Home cinema was predicted to be the death of the movie theatre but it seems no matter what they come up with, people will go to the pictures. Technological developments in home cinema over the last decade have been unprecedented and the latest must have home cinema commodity is your own digital projector. There are many models, some affordable others less than and this article provides essential advice on what is hot and what is not.
The very cutting edge is allegedly the Sanyo PLV-Z700 which will be available from October 2008. Word on the cyber-street is that it will come in at over 1500GBP however this is speculative, making it the most expensive of the three models being reviewed. It is full HD home cinema delivering 1080p content and excellent contrast levels. The real feature of this model is that it has a variable iris which corrects itself 60 times a second, making the light variable to what scene is being projected. There are advanced home cinema options and it is being eagerly awaited.
As the product has yet to be tried and tested by consumers one cannot accurately comment on the quality. The BenQ W500 home cinema projector is on the market and comes in at 1499GBP, roughly the same price as the awaited Samsung. It is a beast of a projector and a ceiling mount is the best fitting for it as it lacks any horizontal shift in the lens. It has a projection range of 2-8 metres and the projection range of 40 to 300 inches, so you must have the minimum space to project. The image quality is excellent and there is a variable brightness so complete blackout is not necessary.
589GBP for a home cinema projector sounds a bit like a back of a lorry job, but the Acer H530home cinema projector actually costs that amount. That is close to 1000GBP cheaper than BenQ and granted it is not HD technology but it is a great alternative to a second 42 inch plasma screen. It is extremely compact, more or less silent and, well it is under 600 quid. As with most sub 1000GBP models there is some colour-wheeling, but it is an excellent model for a first time buyer to test the home cinema technology.
As with many technologies you get what you pay for and home cinema technology is continually being rendered obsolete. Your purchase should be made with your usage in mind, bearing in mind that without warranty, home cinema projectors can be expensive to maintain especially if you have a reoccurring fault. Most consumers will only use it occasionally so the decision has to be made, is it worth investing the better part of two grand in something that will not be used regularly? |
