Epson Launches 1080p LCD Projector
By Shane C. Buettner December 1, 2006 — Epson has announced its new flagship home theater front projector, the PowerLite Pro Cinema 1080p. As the model name suggests this three-chip LCD is a full-on 1080p front projector, but the real news is that when the projector goes on sale in January 2007 the street price is $4,999. Plummeting street prices on three-chip 1080p projectors is a trend I think we can all get with!

In a trend that I'm not quite as fond of, the Pro Cinema 1080p is cited as having a number of seemingly proprietary features that use obscure acronyms for names. And few of these acronyms become clearer after reading the brief explanations that accompany them.

Nevertheless, this Epson projector is cited as featuring OptiCinema optics, AccuCinema lenses, 1080Perfect video processing, an E-TORL lamp and Epson's own Absolute Black Technology for improved blacks. Epson cites the latter as resulting in "dramatically high contrast ratios." There was no word on whether a secret decoder ring is included with the projector to decipher these functions.

I'll finish by adding that Epson's previous 720p LCD projectors have earned some raves, and we're excited to look at this sub-$5K 1080p projector. It looks PHAT, which stands for... Oh, never mind!