“Would you like a nondescript beige box or a cool-looking black one sir? Oh, and the contents aren’t too shabby either!”

That about describes Sharp’s XV-Z3000 projector. It’s a 1280 x 768 DLP affair with one heck of a great contrast ratio. And it’s only $3000.

Home Theater Magazine took a look at this projector, and they thought the box was great. Like I said, it has a great contrast ratio - 3000:1. However, the green colour point it a bit off. Processing was good however.

So what does this all mean? It means that maybe this box should be on your list of boxes of audition when you need to buy a front projector box for your home theater.

Sharp XV-Z3000 DLP Projector

Just looking at the stats on this thing blows me away.

A DLP projector with a 12000:1 contrast ratio?

6X speed color wheel so virtually no rainbows

This guy has it’s own separate video processor with 3 HDMI inputs (Projector has only 1 HDMI input)

Right now it’s only available in Taiwan for a little over $9k, but I’m sure we’ll see more of this at CES in January.

Keep your eye on this one.

Product_Detail

Peter Putman, the HDTVexpert, took a look at Mitsubishi’s HC3000 DLP projector. This projector has recently been reduced to $1,999. The lens is a standard 1.3:1 zoom lens. It does have an HDMI input, which is a good thing.

Mr. Putman measured 365 ANSI lumens with BrilliantColor off, and 416 ANSI lumens with it switched on. Peak brightness was “just shy” of 500 lumens. Contrast numbers were 653:1 ANSI and 1177:1 peak.

Enough of technical details, though. How does the picture look? Is this a good projector? Peter says: “The HC3000 may be a bit long in the tooth, but at $2K, it gives the LCD projectors a run for their money. With a quality DVD player and 480p and 7200p sources, you’ll love it. With clean 1080i conversion, you’ll like it even more.”

Mitsubishi HC3000 DLP Projector

Ultimate AV has a review of Toshiba’s TheaterWide 62HM196 HDTV. It’s a rear-projection 1080p DLP design. This set retails for $2,999,99. Or about $48 for each of its 62 diagonal inches. The DMD actually has 960 x 1080 pixels, and it produces the full 1920 x 1080 resolution by offsettingthose pixels. This is a technique HP coined “wobulation”.

I know the question you’re all thinking. This set will not accept 1080p on its HDMI inputs. But this should only be a concern for you if you want to get into 1080p gaming on a PS3, or somesuch. If you will only use this set for mmovies, then you needn’t worry. HD DVD and BD movies are all currently 1080p/24, converted to 1080i, then to 1080p in the television. So for 1080p/24 content, this set will produce a picture just as good as one that does accept 1080p. But what else can this set do?

For that, you’ll have to wait a bit more! Mr. Norton was quite happy with the performance of this set. For the full review, check out the Ultimate AV site, link below.

Toshiba TheaterWide 62HM196 1080p Rear Projection DLP HDTV

Sim2, one of the high quality video projector manufacturers, has started shipping their HT3000 projector, a 1080p single chip DLP projector. The HT3000 features Sim2’s DarkChip technology, as well as user-customizable aspect ratios. The best part? The HT3000 works with the new Sim2 anamorphic Home Cinema Scope lenses for full resolution 2.35:1 aspect ratios. At nearly $17,000 this projector is not for those on a tight budget.

via eCoustics

Sim2’s Website

Digital Projection International’s TITAN 1080p-250 marks the company’s first native 1920 x 1080 resolution 3-chip DLP display exclusively created for home cinemas. This thing puts out 2000 ANSI lumens and has a 5000:1 contrast ratio.

The 1080p-250 also features enhanced seven-point color correction, producing the widest color space of any projection system available to the Home Cinema market. User-selectable Xenon Color Mode, and super-accurate user control over the projector’s colorimetry, assures accurate white point definition with extensive control over gamma, color and grayscale tracking. All TITAN projectors also benefit from DPI’s next generation signal processing electronics, which deliver best-in-class de-interlacing and motion adaptive interpolation for all video and HD sources.

It looks like DPI has put a lot of emphasis on picture quality. In a world where great emphasis is placed on the wow factor, it’s good to see that some manufacturers work on getting the picture right.

Digital Projection International Introduces First 3-Chip Native 1080p Home Cinema Projector

Audioholics has a new Q&A section to answer questions.

The question last Monday was:

1. Which DVD player would be a better match for the Sanyo (in terms of image quality)… The Denon DVD-2910 or a new Blu-ray disc player?
2. Which type of screen do you recommend (my room won’t be 100% dark but will have very, very little ambient light.) The Stewart Studiotek 130 or Grayhawk RS? What size? I am looking for that real cinema feel… My thought is between 100 and 130 inches?
3. Should I just wait for the newer (budget) projector models which will accept 1080p? I know there are some out there already but they fall above the budget category (Sony’s $8-$10k Ruby comes to mind).

I guess I would have one caveat to their answer. If the person has a dedicated TV in another room for cable/satellite, then I think it would be a good idea to buy the best 1080p projector you can afford because that is what you are dedicating this room for. If your projector will be multi-purpose (Movies/Cable/Sat), then I feel you can pass with a 720p projector.

Ask Dr. A! Of Projectors and 1080p