With all the news of 1080p displays, whether that be LCD, DLP, or SXRD/D-ILA, it’s almost like going back home to see a review of a standard 720p DLP projector review. In this case, Ultimate AV’s Thomas J. Norton takes a look at the BenQ PE8720 projector.

With an MSRP of $6,999, I’m not so sure Thomas should have bothered. There are so many good projectors being released for cheaper, and some of them are 1080p to boot. But who knows, resolution isn’t everything, maybe this projector has what it takes after all.

So how does it do? It actually compares fairly well to single-chip 720p projectors twice its price. And even though the MSRP is about $7k, it can be had on the street for about $4k. So this projector does a decent job, and if you don’t care about rainbows or 1080p, maybe this projector is for you. Check out the review for full details.

Ultimate AV: BenQ PE8720 720p DLP Projector

Just yesterday Microsoft has released some details about the Xbox 360 dashboard update due to be available today. This update has been eagerly awaited because Microsoft is finally getting on the 1080p bandwagon, after poo-pooing it on the PS3.

That’s right. 1080p on the Xbox 360. Now Microsoft just needs to start convincing developers to create games in 1080p.

Also in this update, we have the ability to play WMV files from a connected PC, disc, or USB storage device. That’s cool. Unfortunately, the PC has to be running Windows Media Connect or Windows Media Player 11.

This update includes 84 fixes, down from 125 last time.

Xbox 360 fall update details revealed: 1080p, auto-download, WMV playback and more

Some more HD movie trailers from Apple for you.

An inspirational but light romantic Christmas drama, a story about the human struggle, the power of love, forgiveness, trust and uplifting the human spirit. It is the story of a fortysomething man confronting the overwhelming effect his past actions seem to be taking on his life and his family.

Christmas At Maxwell’s

The plot concerns the volatile balance of power between the King (Chow Yun Fat) and the Queen (Gong Li) and his three sons, which entails betrayal, deceit and passion, pitting the King against Queen and father against sons. The glorious canvas includes many of the creative team behind HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS.

Curse of the Golden Flower

Its Christmas Eve and a huge blizzard has shut down the airport. Among the stranded travelers, five Unaccompanied Minors are determined to max out their holiday by running wild inside and outside the airport. Without a parent in sight, the rambunctious five outwit and outrun an uptight airport official and his gullible assistant. Joyriding on golf carts, plummeting through baggage chutes and canoeing down a snow bank, the kids turn Christmas at the airport into holiday pandemonium and, along the way, prove that the holidays arent about where you are, but who youre with.

Unaccompanied Minors

Based on the best-selling novel, this epic fantasy-adventure centers on a young man named Eragon whose destiny is revealed with the help of a dragon. Eragon, now a Dragon Rider, is swept into a world of magic and power, discovering that he alone has the power to save or destroy an Empire.

Eragon

Blu-ray and HD DVD sales have not really met expectations, to say the least. Warner recently cut its expectations in half.

But now it looks like some retailers are actually starting to put HD DVD and Blu-ray on the front burner. The Video Buyers Group’s 1700 stores will be launching displays in November. Ultimate Electronics is shifting emphasis to Blu-ray in the fourth quarter. Their HD DVD stuff is moving into the normal DVD sections, which is weird. Target is also rolling out HD DVD and Blu-ray product, with signs pointing out the differences between the formats.

Which is nice. Most people walking into a Target store don’t know the difference between HD DVD and BD. My sister recently bought me an HD DVD disc, not knowing that I couldn’t play it. Signage displaying the differences between HD DVD and BD is good, but I hope that it also explains what the formats are all about in the first place.

Retail gives high-def more presence

Mission: Impossible III is the first major motion picture to be released simultaneously on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc (BD). I don’t get to see many movies in the theater anymore. But MI3 was one of the movies I did get a chance to see in the theater. It wasn’t bad.

But how are the HD DVD and BD versions? According to High-Def Digest, they look very nice!

The BD is MPEG2 encoded. The HD DVD is VC1 encoded. And they both look excellent. The discs each come with an extra disc of bonus material, so lots of bits were allocated to the MPEG2 and VC1 bitstreams. How do they compare? Basically, the reviewer says that both are quite excellent, and that there’s nothing to choose between them.

He also says that MI3 on BD or HD DVD would make a good demo disc. Maybe I’ll pick one up for that purpose, because I didn’t think the movie was good enough to buy otherwise.

HD DVD - Mission: Impossible III
BD - Mission: Impossible III

Panasonic has announced the Viera TH58PZ600K 58″ plasma television. It’s a 1920 x 1080 affair, which is a rare breed among plasma displays.

It’s a piano-black special edition that has a 4000:1 contrast ratio and includes 3 HDMI inputs, 2 i.LINK (Firewire) inputs, and will be available for order in Japan come November 10th. It’ll cost a pretty penny too - the equivalent of about $16,000.

Special Edition Panasonic TH-58PZ600K 58 inch Full HD Plasma HDTV

The Mitsubishi HC5000 is a 3LCD design. That means it has 3 LCD panels, through which light is shot as a canon, to spray the screen with colour. That canon is 1000 lumens bright and can vary the light with a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. It has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, with an HDMI input. It has a 1.6:1 zoom lens, which is adequate, but it could be better. It also has both horizontal and vertical lens shift. The HC5000 will retail for $4,495.

Evan Powell over at ProjectorCentral got a chance to review this lovely projector, and I’m glad he got this chance. He says the projector is quite nice. The projector is bright, “superb” colour accuracy, precise deinterlacing and scaling,

Mr. Powell goes on to talk a whole lot more about this excellent projector, but I’ll leave the reading of that as an exercise to you, the reader. But it definitely looks like a great 1080p contender.

Review: Mitsubishi HC5000 Home Theater Projector

I never consider myself as wealthy or “rich’, but it seems that the Leichtman Research Group has a survey up stating that most people (62%) buying HDTV’s are those who make $75,000 or more a year.

Also in the survey it says that 26% of HDTV owners now own more than one set. I guess I fall into this category too since I have 2 HDTV’s and a HD projector.

The one other point made here is that there should be a shift this holiday season with many stores like Wal-mart and such giving big discounts on HDTVs. My only warning here is caveat emptor. If it is real cheap, your getting what you pay for.

HDTV sales strong among wealthier consumers, study says - USATODAY.com

We’ve been awaiting the arrival of LED DLP’s in greater numbers for a while now. (There’s only one other LED DLP HDTV out there now, I think by Samsung, though my memory is very fallible.) Now NuVision has announced that they’ve started manufacturing their LED DLP’s, of the 52″ 1080p variety to boot. So therefore they should ship this month.

The NuVision model 52LEDLP will carry an MSRP of $4,399, pitting it squarely against the higher-end SXRD rear-projection televisions from Sony.

Benefits of LED lighting include the fact that it doesn’t fade, deeper blacks (the light doesn’t have to be redirected, it can just turn off), and a greatly reduced rainbow effect.

NuVision Ships LED DLP

Now this is good! (I’m not being sarcastic here. I mean it.)

For the months of November 2006 through February 2007, Toshiba will be offering HD DVD player buyers three HD DVD movies. They’ll be able to choose from a small selection of titles. Here they are:

Universal:
Apollo 13
The Chronicles of Riddick
The Rundown
Seabiscuit
U-571

Warner:
Blazing Saddles
Casablanca
Constantine
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Perfect Storm

Paramount:
Four Brothers
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
U2: Rattle and Hum
We Were Soldiers

Pretty cool, huh? When I get my PS3, Sony will be packaging Talladega Nights in with it. That’s not nearly as good as having three movies, and my choice at that.

I like promotions like this. Cool stuff.

Toshiba to Bundle Three Free HD DVD Discs With Every Player Sold