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DECEMBER 4, 2010
A Superior Big Screen
When it comes to HD projectors, going large can also mean being discreet
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In these modern times, it lies in the annals
of domestic arguments somewhere between
how to squeeze the toothpaste and the
justification for buying a Porsche: Man wants
big television for living room. Woman of the
house says no.
There is a compromise here that doesn't
involve man secretly purchasing a 65-inch
LCD and dragging his knuckles into cave to
watch Sunday Night Football with a bowl of
nachos. It's practically a win-win situation. In
fact, it may have saved marriages. It is
called the high-definition projector. Relatively
View Full Image
compact and quiet, it will deliver a monsterIllustration by Brian Stauffer
size picture your average flat-panel screen
could only dream of providing, and when the
lights go up, it virtually disappears—you can dwell in your living room and dig into "Freedom"
without a lifeless black rectangle glaring down at you, scolding you for not watching "The Real
Housewives of New Jersey."
If you haven't experienced a video projector in a few years, things have changed. Early
versions emitted washed-out images that were flat and lame, even when the room was pitch
black. Now with brighter bulbs and contrast ratios (the difference between the brightest white
and the blackest black) topping 50,000:1, those grainy, "Is that Gollum in the shadows?"
moments are all but eliminated, even if a bit of light is peeking in through the blinds.
It's hard to believe until you see it with your own eyes, but the best models beam a picture
that looks even brighter and sharper than a flat panel's.
Video
Mossberg: Apple TV
Slims Down for
Video Streaming
6:29
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TV Not Quite Ready
for Mainstream
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Mossberg: Sizing
Up Samsung's
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And working a projector into your home doesn't require transforming a room into a full-fledged
theater. Just follow our guide below. Whether the first thing you watch is "Iron Man 2" or "Sex
and the City 2," well, you'll just need to figure that out on your own.
More in Personal Technology
—Stephen Treffinger and Kevin Sintumuang
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HD Projectors: A Superior Big Screen - WSJ.com
The Projectors
Read
Just connect these to your cable set-top box and mount them on the ceiling or place them on
a shelf.
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JVC
VC DLA-RS40/DLA-X3
$$$ JVC DLA-RS40/DLA-X3
This brand new model features JVC's D-ILA
technology, which is a step up from
traditional LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
versions. What that means to you is more
accurate color—there are separate chips for
red, green and blue—and a 50,000:1
contrast ratio. The results are more film-like;
there are no pixels or jagged edges even at
super-large sizes. It's also 3D capable if you
want to make the jump. $4,495, jvc.com
$$ Epson Home Cinema 8350
The setup of this Epson is simple and
flexible—it has a very powerful lens shift, so
you can place the projector below, above or
even to the side of where you want the
image. And the bright LCD image (2,000
lumens) and 60 times-per-second light
adjustment means smooth images even
during contact sports. $1,300, epson.com
View Full Image
Epson
Epson Home Cinema 8350
$ Optoma HD20
If lots of features you'll probably never use
aren't your thing, bring this Optoma home—
for under a thousand dollars. It has a
respectable 4,000:1 contrast and 1,700
lumens of brightness power. Splurge on a
great screen and some black-out shades.
$999, optomausa.com
The Speakers
View Full Image
Optoma
Optoma HD20
It would be a shame to get rid of the hulking
rectangle on the wall and then get a decorcrushing 7.1 surround-sound system.
Fortunately, it's never been easier to get big
sound with just a few components.
$$$ Totem Acoustic Tribe III
A pair of these beauties could be tucked into the corners of the room—or just about
anywhere. They're so precise that they provide a rich, emotionally charged sound no matter
where you place them. And at about three feet tall, they're always discreet about it. $3,900 a
pair, totemacoustic.com
$$ Yamaha YSP-4100
A thin blade of a unit that provides true 7.1
sound by bouncing signals off the walls. It
has 40 beam drivers, two tweeters and two
woofers to create full sound without any
extra boxes. $1,900, usa.yamaha.com
View Full Image
Yamaha
Yamaha YSP-4100
$ Jamo IC 408 Installation Speaker
With these small, well-priced in-ceiling
speakers, you can opt for anything from a
simple two-channel stereo system or add
additional ones for a polyphonic array—plus
they're almost invisible. The grilles can be
painted to match your existing wall color.
$729 a pair, jamo.com
The Screen
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HD Projectors: A Superior Big Screen - WSJ.com
To get the most from your new projector,
you'll need to aim it at something better than
a sheet. We have three options that, when
not in use, disappear.
View Full Image
$$$ Da-Lite Advantage CeilingRecessed Screen
Jamo IC 408 Installation Speaker
This one goes up in the rafters, is electric
and leaves behind only a small gap when
not in use. You can vary the amounts of drop so it lands at eye level no matter high your
ceiling. $2,027 for a 92-inch screen, da-lite.com
Jamo
$$ Screen Goo High Contrast Paint
This is the ultimate in disappearing acts: a
two-layer paint system that creates a
luminous surface to give extraordinary depth
to your images. If you cover the whole wall,
you can have as big an image as your
projector (and house) is capable of. A 2.3liter can covers 115 square feet, or the
equivalent of about a 185-inch diagonal
screen. $450 for 2.3 liters,
goosystemsglobal.com
Goo Systems
Screen Goo High Contrast Paint
$ Elite Screen EZ Cinema Plus You
can stow this in a closet when it's not in use
and because it pulls up from the base,
there's no teetering tripod—especially
important if you have carpeting. $379 for an
84-inch screen, elitescreenshop.com
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page D11
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