The Panasonic PT-AX200 has become a very popular machine for entry level HD projection.

This LCD unit sports 720p resolution and a contrast ratio of 6000:1. It has an iris to control brightness, which auto-adjusts for brighter or darker scenes. It has very flexible lens shift and some great stats to make it a worthy contender. If you’re looking for HD projection under $1500, don’t miss this model.

At $1,699 street price - which includes a screen, ceiling mount, and cable - and if you are on a budget but want a very nice projector, here is one to consider. It looks fine out of the box, but I think all consumers should get some sort of calibration kit - such as from Datacolor or GretagMacbeth - to get the best possible performance. You can use these systems to calibrate flat panel monitors, rear projection TVs, and by putting the sensor on a tripod, you can calibrate your projector too. Bite the bullet and get one.

More reviews for projectors found at Test Freaks.

Optoma have brought us our first 1080p DLP projector under three grand, and this beaut is now available in local stores.

Seen as low as under $2500, the maximum HD resolution for truly big screen viewing is more affordable than ever for DLP.

Specs:

Brightness 1300 ANSI Lumens
Resolution Native 1080p (1920 x 1080)
Contrast Ratio 10,000:1 (Max)
ANSI Contrast 518:1
Inputs Two HDMI, DVI w/HDCP, S-Video, Composite Video, Component Video, RS-232, +12V Trigger

Pilfering through the end user reports and reviews at AVSforums for this unit, we find very complimentary statements such as:

After spent a few hours playing with HD80 last night, all I can say is this is one hell of a projector! Highly recommended to anyone whose looking for a best image quality at a lowest possible price.

It is a very nice machine, I think almost everyone would be happy with it.

the picture is just gorgeous with great blacks. It looks good with minor adjustments.

I’d recommend the HD80 to anyone looking for a powerful projector with high resolution.
We watched some movies tonight that I thought would be so/so but not so on this projector. Things looks very good,

Right now I’d say this is the 1080p DLP to get.

I’d expect this PJ to be a huge seller for the videophile looking for a lower priced deal market.

I was quite impressed. It was VERY bright and VERY sharp. I didn’t notice anything wrong with the colour. It was well saturated, and primaries and secondaries seemed to be in the right place.

I am still looking for an in-depth pro review, as I don’t have my hands on one of these units yet, so stay tuned.

Optoma HD80 Product Detail

Pioneer’s new 8th generation plasmas are upon us, and it looks like these babies will delight.

The wonderful blokes over at HDTV Test have an excellent review of this piece, and they have found it to be superb.

The reviewer sums up by saying this is the best flat panel he’s ever checked out.

Pros
- Deepest blacks among all the HDTVs I’ve reviewed so far (objectively and subjectively)
- Gorgeous colour reproduction with accurate decoding
- Excellent video mode deinterlacing
- Competent film mode deinterlacing (except in 480i/60 and 1080i/60; see Cons)
- Advance [PureCinema] mode removes telecine judder
- Good scaling quality
- Fluid motion handling as expected from a top-tier plasma
- Effectively no posterization
- No image retention
- No screen uniformity issues
- Generous connectivity: 3 HDMI ports, 3 Scarts, optical audio out, etc.
- Plenty of calibration options in the user menu (but may be confusing; see Cons)
- Independent input memory settings
- Automatic PC adjustments over VGA and HDMI to eliminate overscan
- Excellent viewing angle (> 160°)
- Recessed grip handles and pre-attached stand facilitate quick setup
- Remote control sports high-quality finish and dedicated input buttons

Cons
- Slightly indistinct shadow detail due to skewed 0-20% gamma tracking
- Certain settings increase PWM noise (shimmering pixels)
- Sluggish and flaky 3:2 cadence lock over 480i/60 and 1080i/60
- Plasma buzzing may annoy those with sensitive ears
- The sheer number of options in the user menu can be confusing, especially when…
- The manual does not explain a lot of the functions in the user menu clearly
- Reflective screen may pose a problem if ambient light is not controlled
- Priced at a premium compared to plasmas with similar specs
- EPG lacking in usability

Conclusion
Awesome blacks? Check. Enormous dynamic range? Check. D65 greyscale? Check. Saturated but not overblown colours without hue and decoding errors? Check. Smooth as a baby’s bottom 24fps handling? Check. Top-notch video processing? Check. No image retention, screen uniformity issues nor posterization? All check.

Pioneer have a winner on their hands in the form of the PDP4280XD… I’ve even seriously considered keeping it as a point of reference for all my future reviews.

It looks like this new plasma could be the new king.
Stay tuned for more reviews and info…

Check out the Pioneer PDP4280XD Full Review

Looking for a value priced plasma TV in the 42 inch size range? Check this unit out.

Resolution 1024 X 768
Inputs 2 Component, 3 HDMI, RGB, VGA
Tuner Single HDTV

This unit has a great picture for this price range, and is a worthy plasma contender.

The HP PL4272N is an excellent buy. Yes, you can do better by spending several hundred, or several thousand, additional dollars. But for solid performance at a price that will please your wallet, take a close look at this one.

HP PL4272N Plasma HDTV

Toshiba have recently released a new HD DVD player, the HD-A20 model. This model is similar to the lower priced HD-A2 model, but adds true 1080p functionality.

What has been found, though, is the 1080p output is not really worth the price of admission. Unless this player’s firmware is updated with 1080p/24 output, or your display has poor 1080i deinterlacing, keep your cash and get the HD-A2.

Toshiba HD-A20 1080p HD DVD player

We have 4 new HD DVD releases this week, and nothing from the Blu Ray BD camp.

The HD media war is really heating up, both sides need new and better content.

All from Universal, we have:

Billy Madison
Dante’s Peak
The War
The Wedding Date

These are all older, previously released movies and they aren’t that spectacular. The War looks worth checking out, especially if you’re a Costner fan.

I have been looking for a better HDTV offering for broadcast tv, and I have found that DISH has the best coverage. They finally got their new HD lineup up and running.

There are four packages available.

DishHD Bronze and DishHD Silver
Animania HD
Family Room HD
GamePlay HD
Discovery HD Theater
Equator HD
DISH Network PPV in HD
Film Fest HD
HDNet Movies
Kung Fu HD
Monsters HD
World Cinema HD
HDNews
Rave HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
NFL Network HD
Rush HD
WorldSport HD
Gallery HD
HDNet
HGTV HD
TNT HD
Treasure HD
Ultra HD
Universal HD

With Bronze you get 80 standard-def channels, with Silver you get 200 standard-def channels.

Bronze is $49.99 per month
Silver is $59.99 per month
__________________________

Move up to Gold and add:

National Geographic in HD and 40 more standard definition channels.

Gold is $69.99 per month
__________________________

The Platinum Package takes the Gold package and adds:

HBO HD
Showtime HD
Starz HD

Platinum is $99.99 per month

__________________________

Add your local HD channels, where available, for 5 bucks per month.

Dish currently is running a special for new HD customers:

Save $200. You get $20 off per month for 10 months, and get the Starz moviepack free for 3 months.
Plus you get a free upgrade to an HD receiver.

That brings the prices down to:

$29.99 for Bronze
$39.99 for Silver
$49.99 for Gold

That is currently the best deal for HD television.

Visit Dish to find out more.

Toshiba HD-D1 HD DVD Player

RCA HDV5000 HD-DVD Player

Just to make sure everyone knows, these units are exactly the same as the Toshiba HD-A1. The HD-D1 is black instead of silver, and the RCA model is simply a rebadged unit.

The new HD DVD player from Toshiba has been out for a bit, so we’ve had time for many people to check this unit over. I’ve scoured forum threads, user reviews, technical reviews and less than sufficient overviews of this piece of tech. Here is what I’ve found out about this unit so far:

Excellent Image
HD DVD has brought us the next level in Home Theater. The picture from this unit is usually described as better than D-VHS theater, or at least rivaling it. The source material (original film) is now the limiting factor for picture quality, not the media on which we store it.

Great Upscaling of Standard Definition DVDs Over HDMI
Those of us with big screen projection know that upscaling can give new life to standard definition DVDs, and this unit does it with great success. Image quality here is described as on par with or better than the popular Oppo unit.

Audio - Some Problems
There are a few qualms with the audio. First, the test tones are so loud, some have damaged drivers. Use a calibration disk here.

Secondly, some films (a few Universal titles were first noted) do not have the proper sound level, often being too low. This is not a big issue, and certainly not the fault of the player.

Lastly and most importantly, the way audio works on HD DVD is a bit different. The discs are not encoded with DD or DTS but Dolby Digital Plus, and they need to be encoded by a player before being sent to your receiver. This player cannot encode DD, so if you have an older receiver you may have a problem getting surround sound. You will need a receiver that accepts HDMI 1.1, 5.1 analog inputs or DTS via coaxial or Toslink optical connection. Otherwise you’ll have 2 channel PCM.

Useless Remote
The remote has various problems and is pretty much unusable. Since most HT enthusiasts have other all-in-one replacement remotes, this shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Output Only at 1080i
This unit’s picture is awesome at 1080i, but garbage at 720p. Toshiba clearly states to run the unit at the disc’s native resolution, which all have been 1080 thus far. However, if your set doesn’t handle 1080i well, it will be a problem.

The Big Screen Difference
If you watch movies on a CRT or non-big screen, you will not see as much of a difference. When viewed on larger plasmas, rear projection and front projector units, the difference is easy to discern. 36″ and smaller unit viewers will probably not fully see the new glory that is HD DVD.

Clunky Interface
The menus are terribly slow, and the unit takes about a minute to power up and start playing your flick. (This thing is basically a PC in a box.) Toshiba has already released a firmware update to address these and other concerns, and should be working on more improvements now. This is a small price to pay for the Next Gen home theater experience.

Other Miscellaneous Notes
6′ HDMI cable included
Ethernet port for easy firmware updates
Solid construction, “built like a tank”
Will not play SACD
Will play DVD-Audio but only outputs DTS stream

All in all, this looks to be a solid offering from Toshiba. It appears they have done a great job beating BD (Blu-Ray) out of the gate.

Find one for less than $500:

For more info, check out:
Toshiba’s Specs
HD-A1 FAQ at AVS
DVD Town HD-A1 Review
AVS First End User Reports

Well, the release for the IN76 is upon us. I have been eagerly anticipating this machine since I first saw pics of her. I am an InFocus fan - I prefer their DLP machines for my HT.

Audioholics is cranking out some great review coverage lately, and the cherry for this week is this preliminary look at a pre-production IN76 Big Play 720p DLP machine. (Thanks guys!)

It looks like this machine may be the trick to beat in this price range. Great performance and good looks to boot - ain’t she a beaut?

Basic info and specs:

• 1280 x 720 native resolution (true HD)
• Pixelworks processing which reportedly handles 1080i a bit better than Faroudja
• HDMI (2 available if you use the M1DA input for HDMI), component, S-Video and Composite connections
• Both HDMI inputs are HDCP compliant (not found in the review - this info came from elsewhere, see below)
• Quiet design
• Limited rainbow artifacts
• Good color calibration out of the box
• Sealed optics
• Medium throw - 100″ screen, mount the PJ 11-14 feet back
• Fixed offset - 100″ screen, mount the PJ with the lens 7.5 inches above the screen (mount closer to ceiling for cleaner install)

Datasheet (PDF)

Picture Quality
HD Broadcast Material
“Colors were nicely saturated and there was plenty of detail in the HD images. Contrast appeared excellent, and the black levels were very respectable – in fact, blacks were some of the best we have seen from an InFocus projector (InFocus is rating the contrast ratio on the IN76 as 3000:1). Overall, it was a very impressive image with the typical “WOW” factor you get when blowing up an HD image to the type of screen sizes that front projection makes possible.”

Brightness
“In terms of brightness, the IN76 falls into the “brighter than average” category. InFocus rates it at 1000 lumens, but we have learned to take ALL manufacturer brightness/lumen claims with tremendous grains of salt. We are big advocates of brighter projectors, as so many people we talk to want to go with screen sizes of 110” diagonal or greater, and many home theater projectors are not really suited for screen sizes much beyond 100”. Based upon what we saw here, I would say that the IN76 would be good up to screen sizes of 110”, but not much beyond that. ”

DVD Performance
“DVD clips looked very good, with the same richness of color and contrast we noticed on the HD clips. Due to the fact that we had the IN76 for just a limited amount of time, we didn’t spend a great deal of time evaluating scaler/deinterlacer performance. Unfortunately, since so many systems we see these days end up having the scaling or deinterlacing done by the source (a cable box, a satellite dish receiver, an upconverting DVD player, etc), we feel that the internal scaler/deinterlacer is becoming less important to the overall performance of the piece from a real world perspective.”

In Comparison
Compared to the Panasonic PT-AE900U, another 720p machine but of the LCD variety, the IN76 did very well.

Notable image differences
The Panny 900U has a bit less SDE (Screen Door Effect) due to it’s Smooth Screen technology. However, due to this technology the picture is quite a bit softer.
The Panasonic test unit did not have uniform color across the screen.
The InFocus IN76 showed deeper blacks, better color saturation, and better depth giving the image an appealing 3D look.
Darker sequenced scenes looked smoother on the Panasonic, due to graininess of the IN76’s dithering noise.
In a nutshell, the image smoothness was superior on the Panny, but the InFocus unit had better contrast, deeper blacks, and the 3D pop.

Conclusion
“The InFocus IN76 seems to have exactly the right features at exactly the right price point. It makes a great entry level high definition projector for someone who wants DLP technology and an excellent true 720p HD image without breaking the bank. In comparison with the LCD competition at the price point, we feel the DLP based IN76 to have a superior image in most regards plus what we have found to be a more reliable technology. While the picture of the IN76 is not quite as bright or as smooth as what can be found on higher end DLP projectors using the larger Dark Chip 2 or Dark Chip 3 DMDs (including Infocus’s own SP-7205 or SP-7210), it is also considerably less expensive, sexy looking, and very quiet to boot! Since the unit we had to evaluate was a pre-production model, we look forward to taking another look at it when the actual production models start shipping. If we find any performance differences at that point, we will report on them here!”

This unit is now shipping, and I am looking forward to more info and reviews. I may just purchase one of these myself, I’ve been suffering from acute upgraditis for a couple of months now.

InFocus IN76 Play Big DLP Projector Preliminary Review

For more info, check out the IN76 thread at AVS forum, where Bob Williams, engineer at InFocus, is answering consumer questions. This is where I found the dual HDCP compatibility info above.

InFocus IN72/ IN74 / IN76 User Guide (PDF)
InFocus IN72/ IN74 / IN76 Reference Guide (PDF)