Mitsubishi shows high-spec home theater projectors
updated 04:10 pm EDT, Wed September 3, 2008
Mitsubishi HD projectors
Mitsubishi Digital Electronics unveiled three high-end 1080p home theater projectors at the CEDIA Expo that opens on Thursday, including the HC8000, HC7000U and HC6500U. The HC8000 is the electronics giant's first ultra-bright 1080p HD projector, meant for use in brighter home environments thanks to its rated 5,000 ANSI lumens. It uses three 1.1-inch 3LCD inorganic panels to create 1920x1080 images. Its connections include a DVI connector with an HDMI-to-DVI adapter.
The HC7000U is the flagship offering in the company's Diamond-series of projectors and uses polarization to reach its ultra-high contrast ratio of 70,000:1. The rating allows it to create deep black levels and rich details, Mitsubishi claims. Its brightness is rated at 1,000 ANSI lumens.The HC6500U sports a 15:000:1 contrast and a 1,200 ANSI lumens brightness. Either new HC projector supports two different anamorphic lens formats, allowing users to quickly switch between 2.35:1 or 16:9 aspect ratios depending on the movie or show. Both will also be ultra quiet as well, emitting just 17dBa of fan noise when in low mode.
The image processor Mitsubishi used in the HC projectors is the Reon-VX which is Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) rated, giving it the ability to deinterlace 1080i signals to 1080p, along with noise-reduction and other image-enhancing processes. A pair of HDMI 1.3 inputs adorns each HC-series home theater projector.
The new products will be available exclusively at high-end custom home theater system dealers later this month, priced at $3,995 for the HC7000U and $2,995 for the HC6500U. Pricing or a release date for the HC8000 hasn't been announced, but it is expected to be significantly higher.
