Just about all of the new and exciting home theater projectors have already hit the shelves here at ProjectorPeople.com. In fact, unlike distributors of Eggo Waffles, we should be well stocked for the holiday season for the most popular projectors. However, the $999 1080p home theater projectors have kept buyers in waiting, as some models shipped more quickly and in greater supply than others.

So, naturally, one question we keep hearing is, “Which of the new $999 1080p projectors is the best?” So, we thought we’d talk about some of the differences between our top three $999 1080p models (BenQ W1000, Optoma HD20, and Vivitek H1080FD) to help folks sort out which might be the best choice for them.

Similar, But Not the Same

We should probably start by mentioning that these are all very similar projectors. The same basic technology (DLP chip) is used in each of the three. If you saw an image each of them individually for a half hour, then were sent out of the room, came back in and saw all three together (with the chassis covered), I’d bet a dollar that you wouldn’t able to tell which image belonged to which. And you’d probably think they all looked pretty darn good. However, there are some differences in features. And although all of these entry-level projectors are light on features, some of the differences may matter to you. Check out our quick comparison chart below.

Comparison Chart : New $999 1080p Home Theater Projectors

Projector	BenQ W1000	Optoma HD20	Vivitek H1080FD
Resolution	HD (1920 x 1080)	HD (1920 x 1080)	HD (1920 x 1080)
Panel/Chip	DLP	DLP	DLP
Brightness	1800 lumens	1700 lumens	1800 lumens
Contrast	2700:1	4000:1	5000:1
Video Inputs	HDMI (x2), Component (RCAx1), Composite (RCAx1), S-Video (x1), VGA (x1), USB Type B (x1), RS-232 (x1), Analog Audio (x1), Stereo Mini-Jack (x1 in and 1 out)	HDMI (x2), Component (RCAx1), Composite (RCAx1), 12v Screen Trigger (x1), VGA (x1)	HDMI (x2), Component (RCAx1), Composite (RCAx1), S-Video (x1), 12v Screen Trigger (x1), VGA (x1), RS-232 (x1)
120 Hz	No	No	No
Throw Distance	1.59 – 1.9	1.5 – 1.8	2 – 2.4
Weight	7.5 lbs.	6.4 lbs.	5.7 lbs.
Built-in Speakers	3W mono	n/a	5W mono
Warranty	1 yr. pj, 90-days lamp	2 yr. pj, 90-days lamp	1 yr. pj, 90-days lamp
Street Price	$999*	$999*	$999*
In Stock?	Week of Thanksgiving	In stock at time of publication*	In stock at time of publication*
Full specs	BenQ W1000	Optoma HD20	Vivitek H1080FD
We Have Video	Not yet	High-end comparison video	Official Vivitek guy talks video

* For current prices and availability please check the ProjectorPeople.com website.

And Now a Break Down…

So, now you see some of the key specs. And if you want more, you can see a complete comparison chart here. But let’s discuss the potential differences between these very similar projectors.

Brightness

1800 or 1700 lumens. What’s the difference? Not much! But at least you can tell your friends who bought the Optoma HD20 that you have 100 more lumens in your living room. And if you bought the Optoma HD20, you can tell your friends that bought the BenQ W1000 or Vivitek H1080FD that Optoma is just more careful and conservative. And if you haven’t bought any of them yet, then don’t worry about the brightness. It’s not a significant differentiator here.

Contrast

Contrast might actually be visibly different between these units, but having not seen them all in person head-to-head, we can only really say, they all actually look almost better than they spec. DLP, the technology used in each of the three projectors, has always had nice contrasty look. The blacks look very deep, and the colors are full and rich, even on a 2700:1 DLP projector.

Now if you’re comparing a projector with a 200,000:1 contrast ratio to a 5000:1 model, what you’d see is a difference in detail. The beauty is in the gradients, grays and color accuracy. And make no mistake, there is a significant difference between the two. But from 2700:1 to 5000:1 in two projectors the same technology, any difference you see initially can probably be ‘tweaked’ away. So mark this one as another spec not to worry too much about.

Speaker

Built-in speakers are not terribly common on home theater projectors, but it is an admittedly handy feature to have. There’s nothing like just plugging in a DVD player to your projector and having a 100-inch screen pop up in front of you. Add to that the instant gratification of sound to go with it. This is likely to be a popular feature for traveling presenters, who want to have an instant movie theater on the road. Of course, most home theater enthusiasts will hook up some speakers. Unless they are insane.

Throw Distance

There isn’t a huge difference between the three projectors, but the Vivitek H1080FD does specify a longer throw distance, which might be handy in some cases. Essentially that just means you can mount/place the projector a little bit further back and make a smaller image. There isn’t much zoom on these and if you have a specific place you need to place the projector, call a Projector Expert to make sure that you can get the screen size you want from the location you want to place the projector.

Connectivity

All three units have two (2) HDMI inputs, which is what most folks will want to use. But there are connections that are available on some and not others. S-video, VGA, and 12v screen trigger are all included on the BenQ W1000, as well as a specified support for 1900×1200 computer signals (the others may do this also, since they have a VGA connection, but it is not quoted on their spec sheets). The Optoma seems to have the sparsest connectivity options, but it has what most will need. So, if you want to hook up something that’s not HDMI, make sure your $999 projector choice has that function.

Other Stuff?

Our customers are very good at letting us know if we missed something in a review. Please leave a comment below if you have something to add! And we will make updates if there are surprises – or stuff we didn’t think about – with any of the models here.

We recently received a shipment of Optoma HD20 projectors. We’re blogging this just to let you know since we’ve had some folks that were surprised to know we had it in stock already.

If you aren’t familiar with the Optoma HD20, it’s one of a few new $999 1080p home theater projectors available this year. It’s been very popular because it uses DLP technology, and offers true HD1080p for super cheap. And since it’s a projector, you can also have a very big image (as big as 300-inches in a space with controlled lighting) in a portable box.

[ Click here for the most current inventory status and pricing information : Optoma HD20 ]

What’s the latest in 1080p HD home theater projectors? The biggest news to date has been the introduction of the $999 true HD home theater projectors. But recently big players like Epson and Panasonic have announced new, upgraded products coming out soon. The new products have higher-than-ever contrast ratios, some improvements on cool features, and very aggressive pricing.

New $999 Entry Level Projectors

We have already done some comparison of new entry level $999 1080p projectors (here and here). We haven’t had a chance to put together any hands on comparison of the projectors because there is limited availability on most of the popular models. We have had some inventory of the Optoma HD20 projector recently, but they sell very quickly. The Vivitek H1080FD and BenQ W1000 models have not come into stock yet, so we have only seen the pre-production models in person as of the date of this story. So, for now, let’s focus on the more recent news from the higher-end of the home theater projector spectrum.

New Higher End Home Theater Projectors

To start, we will compare the initial specifications of what we think will be the most popular new high end 1080p projectors; the BenQ W6000, Panasonic PT-AE4000U and Epson Home Cinema 8500 UB. I say initial specifications because there are sometimes technical tweaks made before their final releases and those changes can alter the specifications. So, here’s a chart of the initial specs for what we suspect will be the big players in high end home theater.

Comparison Chart : New 1080p Home Theater Projectors

Projector	Panasonic PT-AE4000U	Epson Home Cinema 8500UB	BenQ W6000
Resolution	1920 x 1080	1920 x 1080	1920 x 1080
Panel/Chip	3LCD D7	3LCD D7	DLP
Brightness	1600 lumens	1600 lumens	2500 lumens
Contrast	100000:1	200000:1	50000:1
HDMI Inputs	3	2	2
120 Hz	Yes	Yes	No
Lens	Powered zoom (2x)/Powered focus	Optical zoom 2.1:1	1.5:1 Manual Zoom, Manual Focus
Lens shift	H 40% & V 100%, manual	H 47% & V 96%, manual	Manual Lens Shift (see here)
Noise	22 dB (economy mode)	22 dB (economy mode)	32 dB
Warranty	1 yr. pj, 90-days lamp (2 yr. after rebate if applicable)	2 yr. pj, 90-days lamp	1 yr. pj, 90-days lamp
Street Price	$1,999 MAP	$2999 MSRP	$2,799 MSRP
Expected Release Dates	Late October	Late October/Early November	Available now
Full specs	Panasonic PT-AE4000U full specs	Coming Soon	BenQ W6000 full specs

As you can see, much like last year (and the year before that) we are seeing dramatically higher contrast ratios, lower introductory prices, and more high performance features.

Lower Projector Prices: More Hollar for Your Dollar

Every year we write a sentence like this; “Last year you would have paid $$$ for a projector of this quality,” and this year is no different. The Panasonic PT-AE3000U and Epson Home Cinema 6500 UB came in at an aggressive (at the time) $2999 price point last year. This year, you’ll pay $1000 less than last year for a projector with higher contrast, better video processing, and some cool new features.

However, with this aggressive introductory pricing, we don’t expect to see these prices dropping again anytime soon. The fact that these came in this cheaply initially is probably due in part to pressure from the release of the $999 1080p DLP projectors.

Contrast Ratios: Say “Hello” to Six Figure Contrast Ratios

How is a 60,000:1 contrast ratio different from a 100,000:1 contrast ratio? Not quite as dramatic as it sounds, but there is a visible (palatable) difference in the picture quality. A higher contrast image actually feels crisper than a lower contrast image. But in reality, both a 60,000:1 and 100,000:1 contrast ratios look very good. In three years we will compare the new 1,000,000:1 projector the 100,000:1 projector and see how dramatic the difference is.

For now, these high contrast ratios really separate the business “crossover” projectors from true home theater models. Unless you are a serious videophile, or visually particular, you’d most likely be happy with anything over 10,000:1 contrast in your home theater.

New Features: Panasonic PT-AE4000U

We’ve had the introduction from Panasonic on their new product, so we are more familiar with the new features of the PT-AE4000U than the new Epson’s. So we should have more information on the new Epson features coming soon.

Projector Central did a comprehensive review of all the new features on the PT-AE4000U (read here). We also took some video of our tech session with Panasonic and are including it below. Two interesting new features for videophiles are the automatic lens memory and new video adjustments.

[

Panasonic PT-AE4000U : A Technical Introduction from Projector People on Vimeo.

This was recorded with a mini HD camera and without a tripod. There are shaky bits throughout. To save yourself time, click here for a breakdown of content by minute for this video.

The Unsung Midrange 1080p Projectors

While the new high-end projectors attract most of the press these days, there are also some interesting options available in the ‘mid-range.’ What keeps us from calling these high-end projectors? Essentially its lower contrast ratios, less advanced video processing (like no 120hz), and some missing features. So if you don’t have the funds for a $2k projector, but you want a little more than the $1k projectors have to offer, a mid-range projector might just have all you need and will save you a little cash.

Two new mid-range projectors coming soon are the Epson Home Cinema 8100 and the Mitsubishi HC3800. The HC3800 is getting rave reviews from Projector Reviews and Projector Central. And though we have yet to see the Epson Home Cinema 8100 in action, it’s likely to benefit from Epson’s technological strides in home theater and be a very nice low price alternative in 1080p. It’s also 3LCD which is preferred by some buyers – and most of the other low cost alternatives utilize DLP technology.

What’s Left in 720p Projectors?

Not a heck of a lot. And the price points are not really dropping because there just isn’t any more room to do so. Our Panasonic PT-AX200U started out at $999 when it was introduced, and has stayed consistently around that price. With features like lens shift and unique gaming mode – if it remains in production – it’s still a great projector. Its brightness and native 720p (much of broadcast HD’s native resolution) make it a great match for the football season and sports all year round. And it’s a great projector for gaming too. Epson also has a new “karaoke” projector in their MovieMate line with built-in DVD and speakers with native 720p resolution. Also available in 720p is the underdog Sanyo PLV-Z60.

That’s All for Now, But More to Come!

That’s about all we have to cover today, but there will be more to come on the Epson Home Cinema projectors, and on the Panasonic PT-AE4000U as well. We will keep you posted on any more projector related news, as always.

We have been eagerly waiting to find out the details of the new Panasonic PT-AE4000U. Will it come to America? (answer :yes) If it does, what price will it be released at? (answer : $1999) And how is it different from the PT-AE3000? (answer: according to Projector Central “the AE4000 is in fact a superior projector in almost every way”). So, now we have some answers to share… as well as a new low, low price on the PT-AE3000U.

Panasonic PT-AE4000U WILL Come to America

As we mentioned above, and as we all suspected, the Pansonic PT-AE4000U will indeed be released in the United States. We don’t have solid delivery dates yet, but we know it is coming soon. It could even be available as early as the end of October – we will keep you updated on shipping dates as the information comes in.

We will also have more technical information on the AE4000U and other new 1080p home theater projectors coming soon. You can also stay on top of things on the AVS Forum official Panasonic PT-AE4000U post.

And if you are ready to get pumped up about it, you can read the PT-AE4000U review from Projector Central. They highlight, the Red-Rich Lamp, Improved contrast (now 100,000:1), Improved Cinema mode brightness, Improved color accuracy, Improved Detail Clarity Processor, Improved Frame Interpolation, among other improvments. Here’s an excerpt :

“All of this adds up to a remarkable value proposition: at a street of $1,999, we’ve simply never seen this much performance at this price. Panasonic has been extremely tight-lipped about this product launch. Until now many thought the company was dropping out of the home theater projector market. Today’s announcement makes it clear that they are here to stay. The Panasonic PT-AE4000U will be one of the hottest selling home theater projectors of the fall season, and we enthusiastically give it our highest recommendation.”

You can read the entire review here.

Panasonic PT-AE3000U Price Drops

And some good news for those who want a deal … the Panasonic PT-AE3000U has just dropped in price to a low, low $1699. Even if the AE4000U is better, the AE3000U is still a great projector, and it’s one of those limited time closeout deals that you can brag to your friends about.

If you’ve been holding out for the deal… now is the time to buy a PT-AE3000. If you’re an early adopter and you always want the best available, you’ll only have to wait a bit for the PT-AE4000U.

That’s all for now!

What was the projector buzz at CEDIA this year? $999 true HD 1080p home theater projectors (of course), a new Epson projector with a 200,000:1 contrast ratio, LED technology expands, and the absence of Panasonic. We’re going to run through each of these below, and link to a few more CEDIA round-ups that may also be of interest.

CEDIA 2009 Projector News At-A-Glance

For those who prefer bullets to paragraphs, here’s a bullet point round-up:

• Sub $1K DLP projectors shipping soon (Mid-September to Early October).
• New Epson Home Cinema 8500 UB projector (replaces 6500 UB) features 200,000:1 contrast. No MSRP yet. Will be under $3000.
• New Epson Home Cinema 8100 projector (replaces 6100 UB) improves brightness (1800 lumens) and contrast (35,000:1). Sells for $1599 (plus initial $100 rebate). Ships November.
• (UPDATED 9/21) Epson Home Cinema 705HD will replace the Home Cinema 720 with a price point of under $750.
• Watch for price drops on the Epson Home Cinema 6100 and 6500 UB.
• LED projectors continue to improve, move beyond pocket projecting category.
• New Mitsubishi HC3800 impresses critics. $1499 MSRP.
• InFocus to release new ScreenPlay projector. Limited dealers.
• Sanyo yet to release news of any new Home Theater units.
• Panasonic PT-AE4000 announced in EU, but no reports of release in the U.S. We hope to have an answer on this soon! (Updated 10/16 : Now released in the USA) (Updated 10/16/09: See comparison of Panasonic AE4000U, BenQ W6000 Epson Home Cinema 8500 UB here.

Read on for details and explanations…

Sub 1K Projectors

We have already covered much of the $999 true HD projector story in previous posts (here, here, and here), so we won’t go in to much more detail here. The most frequent questions we hear are “Which one is best?” and “When can I get one?” Since we have yet to see the BenQ and the Vivitek post-production models, we haven’t been able to form any opinions yet. We will give some comparison reports when we have a chance to compare them all. But we do have some information on ship dates. Here’s what we’re expecting as of today.

• Vivitek H1080FD – Early September (possibly late this week, or next week)
• BenQ W1000 – Mid-Late September
• Optoma HD20 – Next shipment late September

These projectors may come earlier, or later, than we expect. Any pre-ordered items will be shipped in the order they were placed.

200,000:1 Contrast : New Epson Home Cinema 8500 UB

As if a 75,000:a contrast ratio wasn’t good enough, Epson has tightened up those pixels for an impressive 200,000:1 contrast spec on their new Home Cinema 8500 UB. As good as the Home Cinema 6500 UB was, under the light controlled and perfectly calibrated circumstances of CEDIA, the 8500 UB looked like it topped the 6500 UB. Hard to say without a head to head comparison, but either way, the 8500 UB looks like another winner. The only unanswered question is how competitive will the MSRP be? Some would argue they need to get price competitive with the new $999, but realistically, these higher end projectors are more expensive to make. We will soon have the answer, but for now we do know the price will be under $3000. Also from Epson, the Home Cinema 8100, which will replace the Home Cinema 6100 – a higher brightness, lower contrast, native 1080p projector. The 8100 has improved previous brightness specs and contrast to 1800 lumens and 36,000:1 contrast respectively. Neither the 6100, nor the new 8100 offer 120hz, which some might argue is not a bad thing*, and with the lack of 120hz you will pay a little less. It’s reported MSRP is $1599 (plus initial $100 rebate) which is a big drop from the price for the release of the 6100 just a year ago. The Home Cinema 8100 should ship first, and hit the shelves around mid-October. The official MSRP has not been released on the Home Cinema 8500 UB, but it is reported to be under $3000. It should be available for purchase sometime this November. * A Little Ditty About 120Hz It should be noted that some viewers are not fans of 120hz because it creates an ‘artificial’ looking image. I recall watching “Pirates of the Caribbean” on a 120hz flat panel TV and thinking that it looked particularly ’stage like’ – like a very good reproduction of a PBS Great Performances rather than a motion picture. There purists have a point in their desire to keep the image looking more ‘filmlike,’ but it does appear that this more super-real image is the direction video will be taking in the future. Epson, for example, went to some expense to improve the performance of the 120hz in their 6500 UB unit to satisfy customer issues. But, for now, those who prefer a more traditional image can turn off 120hz on their home theater projector. We’d love to hear what you all think of the 120Hz if you have it. Leave a comment if you have something to share!

New LED Projectors

We have covered the new ‘pocket projectors’ fairly extensively too (here, here, and here). But new and improved versions of first generation products are also coming soon. But there are other categories of LED projectors that we have neglected a bit; LED installation projectors, and small (but not pocket) portable projectors. Pocket LED Projectors Optoma has announced their PK-102 pocket projector, which follows the first generation PK-101 we had and tested earlier this year. There have also been some improvements in connectivity, that might make it a more attractive option for sales people on the go. The pocket projectors are still not terribly bright, but they are a cool toy for the early adopter. This category shows a lot of promise in the fun, portable, gadget world. So, if you bought the first generation iPod, this is a product to consider. And it’ll work great with your new iPod. Portable LED Projectors While brightness is improving in these small, but not pocket sized projectors, they still don’t quite have the power to produce an image bright enough to combat ambient light. Controlled environments do these little LEDs well, however, with some really nice, rich images. We have seen some nice units in this category, in particular, a promising LG model like this one that may come to market soon. The model we saw included a USB slot that ran some very nice video off of a USB thumb drive, as well as a mention of a future FM transmitter which could broadcast audio from the projector to a station on your radio. These projectors have a lot of potential. Expect to hear more about these soon. Installation LED Projectors Vivitek and Projectiondesign offered a brighter new LED projector that could arguably used in an installation environment, but realistically, without controlled lighting, the 600 or so lumens provided will not be quite bright enough in a large venue setting. However, in a controlled space ( for example a closed video game or flight simulator) that is used frequently and for long periods of time, the long lasting LED lamp would be a money saver. Again, this category is still developing, but does show a lot of promise.

No News from Panasonic on the PT-AE4000

Panasonic projection was noticeably absent for the display floor this year. At this time, we still don’t know for sure if they will be releasing their new PT-AE4000U in the U.s. The projector has been released in the UK, and was featured at a major EU consumer electronics show just a couple weeks ago. So, what will Panasonic do? And if they don’t release the PT-AE4000 in the U.S., what prompted that decision? The predecessor Panasonic PT-AE3000U was one of our best-selling 1080p unit this past year, and a new Panasonic will be sorely missed. We will, of course, keep you updated as soon as we hear anything.

Other CEDIA Projector News

Mitsubishi is creating some buzz on review sites like ProjectorCentral.com and ProjectorReviews.com with their new HC3800. InFocus may be releasing a new ScreenPlay model this year as well, with limited distribution. The InFocus SP8602 will retail at around $4999. Sanyo has not announced any replacements to their PLV-Z3000 or Z700 projectors just yet. That about sums it up for our look at projection and CEDIA 2009. We are linking to a few more round-ups below, in case you are interested in non-projector CEDIA news. More CEDIA RoundUps Home Toys CEDIA RoundUp Stewart Screens, Atlantic technology, and a Mitsubishi projector mention among other featured products. DigitalTrends Best of CEDIA 2009 Vizio LED TV, Sony’s first connected Blu-ray player, bathroom LCD TV, Panasonic VIERA plasma with wireless, $175,000 JVC projector, New Blu-ray Recorders from JVC, iPhone control Ap. Projector Reviews A look at new home theater projectors (or lack thereof) from BenQ, Sanyo, Panasonic, and InFocus. In two parts. Part two coming soon.