This may surprise some of you, but yes, it was.  My expectations – for the third of the $999 1080p projectors, this BenQ W1000, was for it to be another fairly unremarkable projector.  As it turns out, I’ve impressed, and that’s doubly difficult since I’m coming off of reviewing a pair of over $5000 JVC projectors.

It’s true, I haven’t spent very much time with the BenQ W1000 projector yet, maybe 5 hours of viewing, but I like a lot of what I see.

Mike complained about limited grayscale control, but the setup he gave me looks pretty good, it measures flat across the range, but is a touch warm.  I think I found a color  control he missed.  It’s cools it off a little.  I like it better.  Gamma looks pretty good, too.  I’m watching sections of Star Trek now, (it’s become one of my favorite movies for skin tones and bright scenes.  (The inability to get rid of the pause bar and time marker, when paused, prevents me from choosing dark scenes, since that bar would affect a dynamic iris.

Skin tones do look very impressive, especially for an entry level model.

And the BenQ W1000 is a light canon.

In it’s brightest mode, it pushes out over 2100 lumens!

And even in best mode, with Brilliant Color on – 1225 lumens and about 600 with it off.  My initial reaction is I like the projector better with Brilliant Color on.  Is it at all, over the top, when on, so far not, but that’s always the risk with Brilliant Color.

So what we have is an extremely bright projector with lots of punch.  It was just made for Star Trek, with JJ Abrams use of almost always partially blinding lights in almost every scene.

Surprisingly, the BenQ W1000 projector even looks very good in Dynamic mode.  Oh, it’s the usual compromise, color isn’t as accurate, but, not bad for a “Dynamic” mode.

I’m seeing some rainbows, but not many, not sure of the color wheel configuration, but whatever it is, I think I’m seeing less with the W1000 projector than with the Vivitek.  I’ll have a better feel with more viewing.

Black levels are definitely entry level.  How much so, I’ll know tomorrow night when I do side by sides against the Vivitek H1080FD – their $999 projector, and the Mitsubishi HC3800 at $1395.  The W1000 projector does not have a dynamic iris.

I fired up the BenQ projector late afternoon. (No sun today, in “sunny” California.)  Opened some window shades, and turned on a lot of lights in my room.  With the projector on Dynamic it did a great job.  I immediately thought – I’d better consider just buying one, mounting it on the bottom of the shelf that has my JVC, adding another switch, and use the W1000 for sports.

Alas, those basic DLP projectors have limited placement flexibility.  Can’t place it back far enough to be within 4 feet of my shelf.

Never mind that.  This projector is ideal for a family room where it may have to take on some ambient light, and white walls.  It really has a healthy amount of power.  By the same token it really does look great by way of bright, in my main theater, filling the 128″ Firehawk G3, screen, rather effortlessly.  I will cook up some images of my room to illustrate.  They will be in the full review.

OK, folks, gotta run.  It’s time for the BenQ W1000 to be in the Pictures.  A midnight photo shoot (sounds macabre?)
-art

OK, I’m still getting some emails, asking current status, and finally, I got a “the word” out of Epson Friday (or was it late Thursday)?

Per Epson, the problem has been fixed, there should be no remaining inventory out in the field – (at dealers), capable of having the problem.

The problem was caused by a bad value in one of the color tables or related.  I’ve asked for a more in-depth explanation, but I’m not really expecting one.  For me, my interest in details are primarily curiosity.  I’ll report if I do learn more, but, I’m not going to pursue it.  (Don’t ask me!)

Epson has been taking care of everyone calling in.  If you have had the red line problem, there is no reason not to call immediately, and since they’ll send out the replacement before you have to send yours in to them, no downside in terms of being without.

You could deal with your Epson dealer, but, that will cost you both time, and money.  Dealers are not going to be paying your freight, and they can’t perform the fix.  CALL Epson.

If, somehow you call the Epson number you have (the Private line number that comes with every Epson projector (and takes you directly to projector support).  Main Epson numbers probably get you to a generalist (you know, Epson makes 100s of printers for every projector).

So, call the right number.

If somehow, you get someone who does not know what you are talking about when you say you have red lines…  hey, ask for a supervisor.   Epson says everyone’s in the loop, but, hey, just in case…

Epson management actually sent me a brief statement to share with you.  Here ya go, word for word:

“Epson has developed a fix to correct the “red line” occurrence that has been reported in a very small percentage of units.  It is a simple and effective software enhancement to correct a color value that was being incorrectly interpreted.  This software fix has been implemented in all units moving forward.

A small number of units in the channel were not returned to Epson for implementation once the fix had been developed.

If any customers are experiencing this issue, they can contact Epson directly at 800-637-7661 (use PIN on PrivateLine Support Card) for assistance from support specialists who are familiar with correcting the occurrence.  As always, Epson is committed to providing our customers with the best in service and support for our front projector products.”

OK.  I want to point out: The middle paragraph there is an interesting one.  This relates to the fact that a handful of new owners who bought around mid-Feb, apparently received units capable of  the red line problem.  I think what they are trying to re-affirm, is that you can now buy in confidence that all units now out there should be free of the issue.

Final word.  One more time:

If you’ve got a red line Epson, Call them.  Get it taken care of.   They say they are waiting!  -art

That is to say, I’m still slammed, and if there was one thing I didn’t need, was one more 1080p home theater projector to show up at my door.

I’m still here, trying to figure out how to publish the JVC RS15 (update, ok, the RS15’s posted), InFocus SP8602, Mitsubishi HC6800, and now, finally, a long awaited BenQ W1000 has arrived.

And I’m supposed to be done with all of these by mid month.  - Which is not happening!

And to make things even further behind.  two weekends from now – the 20th anniversary!  A long weekend to Las Vegas, with the wife.

And somehow, the full 1080p Projector Comparison Report is still supposed to be published this month.  Arrgh.   I just don’t know how it will happen.

And then, we’ll be rolling out over 8 weeks more than a dozen more reviews but, projectors targeted for K-12 schools, not home.  No rest for the wicked!

OK, so, here’s the “plan”

Updated 3/12/10

1.  JVC RS35 – DONE

2.  JVC RS15 – POSTED still proofing, adding

3. BenQ W1000 – Short review – In Progress – Publish date:  3/15

4. InFocus SP8602 – Returns tomorrow, final viewing, write-up begins shortly, Publish date target: 3/19

5. Mitsubishi HC6800, all measured and calibrated, and ready to go.  Unless the HC6800 blows me away when viewing it, probably it will be a short review.  Then, finally Report time, Ideally, 3/25.

BTW, screens – the Screen Innovations Black Diamond arrived.  It’s still in its box, but I can’t wait to get to it, and see how it handles ambient light, and how it looks with some of these best under $10,000 projectors

I’ve also got a Da-lite 3D screen here, (also shutter 3d glasses and passive ones.) Still no 3D content and projector combination that calls for the use of a 3D optimized screen, but that too shall come to pass.

I’ve been getting a number of emails from you guys about Elite’s Osprey? screen – actually a 16:9 and 2.35;1 screen (two surfaces in a motorized configuration, for those looking at CIH (contstent image height) situations in conjunction with anamorphic lenses or lens emulation solutions.

As a result I may bring one of those in for review in May – if there’s time.

That’s it for now. hang in there! -art

Uh-oh, I feel an Epson red line update coming on.  DONE

Initial out of the box color is a bit over the top, but easily cleaned up by a significant reduction in color saturation.  Brilliant color adds lots of lumens, and it was only BC off, and lamp on eco, that got the W1000 brightness in line with what’s left of my RS20.

Hey, it’s a $999 projector. Black levels are nothing to write home about… But, I still have the Mitsubishi HC3800 and the $999 Vivitek H1080FD for side by side comparisons.  I’ll let you know.

That’s it! One more blog to do, with the current update on what’s next, etc. -art

PS. as you all know, I’m juggling multiple 1080p home theater projector reviews at once, trying to get them all posted in 2 weeks so I can get out the big comparison report.

Greetings all.  Actually, the review has gone quite nicely, but for one thing.  The maximum lumens I have been able to measure with the SP8602 is 952, and that’s dynamic mode, lens at full wide angle, etc.  The problem is, InFocus says this particular projector should be doing more.  They ran the serial number against their QC process and said this unit should hit 1100 lumens, a significant difference.

So, we’re on hold, but just for a few days.  I overnighted the review unit back to InFocus – so they could run some of their own measurements.  Most likely it will return by this Wednesday, but, if they still are not happy, most likely a 2nd (brighter?) 8602 will arrive.  BTW the optics in the InFocus have a lot of brightness range.  Despite having less zoom range, the drop from wide angle to telephoto is greater than most projectors with 2:1 zooms.  That meant more extra lumens going from mid-point (where we do most measurements) to wide angle, and far fewer, going to telephoto.  Of course, all the numbers will be in the full InFocus SP8602 home theater projector review.

That’s good.  it there is an extra 15% more brightness, it will impact my opinion of the InFocus Sp8602.   I’ll keep  you all posted as the story develops. -art

PS. other than the brightness – let me say the InFocus SP8602 has exceptionally good color, and a very sharp image.  Blacks are much better than the old IN83, but still not up to today’s best performing projectors. Still, it gets up there into the ultra-high contrast category, even if it still can’t match the blacks of the best of the lower cost projectors, the Epson.  On the other hand, it’s got plenty of other things going for it!

Ahh, finally getting around to the JVC RS15 (aka JVC HD550 with only minor changes).  As with my review this year of the JVC RS25, we’re dealing with evolution here, not revolution.  True, the JVC DLA-RS15 sports CFI – creative frame interpolation, as a major new feature, but, after that, it pretty much looks, and cooks like last year’s RS10.

This will be real short, as I’ve already completed the JVC RS15 projector photo shoot, and am also working on writing it up.  Look for the full review to be posted on the www.projectorreviews.com site, on  Tuesday evening – sooner, if possible.

So, what have we here?  The black level performance of the RS15 is great.  It’s still a small step down from the RS25/RS35 (I have some side by sides between the RS15 and the RS35 for the full review.  There are a couple other projectors that are roughly comparable, or even occasionally a bit better on blacks, and those would be the more expensive Sony VW85 and Planar PD8150, although both rely on dynamic irises to get their blacks dark, so their dark scenes lack the greater dynamics (and more wow factor) of the JVC DLA-RS15.

The RS15, is fairly big, very black and shiny, with just a little gold trim (around the lens, plus a line running along the top, from front to back – not too much – tasteful.  It’s got power everything, which means zoom, focus and lens shift, and it’s very well endowed when it comes to placement flexibility.

Unlike the more expensive JVC’s the color management is rather limited.  Good thing the JVC does  very well out of the box.  Skin tones, before, or after adjustment are very good, though not quite as accurate, in color as the more expensive units. You will be able to see some color shifts in our RS15 vs. RS35 side by sides, in the full review, but though the more expensive JVC is more accurate, the RS15, does pretty darn good as well.

At $5495 MSRP a first reaction might be that it’s overpriced compared to two other, far less expensive LC0S projectors – the Sony VPL-HW15, and LG CF181D.  I don’t see it that way.

The LG, is dandy, a step brighter than the RS15, but absolutely not a match at blacks and that keeps it in an overall lower performance group, at least as far as purists and enthusiasts are likely to be concerned.  The Sony, well, it’s a lot like the LG, but dimmer than the JVC, and therefore even less of a match.  I see the RS15 as more of a step up product, and, if it had a full color management system, then, for example, it would really be the JVC closest to the Sony VW85, in performance.

The big challenge for those interested in the JVC DLA-RS15 or the HD550 version is “where to stop”  Many folks considering the RS15 will be considering Epsons, LGs, Panasonic’s even the W6000 or others in the lower price range, but are looking for more performance.  On the other hand, for a “few thousand more” there’s the RS25, and the Sony VW85 for less of a difference than that…  So, the “problem”  is that the RS15 gets you most of the way, but not all the way, there in performance for under $10K projectors.

That is to say, some looking at those less expensive projectors, but wanting more, will end up skipping right past the RS15 for the RS25.   I felt that way when the RS2 came out (and the RS1x – two generations before the RS15). In my case, I didn’t jump from the original RS1 (there was not RS2, etc. when I bought my RS1), to the RS2 only for one reason, not enough lumens.  JVC solved that, the next year, making the RS20 as bright as the “1 series”  RS1, RS1x, RS10, RS15…

Image processing is, once again, Silicon Optix, and is just fine.  And yes, this JVC, like others does leak some light through the lens, although it’s not very much, you can detect it if you have white walls around the screen area, if you have a black, or almost black scene up there.  Not to worry.

Finally, the RS15 does support an anamorphic lens, as do the other models.  You can go with a generic Panamorph anamorphic lens, or get one with a custom mounting plate, if you buy the Panamorph from JVC/JVC dealers.

OK, that’s all you get.  stay tuned for the full review.  Still no real surprises.  The addition of CFI is a nice touch, although I’ve seen smoother adaptations.  Well, it’s version 1 for JVC!

Well, I’ll be late with it.  I had said late tonight, for posting, but that’s not going to happen now.  At least I have what I think is a great excuse:

Just got a last minute invite to head up to LA.  AND it seems I’m heading to a famous LA (actually Santa Monica) music landmark, McCabes Guitar Store, where they’ve been holding small concerts for about 40+ years.  (check Wiki)

Anyway, a friend, it turns out, knows Jorma Kaukonan from the “old days”  (Jorma was theguitarist for Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna, etc., and Jorma’s playing tonight in a room that will probably be not much more than 100 people at McCabes.

Sorry, can’t miss it.  I’m an old, and huge fan of Airplane and Starship.  And, I may even be having dinner with Jorma and friends.  So, that means…  I’m off to “hijack the starship – and carry 7000 people past the sun, to the cities of the universe”   (ahh, the dreams we had…) that is, when I’m not “taking one pill that make’s you larger, or one that makes you small” not the one your mother gives you, that does nothing at all.”  (coming back to any of you?)

Look for the LG CF181D review late Saturday instead.  I’m down to about 4 or 5 hours work, before I can post it. -art

Well, the most frustrating thing about reviewing the LG CF181D home theater projector has definitely been figuring out how to lay my hands on one.  A two and a half month effort finally obtained me an LG to review.  My hanks to the folks at Projector People (an LG dealer), who managed to come up with the contact names I needed to make it happen.

I’ll keep this short, since the full review is only about 48 hours off.  Pictures are all taken, over 50 hours of viewing, including tons of Olympics.  I’m mostly writing up the main review, and checking some facts, etc., waiting to get a couple of answers from LG.  All is going pretty well, so far.

OK, what we have here is an under $3000 LCoS projector.  That makes it somewhat similar to the Sony HW15, the Cinetron HD700 and the more expensive JVC RS15 and HD550 projectors.

But in terms of direct competition, there’s plenty. Not only the Sony HW15 and the Cinetron, but of course the Epson 8500UB/9500UB, and Panasonic PT-AE4000 (just under $2K), and the BenQ W6000, to mention a few favorites that have reviewed extremely well.  There’s also the Mitsubishi HC6800, which is now in house, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.

So, there’s plenty of competition – so one  question might be:  What makes the LG CF181D special?

I’ve got a couple of answers to that:

1.  It’s incredibly bright for a 1080p projector in best mode.  At about 900 lumens post calibration, with dynamic iris engaged, Only the BenQ W6000 of the ones mentioned can actually beat it’s best mode brightness.

2. At 1380 maximum measured lumens it’s also right there near the top, in terms of brightest mode lumens – about the same as the Epson’s but, the LG does do a bit better color at maximum. Still, the LG does impressive color in several mode combinations that do between 1000 and 1200 lumens.  The W6000 can best it by about 300 lumens, but when the BenQ does that, it’s color performance is poor – extremely green.  With the next best bright mode, the W6000 is no brighter than the LG, and the LG likely still has the edge in color fidelity. Very nice!

Skin tones are great.

Not so, black levels – black level performance is respectable, but no more than that.  I have only done side by sides with the Epson 9500UB, but will probably also compare the CF181D to the Panasonic PT-AE4000 as well. I don’t have the BenQ W6000 here, which is too bad, because I suspect that in black level performance, the two are probably pretty similar, and since they are both very bright, that should have been rather revealing.  Still, I’ll be pulling out my black level side by side images of the W6000 vs. the Epson, to view when I’m studying the LG vs. Epson images.

When it comes to features, nothing comes close to the Panasonic which is gadget heaven.  The Epson’s not far behind, the LG, however, has CFI (more in a minute) called TruMotion, and a dynamic iris, but not a whole lot of other dynamic controls.  Overall, feature wise, it’s pretty typical of the $2000 – $3000 street priced projectors.

The placement is very good.  a 1.8:1 zoom and vertical only, lens shift make it so.  Yes, others are even more flexible but the LG should work in most rooms.

Brightness – some may even warn, that the LG is too bright.  That may well be the case on a smaller screen, but best I can tell, there’s enough control.  With low lamp, and the iris on Auto 1, you can get down to 600 lumens.  To go dimmer, you’ll have to surrender your dynamic iris and switch it to manual mode, where dim is truly available.  Cinema defaults to manual 3, and is in the mid-400’s and you can lower the iris even more.

I’m getting some flicker off of satellite, on the olympics, every so often.  The same flicker occurs each time I replay the same section of the games.  When I switch to my RS20, no sign of the problem.  But the path is slightly different (right now the JVC is getting its HDMI wirelessly with that Gefen I wrote about). The LG is getting it from about 40 feet of high quality HDMI cable.  Tomorrow, I’ll hook up the Epson or one of the other projectors where the LG is, and see if they show the flicker or not.  I’m getting the flicker, with or without creative frame interpolation turned on.  I’ve seen no such problem when watching blu-ray disc.  And I haven’t watched enough other HDTV to see if it occurs with other content.  Working on all of that.

The LG has CFI, which does produce some artifacts when watching 24fps content.  Save just for sports, not one of the better implementations.  The artifacts are about as noticeable, or perhaps a  little less so, than the Epson 6500UB last year, before Epson fixed their CFI.   CFI is ok for sports, not movies.

Overall, the projector really has a lot of punch.  The lumens are the key, combined with some rich looking content and vivid colors.   One of those “pleasure to watch” projectors, even if black levels could be better.   The CFI, and this possible problem I’m investigating, are potential weaknesses, but, let me put it this way, due to my large 128″ diagonal screen, the Epson would not be practical for me.  I’m now thinking, therefore, that for me it would probably (in that mid – $2000’s price range), be down to the LG or the BenQ W6000.

So far, “issues” notwithstanding, I really am impressed!  And I like the remote, too, as an added bonus.

Stay tuned.  I’m going to try to have the full review up Friday night, but that will be tough, as my wife still hasn’t told me what plans (besides more Olympics) we have for the weekend!  -art

BenQ W600 – 720p, DLP and 3D ready projector!

Greetings sportfans!

What have we here?

The BenQ W600 (which they sent me despite my best efforts to obtain the W1000 that everyone has been asking for), is a 720p projector that is 3D capable.  It’s also incredibly bright!

It’s the first BenQ marketed as ready for 3D. Yep, 3D, and 3DTV is the big buzzword for 2010. Look for 3D content from ESPN and othernetworks to start showing 3D content, later this year, with ESPN, I think running their first 3D content in Q2 of 2010!

Before I go further, a couple of quick comments about projectors like the BenQ W600 and 3D. Like most of us, I’m learning as I go.  There are already several 3D ready projectors being marketed, and more coming. So far, it’s essentially a single chip DLP projector game, as doing 3D with 3 chip devices, like LCD and LCoS projectors (and also 3 chip DLPs) gets more complicated.  By fall, though, we’ll likely see 3D ready projectors using all three major technologies at the CEDIA, or so I think.

But what does 3D ready, or compliant, or compatible, or capable mean?  Does it mean you will be able to watch Avatar when it comes out (eventually) in 3D on Blu-ray?

Maybe, but don’t bet on it.  Most of the 3D standards relating to consumer access, are pretty new, or not even set yet. In the last two months, for example, both HDMI and Blu-ray groups have come out with their standards.  As an example, the HDMI folks are building most of the 3D capability into the HDMI 1.4 spec, so, it’s quite possible that much of the 3D content (like Avatar…) even when shipped, may not be 3D’able, if your projector has HDMI 1.3, not the new HDMI 1.4.  I haven’t yet seen a projector with HDMI 1.4.  Maybe soon?  I don’t know if some devices with HDMI 1.3 can actually be firmware upgraded to 1.4 or whether it calls for more hardware.

If you are interested in 3D now, realize these first 3D projectors may only be able to handle some of the 3D currently out there (such as some K-12 programs, and some of those used for medical imaging).

Gaming, however, may prove to be different. There’s already some 3D content out there, driven, I believe mostly by PC gamers.

I will ultimately attempt to describe any 3D capable projector by what level of 3D capability and range of content it can support.  At this point, though, I’m still pretty much hunting for any 3D content. I’ve been in contact with several developers, and, of course the DLP.com folks, and the projector manufacturers.  I hope to land something, I can use, by end of next week.  I’m trying first for something run from a Mac, since that’s my most powerful computer.  Failing that, I may need to upgrade the graphics cards in my PCs…

But, back to the W600.

Let’s consider it, right now, as a regular projector, then talk a bit more 3D way down below.

The BenQ W600 is a light canon.  I do believe it is the brightest home projector we’ve measured, bu then, it really is a crossover type projector.  I say that, because one way to get more lumens out, is to use a slower speed color wheel, and the W600’s is a 2x I believe, as slow as it gets.  That means more people will be rainbow sensitive.  I know from my watching it, (I am moderately rainbow sensitive), I’m seeing far more rainbow action than say on any of the 5x or 6x color wheel DLP HT projectors.

Also, I should note, that 3D is a lumen killer.  Since you are using glasses and feeding one eye, at a time, basically, bye bye, half of your lumens.  Then there’s the inherent fact that the glasses themselves may block additional light, etc.  Some say, only about 40% makes it back to your eyeball, compared to a similar projector doing normal “2D”. When I get some content, and a proper setup, we’ll get some measurements.

So, lots of lumens would be a very good thing!  How many?  Mike measured a “dazzling” 2954 lumens in dynamic mode and 1522 in Cinema mode.

The W600 doesn’t have color temp adjustment controls, but there are several to choose from.  None is perfectly ideal, with the closest to 6500K that he found,  sporting color temps ranging from mid 6600K in the darker ranges, rising to the mid 6900K range for white and near white.

Overall, color was pretty good looking in Cinema mode, once we had it all set up, just keep in mind this is one of the lowest cost entry level projectors on the market.  Overall, the color in Cinema mode ended up still probably being better than the default setups on most LCDTVs being sold.  Getting into the brightest mode, as expected, color quality does deteriorate a bit. While the color temp readings aren’t really bad for a dynamic mode, the color balance is off.  There’s a yellow/greenish cast to dynamic, which is fairly common.

Mike says, out of the box, the best of the picture modes is Standard. (Cinema is very warm – red). Our final “best mode” consisted of setting up User 1 with Cinema as reference, Brilliant Color off, and Color Temp at T1.  Despite the lack of Color Temp controls the BenQ W600 projector does have a color management system for adjusting the individual colors something we normally do not get involved with.  The best “brightest” mode we put in User 2, using Standard as the Reference, and Brilliant Color on.

The W600 projector has the usual inputs, including HDMI and analog computer, component, etc. It as a very limited range zoom a mere 1.15 to one.  A small, low cost, DLP projector, the W600 lacks lens shift.  It’s remotes range isn’t bad, not overly long though.

I’m watching some of the pre-Olympics programming, have the lights up pretty high in my great room here (main theater), and the projectors doing a very respectable job of dealing with a healthy amount of evening ambient light (no sunlight just room lighting).

Kicking it up to User 2 – based on Standard, and with Brilliant Color on, and it’s even brighter.

If ever there was a family room projector, this BenQ is it.  It’s not afraid of some ambient light nor, I assume white walls.

Blacks are exactly what you would expect – this is your basic DLP projector, and basic DLP projectors several years ago, pretty much set the standard for acceptable black levels.  So, not great, but then, in a not fully darkened room, these black levels are certainly good enough!

So far, I’m rather impressed.  Not the highly tuned color I’m used to, but, last night 20+, mostly high school musical theatre kids sat around and watch Oklahoma on it.  They are normally used to my JVC or one of the other 1080p projectors that’s hooked up.  No one complained, hey, I doubt more than a few even noticed.

Did I mention it has a small, somewhat (as expected since it’s small) tinny sounding speaker.  Handy though if you just want to temporarily plop the projector down on the table and not have to hook up to a sound system, you’re covered. Having that speaker also helps make it a cross-over projector for business or education use.

I plan to do some side by side against the recently reviewed Epson 705HD.  I expect the BenQ to best the Epson at black levels, and be a bit brighter. I also suspect, though that the Epson is capable of slightly better color accuracy, and especially skin tones.  We shall see.  Oh, I almost forgot the Epson isn’t 3D anything ready.

OK, sorry folks, that’s all you get on the $799 BenQ W600, until I lay my hands on some 3D content.  Meantime I sit here, ready, my shutter glasses by my side…  Hopefully I’ll have more for you by the end of next week. -art

OK, due to some typical “dynamics” things keep changing around here, regarding what projectors are about to be reviewed.  I haven’t mentioned this, since yesterday, and things have already changed, due to updates on what projectors are arriving and what just “snuck” in the door.

My primary focus right now, is to finish the “mandatory” 1080p projectors that I think essential before starting this year’s March publication of our 1080p Projector Comparison Report.

So, let me start by saying that I’m currently working with the 720p BenQ W600, 3D ready projector.  We’ve already measured and calibrated it – (as best we could) – it’s a veritable light canon, and may be the brightest non-3 chip DLP we’ve measured for home theater.  That’s not surprising as it is a  ”cross-over” projector.  But, enough:

I’ll be doing my First Look blog, about the W600 projector tomorrow.  Let me say, though, I’m not ready to complete the review.  What I’m still missing is some 3D content, which I’m frantically trying to locate.  (It needs to be Mac based, not PC, and I’m asking Sony, who just announced their BDP-S470 Blu-ray player with 3D support.)

So, the W600 will get its blog, and most likely the review will be resumed shortly, once some decent 3D software is found (I’ve got the shuttered glasses ready to go.)

But, Lo! and Behold!  MORE REVIEWS:

The LG CF181D arrived at my door today – (they promised by Friday). Well, so many forum folks and others have been emailing me asking about this LG projector that, its now been moved up, to “in process” status. Mike will be picking it up, today, for calibration and measurements, and it will publish, probably, late next week.

After the LG, I’ve got these to choose from:

Mitsubishi HC6800
JVC RS15 (or 35, but probably not both)
and, of course, if I can find one:  BenQ W1000

And that folks, will be it, then, early March, I’ll take my 15-20 days “off” to write the entire report.  And when that’s done, back to normal review schedules, which should include more 3D.