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Editor's HDTV Pick

HP 47 inch MediaSmart 1080p LCD HDTV "Out of the box" digital media platform. Enjoy videos, pictures and music from home network + digital media delivered over your broadband Internet connection + 3 x HDMI

JVC’s new 688 (LT-42X688 and LT-37X688) and 788 (LT-47X788 and LT-42X788) series LCD televisions all have full, 1080p, HD resolution (1920 x 1080). The 788 series has higher performance with 1500:1 vs 1300:1 contrast ratio and 4.5ms vs 5ms response time. The different series can be identified by the 688 series black cabinets and the 788 series black with silver trim cabinets.

Standout features of these LCD televisions are the video processing power of JVC’s Genessa chip (noise reduction), gamma control, a universal remote, above average sound system and the very handy USB photo viewer.
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The unique feature BenQ emphasize heavily with their SP830 and SP831 DLP projectors is the ability to project video side-by-side on the screen. This could be used to perhaps show a PowerPoint slide on one side and a demonstration video on the other or display two different PC applications at the same time. Users can connect dual video sources at the same time for example, two PCs or a PC and a DVD player.

The twin differences between the SP830 and SP831 are the resolution and brightness. The SP830 has a WXGA (1280X768) resolution and maximum brightness of 3500 ANSI lumens compared to XGA and 4000 ANSI lumens for the SP831. BenQ advertise the projectors as personal/business projectors. Both the SP830 and SP831 have the lumens for large rooms with plenty of ambient light as may be encountered in business and even education. A maximum quoted image size of 300” is getting very large. For a personal projector, the lumen levels are way ahead of market competitors. The weight at 7.9lbs (3.58kg) does not put the projectors in the portable category. The contrast ratio for both of 2000:1 is adequate for the intended duty.
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Each year Pacific Media Associates conduct a survey of North American Dealers to rate large screen display manufacturers. The survey requires each dealer to rate each manufacturer on a broad range of relevant factors including products, marketing support, after-sale support, on-time delivery and end-user support. Some 25 different factors are rated and combined for an overall composite rating for each manufacturer.

For 1997 the six award recipients were;

Gold Award: Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America Inc.
Silver Award: Epson America, Inc.
Bronze Award: Optoma
Honorable Mention: Hitachi America, Ltd. / NEC Display Solutions / Eiki International, Inc.

InFocus have done well with recent projectors with the IN76 helping the company win the European Projector of the Year, awarded by the European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA), for the third year in a row in 2006-2007. InFocus’s Play Big IN82 is its first Full-HD 1080p (1920×1080 pixels) DLP home theater projector. The DLP chip driving the projection engine is the latest and most advanced DarkChip3 by Texas Instruments. The IN82 has an excellent native contrast ratio of 4000:1 which can extend to 12000:1 through the in-built iris technology.

The single chip DLP projection engine has a high end 7-segment color wheel to reduce the possibility of any rainbow effects.

Installers will appreciate the InFocus Color Gamut Calibrator and ISF Day & Night presets which will allow them to “lock in” optimized calibration settings for consumers.
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The BenQ W100 is a WVGA (480p – 854×480) resolution, entry level, DLP based, home cinema projector. It has a reasonably bright 1300 ANSI lumens lens for a home theater projector and a suitably high contrast ratio of 2500:1.

Features which stand out with the BenQ W100 projector are:

• the fast (4 speed), 7 segment color wheel which makes it far less susceptible to any rainbow effects. This is particularly advantageous if the projector is to be used for any gaming duties.
• the low <29dB sound level (25dB under eco mode) compared to similar duty projectors on the market.
• a lamp life of 4000 hours in eco mode and 3000 at full brightness. With the high cost of replacement bulbs this is something for the home theater purchaser to consider seriously

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The BenQ W500 is a 720p resolution projector. Its brightness of 1100 ANSI lumens makes it a projector which needs the low ambient lighting of a home cinema to look good. The unit has an excellent contrast ratio of 5000:1 although as discussed in an earlier article, contrast ratio should not be a deciding factor in selecting between projectors. The BenQ W500 is the only one of the three BenQ Home Cinema Projectors which incorporates 3LCD technology. The PE7700 and W100 are both DLP projectors.

BenQ have made the W500 simple to set up with horizontal and vertical lens shift and horizontal and vertical keystone correction. Lens shift would be the alignment method of choice as it does not tend to introduce video artifacts. The W500 is reasonably quiet with a noise level of 28dB in economic mode. It has a good range of connectors including HDMI.
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Optima has introduced three new data/multimedia projectors. The new projectors feature native XGA resolution, high brightness levels and extensive connectivity options.

Both the Optoma EP761 and EP763 projectors use Texas Instruments’ DLP chipset and BrilliantColor technology for solid digital picture quality and enriched color enhancement, while the EP774 features traditional white peaking. The three projectors have been designed to offer easy integration into various environments.
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Mitsubishi Precision has developed a Projection Cluster System which composites the output of several projector images seamlessly onto a big screen. The system does not require special lens and projection can be front or rear depending on the type of screen used. Images are projected onto curved screen which provide a greater “surround” experience. Have a look at the video below explaining the features of this new product.

Photosynth is an impressive software application developed by Microsoft Live Labs. It takes a large collection of photos of a place or an object, analyzes them for similarities, and displays them in a three-dimensional framework. The software is in effect discovering hyperlinks between images based on unique features within them.

Photosynth enables users to:

• Walk or fly through a scene to see photos from any angle.
• Smoothly zoom in or out of a photo irrespective of its size.
• Identify where pictures were taken in relation to one another.

Computer vision algorithms encoded in the software process each photo to extract distinctive features for example, the corner of a window frame or a door. Photos are then linked together using shared distinctive features as a guide. 3D positioning of features can be calculated when the same feature is found in multiple images. In addition, Photosynth can figure out where all of the cameras would have to have been and which way they were aimed.

Objects analyzed by Photosynth appear as a 3D point cloud with the original pictures overlaid on the model. Microsoft suggest that one imagines it as slide projector placed at each original camera position, aimed how the camera was, and projecting the picture that camera took. A screen is placed in the 3D environment at an appropriate distance from the projector. When moving around a Photosynth 3D model “projectors” turn on and off, giving virtual reconstruction of a subject built entirely out of the original photos.

The very nature of Photosynth makes it difficult to describe in words, so have a look at the presentation below made by Blaise Aguera at the March 2007 TED conference. You can also download a demonstration version of Photosynth from Microsoft.

The newly released HD81-LV is a rejuvenation of Optoma’s unique HD81 two-piece home theater projection system. that includes a native 1080p projector and studio-grade video processor. Its two-piece design eliminates the need for multiple cables going from video sources to the projector

The Optima HD81’s DLP projection system powered by Texas Instruments mighty 0.95″ 1080p DMD DLP Chipset backed by their BrilliantColor technologies. This chip offers higher brightness and contrast then previous versions. The DarkChip3 DMD chip does not require the use of Wobulation (Smooth Picture) as it has the full two million (and some) micro-mirrors for the 2 megapixels required for 1080p high definition display.
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