Which Projector?

[Juan Cortez]

I am looking into getting a front projection set up. I am planning on getting a
Da-Lite electric screen. I am looking at the following projectors. Which would will give the best picture quality? Hitachi, PJTX10, Panasonic, PTAE700, Benq, PE5120?

[George Bellefontaine]

I'm not familiar with the Hitachi and the Benq, but the Panny 700 gets a lot of good press from owners here and at other sites.

[JonMarsh]

It's probably a good idea if you see these before you buy. They have different strengths and weaknesses; it depends on what appeals to your eye. The Benq will probably have the best contrast ratio, being a DLP. It's 16:9 wide VGA.

The Hitachi, an SVGA model, is discontinued, and I here this Benq model may be discontinued soon, also.

The Panasonic is an LCD type, 16:9, much higher resolution, more expensive, and uses a dynamic iris to try to get the same effective contrast ratio as the BENQ. That's something of an apples to oranges comparison. OTOH, it won't have any rainbows or temporal dithering, which 5 segment color wheel DLPs are prone to. Visibility of these artifacts depends on program material and you- which is why I say, see them yourself.

~Jon

[ekkoville]

Interesting opinions on the 5x and lower color wheel for DLP's. Is 6x better and even available, and if it is, is it affordable?