Planar 7060 Typical Capabilities

Planar 7060 Typical Capabilities

Summary: Planar 7060

For a new line of home theater projectors Planar is off to a very good start. Projectors normally distributed through local “install” type (CEDIA) dealers tend to be more expensive. That said, the Planar 7060 is pretty reasonably priced considering its Darkchip3 DLP pedigree. Only Optoma so far, has announced (and is starting to ship) a less expensive Darkchip3 projector, the HD73 (a DC3 version of the HD72). The Planar should, however have a couple of advantages of the HD73, including sharpness, a more desireable amount of lens offset, and, if the HD73 doesn’t outperform their HD7100 in terms of black levels, then the Planar 7060 should have a slight edge there, as well.

The 7060 should be great projector for small to medium sized home theaters, and can handle screens beyond 110″ diagonal, as long as you match the screen to the projector. For those not ceiling mounting it, It is small enough and light enough to be pulled out and set on a table for use, when needed, for non-permanent setups.

Best of luck to Planar, they are certainly off to a good start with the Planar 7060, and I look forward to at least reviewing one of their announced 1080p projectors when they hit in a few months. The combination of very good black levels, good color out of the box, reasonable quietness, and a good warranty, make for a reasonably priced Darkchip3 DLP, that should find its way into many first class local dealers, and from there, into homes of discerning viewers. Of note, the Planar 7060 is especially good on Hi Def DVD sources, the best default for HDTV (cooler) isn’t quite as good in terms of out of the box color, but easily adjustable.

So, a toast to the Planar 7060:

As noted, I do expect to get in, in the next few weeks, another 7060, with the fixed, production firmware, just to confirm confirm performance, take a 2nd look at shadow detail, and do some additional measurements/adjustments. Even with the work-around fix, though, watching the 7060 has been enjoyable.