New 1080p Projectors from CEDIA 2007

JVC DLA-RS2
At the top of my list was the JVC DLA-RS2 (above),which is also available as the DLA-HD100; both are based on D-ILA technology, JVC’s version of LCoS, and will be available in November for less than $8000. Both improve upon their predecessors, the DLA-RS1 and HD1 (see review in The Perfect Vision, October issue) in terms of contrast and black performance. I found the DLA-HD1’s blacks to be exceptional, but the new models go even farther down the black hole, creating a picture you could literally fall into.
 

Marantz VP-15S1
Another superb projector was the Marantz VP-15S1 single-chip DLP model ($10,000, September, pictured above). This model is about half the price of the company’s single-chip VP-11S1 and upcoming VP-11S2 thanks to the use of off-the-shelf parts rather than hand-picked components, though all parts still come from the same sources, such as optics from Konica Minolta. The demo looked spectacular, with great blacks and gorgeous colors.

Samung SP-A800B
Speaking of colors, no one could beat the new Samsung SP-A800B single-chip DLP projector ($TBD, October, above) in terms of accuracy thanks to video guru Joe Kane’s involvement in its design. The blacks were not quite as deep as the JVC and Marantz, but everything else about the picture was sensational.

Sony VPL-VW200 and VW60
Other projectors worthy of note were Sony’s VPL-VW200 (< $15,000, November, above) and VW60 (< $5000, September), successors to the VPL-VW100 and VW50, both recipients of The Perfect Vision’s Product of the Year awards in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Another great-looking projector demo was the LCD-based Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080UB (<$5000, December), which triples the contrast of the previous model reviewed in TPV 81. Finally, the SIM2 C3X 1080 triple-chip DLP projector ($30,000, November) looked great in the Texas Instruments booth, though it didn’t look nearly as good in SIM2’s own demo room.

Tech Scoop: TI’s latest DLP chipset, dubbed DarkChip4, delivers 15 to 30 percent better contrast than its predecessor, DarkChip3, by decreasing the space between the micromirrors, and it can easily replace any existing DC3 simply by swapping it out. Look for DC4 in the BenQ W20000 ($7000, first part of 2008, above), Marantz VP-11S2, and SIM2 C3X 1080.

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