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I first heard the term “home theater” back in 90s at one of Sam Runco’s press conferences. At that time he was making Runco projectors for the rich and famous. During those press conferences he’d demo his amazing projectors that were installed into small movie theaters in residential houses.
That is how the term “home theater” came to be. Until just a few years ago, home theater projectors were too expensive for most of us. But now prices have dropped and HD projectors are accessible.
As a consumer electronics product reviewer, it stands to reason that these new high-definition projectors would cross my beat. And when prices dropped, the category got bigger, and sure enough, an assignment came my way. First thing I needed to do was set up a projection system in my Manhattan apartment. I’m sure everyone has heard about how small New York City apartments are. So to make this work was going to be a challenge, but having said that, if I could do it then, just about anyone could. I put up a shelf, about 7 feet high, so when I stood up I wouldn’t create a shadow that blocked the screen. The throw from the shelf is about 10 feet across the room to a white wall. If I had a longer throw I could have placed it on a table, but if I did that my throw would have been 6 feet. I made sure that the projector would sit more or less directly in front of the part of the wall I considered the screen. All projectors have lens shift, for projecting on an angle, but it’s always better to be centered in front of the screen. The first projector I received for review was the first Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080p. After setting it on the new shelf, I hooked up an Oppo up-converting DVD player, ran a 25-foot Monster HDMI cable to the PowerLite and I was ready to watch the big picture.
It’s important to mention that my apartment is very bright with lots of ambient light, so during the day I got a pretty washed out picture. I needed to keep my flat screen TV for daytime viewing. But, when the evening came, the projector shined. The Epson PoweLite put out a sharp, crisp, color rich HD picture that rivaled movie theater quality. I was projecting on the white wall and it was surprisingly good. Later, I installed an Elite Screens 84” electrical drop down screen in my ceiling. Life, err, the picture, got even better. As I said earlier, this was a few years back and I’ve since reviewed numerous projectors from Sharp, ViewSonic, Epson and Mitsubishi.
Now after a few years of reviewing 1080p projectors, the price point has dropped below $2,999 and the picture quality is always improving. These days in my 10th floor Union Square apartment I’m using a Philips Blu-ray DVD player. I like it because it’s a versatile player that will play just about every format with great up-conversion, for standard DVDs and, of course, 1080p Blu-ray DVDs all for under $200. For cable I’m using a TiVo Series 3 with 2 cable cards for my sports and HDTV. I have a 5.1 HT sound system and a Polk audio sound bar with a sub woofer attached.
I’m so happy with my projector system that I’ve made a proclamation to my girlfriend that I will not to go to the movie theater anymore. One of my better moves: she dumped me. For me, I’m happy just sitting on my sofa (alone) and enjoying HD content and Blu-ray movies in the comfort of my Manhattan home theater cave.
Here are some HD projectors that will brighten up the screen and won’t break the bank:
ViewSonic Precision Pro 8100 1080p is a 3LCD with a native 1920×1080. The contrast ratio is 13,000:1 (using auto iris), 1000 ANSI lumens (brightness). There are 2.35:1 anamorphic view option, that eliminates the black bars, but this is optional, and an external lens attachment is required. The video processor is Silicon Optix Reon-VX with HQV. The back-lit remote can be either IR or RS and there are 2 HDMI 1.3 inputs. The Lens features both power zoom and power focus. The bulb is 160W and should provide 2000 hours of normal use. Native aspect ratio is 16:9 and features something we’re seeing more and more of, daylight mode. Street price is $1,399.
The Sharp XV-Z15000 Projector is Full 1080p and is a DLP projector. There is a single 1080 DLP 0.65 DMD chip from Texas Instruments (TI) with a 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 1600 ANSI lumens. It has an auto V-Keystone correction button that corrects installation angle, which can be helpful on weird angle installs. Being DLP, it uses a 6-speed flicker free color wheel and the projector itself is a whisper-quiet operation. There are 2 HDMI 1.3 inputs with x.v.Color. MSRP is $2,499.
Epson, the largest projector manufacturer in the world, announced the PowerLite Home Cinema 8100UB Projector. Native 1080p (1920×1080), two HDMI 1.3 inputs with Deep Color support and D7 technology. The dynamic contrast ratio is 36,000:1 and the lumens are 1,800. The 8100 is a 3LCD projector using a three-chip optical engine and light control that can change up to 60 times per second. That works great for sports or action movies with frequent scene changes. Fan noise of 22dB and a street price of $1,599.
Moving up in price is JVC’s D-ILA-HD550 HD Projector. This is one of the faster projectors with a refresh rate of 120Hz. It has a native contrast ratio of 30,000:1. There is motorized focus and 2X zoom with HQV Reon-VX video processor and on-screen gamma control. The inputs are dual HDMI (ver.1.3) and a full 2:35:1 wide cinematic with built in stretch capability (Anamorphic Lens required). It weighs in at 24 pounds and the MSRP is $4,999. EG
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