Steven Stone over at Ultimate AV got a chance recently to review the Hitachi HDPJ 52 LCD projector. The projector doesn’t have a motorized zoom or focus, but does have both horizontal and vertical lens shift. Interestingly, the projector includes both a dynamic iris and a user-adjustable one.

The projector is quiet and its black level was more dark charcoal, but shadow detail is still pretty decent. The colour accuracy is great. The picture is also quite sharp. The list price is $3995, which is a bit high for a 720p LCD projector, in my mind.

But Mr. Stone thought the projector was good enough to buy - which is high praise enough, and makes you think that it warrants a closer look.

Ultimate AV: Hitachi HDPJ 52 Projector

Not only is Hitachi putting out a 1080p plasma display (see previous article), but they’re also doing the whole 1080p LCD thing. But these displays are a little on the small side for my tastes - ranging from 32″ to 37″. And the prices are quite affordable for this kind of display, randing from $2200 to $3000. Some models are the HLX99 Director’s series, which cost a little extra for a few extra features.

I’m starting to sound a little bit like a broken record, but no mention is made about the HDMI inputs, or whether or not they accept 1080p signals. In this day and age with HD DVD, BD, and the PS3 coming down the pike, this is quite an oversite, in my opinion.

Hitachi to ship $2200 1080p LCD TV in November

[Edit: These sets don’t appear to be so 1080p after all.]

Manufacturers have been having just a wee bit of trouble getting 1080p plasma displays to market, and now in the last two days I’ve seen a couple announcements about them. First off, Pioneer has sent its first shipment of PDP-5000EX displays to the UK. The 50″ display features an all-new cell structure that’s half the size of previous cells.

“The biggest challenge for us was to maintain brightness,” explains Hiroyuki Shibosawa, General manager of Pioneer’s product engineering division, “because the small cells also affect the discharge time and any misfiring amongst adjacent cells.”

The display includes two HDMI inputs, though no mention is made about whether or not they accept 1080p signals. This is not a forgone conclusion, as many sets that display 1080p resolution don’t actually accept 1080p signals. This set has a true resolution of 1920 x 1080, unlike the display below.

Groundbreaking Pioneer 1080p plasma makes UK debut

Not to be outdone, Hitachi is also coming out with a 1080p plasma display. Their set comes in at a size of 42″, however. But they’re cheating just a bit when they say 1080p. When you think of 1080p, you assume that the resolution is 1920 x 1080. But 1080p doesn’t necessarily mean that. The 42″ Hitachi has a resolution of 1024 x 1080. The set has 3 HDMI inputs, though again no mention is made of whether or not it accepts 1080p signals.

Hitachi Introduces World’s First 42-Inch Plasma With 1080 Line Display

An article named “Blu-ray not Launching this Summer?” to grab attention, doesn’t actually talk about BD not launching this summer. It just talks about two players not launching this summer. That news is bad enough, so I don’t know why they had to sensationalize it even more. Maybe because the author doesn’t know about the Samsung BD player going on sale in late June? Anyway. The two players in question belong to Pioneer and Panasonic. Pioneer was originally supposed to release their player this summer, while Panasonic was supposed to release theirs in September. Now it looks like Pioneer and Panasonic are waiting until after the PS3’s launch to release their players.

When I first saw this article I just skimmed the first couple sentences and then bookmarked it. I got to thinking: why would Pioneer and Panasonic delay their players until the PS3’s launch? I just didn’t get it. I couldn’t think of a reason. It doesn’t seem that the reason is technical, so it had to be something else.

I got a little hint just now reading the article in full. “The Pioneer representative was also making sure to mention that the Blu-ray movie playback quality on the Sony PS3 will be by far not as good as on their BDP-HD1.” Okay. That is a reason. But I don’t think it’s a good reason. There’s a full range of DVD players out there now with prices ranging from the empty-the-wallet to sell-the-car. Each one has a targetted niche and I assume they’re all selling, because manufacturers keep making them. Pioneer’s player, at $1800, is obviously going for the Cadillac segment of the market, and I don’t think that they need to wait for the PS3 to confirm their picture quality. So what gives? I honestly don’t know.

Whatever the reasons Pioneer and Panasonic have, you have to think that they must be really good if they’re willing to damage the BD format like this. Yesterday I reported on Paramount’s stayed HD DVD launch. And how bad that was for HD DVD. Now Pioneer and Panasonic are doing the same thing to BD. Which not quite as bad because we’ll still have Samsung’s player in June and Sony’s player this summer, while studio support is all-important, it’s still a blow.

Ouch!

Blu-ray not Launching This Summer?

Ultimate AV has a couple buyer’s guides for you. one for flat panel displays and one for video projectors. I was a big fan of the magazine and read it almost from day one. They’re still around in digital form at the Ultimate AV website, and they continue to review gear. Here they pick their favourites. I know some people like to knock Ultimate AV, but I’ve always found their reviews to be professionally done and quite thorough. They don’t sugar-coat things and point out when there’s a problem.

So personally, if I were looking for a flat panel display or a front projector, I would seriously take a look at these two buyers guides they’ve put together. Of course you should always make up your own opinion keeping in mind your needs for your home theater, but I think Ultimate AV is a great place to start, and these guides summarize their feelings on many displays wonderfully.

Buyer’s Guide: Flat Panels
Buyer’s Guide: Video Projectors

QJ.net is reporting that Costco.com now has all of two BD discs for sale. They are House of Flying Daggers and A Knight’s Tale. They are both being sold for a relatively inexpensive $19.99. In case you want proof, this is Costco’s link the the A Knight’s Tale BD.

Remember that Samsung will be selling their BD-P1000 Blu-ray player later in June, so these titles are arriving just in time. And, contrary to what a lot of people are saying about BD, at a decent price.

Costco.com Listing Two Blu-Ray Movies

The launch of the BD format is all in the hands of Samsung. That’s not much different than the HD DVD launch, which relied solely on Toshiba (and continues to do so). But with all the manufacturers that support BD, it would have been nice if more of them had some players out at launch, and at different price points like Toshiba.

As it is, Samsung’s BD-P1000 will be going it alone for about two months, because Sony’s player is currently targetted at on or about August 15th. And now the Samsung BD player is available for pre-order at several online retailers, according to I4U. I checked it out myself at Amazon.com, and sure enough, there it was. But they still listed the ship date as April 25th. Hmmm. That’s not right.

Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc Player Available for Pre-Order

In a move that must surely have the folks over at Toshiba smacking their foreheads uttering the word “doh”, Paramount has delayed the introduction of their HD DVD movies. Not only that, but they haven’t given a new release date.

The three titles that were set to debut on May 20th were Four Brothers, U2: Rattle & Hum, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. No big loss, I guess. Personally I don’t care about any of those titles. But the announcement is about more than just the delay of three particular HD DVD titles. It’s about the fact that Paramount has delayed their HD DVD launch. With lots of good press these days about HD DVD, this announcement is a blow to the HD DVD camp. Hopefully for those who have purchased HD DVD players, or plan to, this delay is a temporary one soon to be rectified.

Paramount Delays First HD-DVD Titles

Here’s the HD trailer for a movie called The Namesake:

THE NAMESAKE is the story of the Ganguli family whose move from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong balancing act to meld to a new world without forgetting the old. Paradoxically, their son Gogol is torn between finding his own unique identity without losing his heritage. Even Gogol’s name represents the family’s journey into the unknown.

The Namesake

The first time I watched Blade Runner I was rather young and I have to say that I didn’t really like it. Over time though I’ve come to appreciate the movie, though feelings from my first movie still linger. It helps that it stars Harrison Ford, one of my favourite actors.

And now Blade Runner is making its way to both BD and HD DVD, according to The Digital Bits. In September Blade Runner is coming to DVD. (And of course BD and HD DVD versions are in the works too.) This will be the 1992 Director’s Cut. This version of the movie will be only available for four months.

Next year will bring the REAL director’s cut: Blade Runner: The Final Cut. This is the version Mr. Ridley Scott wants you to see. Personally, I’ve put off buying DVD’s of any kind until I gen an HD disc player. This might be one of the few movies I’ll end up actually buying instead of renting.

The Digital Bits - We Know DVD!

Scott Selter over at audio|video Revolution has problems with Netflix and ordering up HD DVD discs. It seems that some titles that are listed as available for HD DVD rental shouldn’t be, and that Mr. Selter is having trouble getting accurate information from Netflix.

Personally, I live in Canada, where Netflix is unavailable. But I do subscribe to zip.ca, a similar service. I don’t buy many DVD’s any more and when I get my PS3 (my affordable version of a BD player), I plan to use zip.ca to rent my BD discs. I hope that I don’t have similar problems my service, though because it’s a different service I still have some hope.

Is Netflix Jumping The Gun With Its HD DVD Offers?

HDTV Magazine takes a gander at 1080p, and what projectors display it. Why would you want a 1080p display? First off, you need a large display. If you’re gonna be watching your HDTV material on a display no larger than a wedding photo, then 1080p isn’t for you. Actually, aat wedding photo size, you probably wouldn’t even need HDTV at all. But you get the idea - 1080p needs a large display. At typical viewing distances, that’s larger than your typical 65″ rear projection television.

But what about content? Some HD pundits complain about the whole 1080p trend, citing the lack of 1080p content. But now that HD DVD and BD are coming out, there will be plenty of 1080p content floating around, if you choose to snatch it. And later this year the PS3 will come out, which will supposedly support 1080p, though from what I understand, only a few of the initial batch of games will support 1080p, with most going for 720p.

The HDTV Magazine article also overviews some 1080p projectors from JVC, Sony, and elsewhere.

[via HDBeat]

Why 1080p? - Part 3 - Front Projectors