Today's movies are more and more mind-blowing thanks to dazzling special effects. Don't they deserve to be shown in all their glory in full "1080p" high-definition (HD)? However, viewers are limited by plasma and LCD screens which, although getting bigger, are costly.
One alternative is to check out the new range of high-definition projectors on the market. The JVC DLA-HD-1 (about €6,600) is a larger-than-average projector, which will display normal television pictures extremely well. Crank it up to play the latest blockbuster, however and you will notice that this is capable of displaying vivid colours and rich, deep blacks. It employs JVC's own version of the Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) technology.
This technology is found in many of today's projectors and uses liquid crystals instead of individual mirrors to display the image, making it cheaper to produce.
It might not be the last word in HD projection owing to its slightly softer picture, but it does have the advantage that it is quieter than many projectors and is easy to set up owing to a wide lens shift capability.
This allows the lens to be moved left and right or up and down inside the projector, meaning you can position the projector at a jaunty angle.
The Mitsubishi HC5000 (about €4,100) is not a projector from a brand you would normally rate over, say a Sony. But Mitsubishi has been churning out good little machines for several years and the HC5000 is no exception. The silky-sharp pictures have a lot of detail and colour and it's also a pretty quiet machine to boot.
The controls for lens shift, zoom and focus are also well positioned, but you may have to look elsewhere for good "standard definition" (as in normal TV) performance.
Where you may find that performance is in the Panasonic PT-AE1000 (about €5,150). Super-sharp images and natural colours set the projector apart from its rivals, along with the ability to make standard definition TV look much better. The projector's lens shift is also flexible, making positioning that much easier.
If you are looking for a true contender for the prize of best 1080p projector, this could be the one.
