 and Panny DW5000 are both 15:9 format (1280x768), and are rated at 3000 ANSI lumens and 4500 ANSI lumens respectively. Meanwhile, the Sanyo PLV-75 is native 16:9 (1366x768), and rated at 2200 ANSI lumens.

All three of these projectors are both brighter and lower in contrast than most projectors designed for home theater. But if you need to light up a large widescreen display in ambient light, one of them may be the perfect solution for you. They will find great use in sports bars and other locations where big screen video is an important part of the environment.

First up in the review schedule is the Sanyo PLV-75, and that review will be posted on Wednesday, July 5. The PLV-75 is turning out to be a great multi-purpose machine, great for both sports bars and large scale home theater installations where screen size is in the range of 12 feet in width. See the review this coming Wednesday.

We are continuing to evaluate the new Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Player and the Blu-ray discs that have been released thus far. We will have more to say about it next week. However, it is not performing to our expectations, and we do not recommend investing in Blu-ray until more is known.