The sun shines just as brightly in Denmark as it does anywhere else, and Danish engineers have created a new projector screen that allows for viewing in the brightest of environments, especially during the daytime. DNP’s Supernova screen sports an amazing 2.0 gain and a 20:1 contrast, which is ten times that of a normal projector screen and comes in a wide variety of sizes and aspect ratios - from a 45 inch 4:3 screen to a 150 inch 2.35:1 Cinemascope screen. DNP claims that the Supernova screen will work with any projector, but you’ll have to match up the screen size with the throw ratio on the projector for best reasults. Still, such a powerful screen doesn’t come cheap: approximately $849 for the most inexpensive model.

[via Engadget]

Gizmodo is showing a brief video and a paragraph or two about the differences between Variable Lens Shift and Digital Keystone Correction, however, despite its brevity it is very to the point and covers what needs to be known. While it is widely known that the benefits of a variable lens shift outweigh digital keystone correction, it’s very rarely explained why. Now that lens shift is available on plenty of sub-$3000 projectors and with the holiday shopping season starting up, this is valuable information for anyone looking for a home cinema projector. For those of you who are wondering, the projector they show in the video is the Panasonic PT-AX100U, which has a horizontal lens shift of +/-25% and a vertical lens shift of +/- 63%.

[Read Projector Thunderdome: Variable Lens Shifting vs Keystone Correction]

For those of you who were wondering about when Epson was going to bring their first 1080p projector to North America, you will be happy to hear that Epson announced today that the PowerLite Pro Cinema 1080 will be available in January for an MSRP of $4,999. The PowerLite Pro Cinema 1080 (a.k.a EMP-TW1000 in some parts of the world) uses Epson’s own D6 3LCD panels with C2Fine giving it a native High-Definition resolution of (1920 x 1080). Epson is using a few other of their own technologies in it as well, such as the Absolute Black technology that gives the projector up to a 12000:1 contrast and their efficient E-TORL projector lamps which distribute light for a more uniform picture. Other things worth mentioning would be the HDMI 1.3 connectivity and the 1080Perfect Video Processing. If you don’t wish to wait until January to enjoy 1080p LCD projection, other projectors that utilize Epson’s D6 LCD panels with C2Fine technology include the Mitsubishi HC5000 and the Panasonic PT-AE1000U.

[via PRnewswire]

Hot on the heels of the BenQ W10000 projector that was finally released this month, BenQ announced yet another 1080p DLP projector. The BenQ W9000 looks to be the “lite” version of the W10000, probably in attempt to make a more affordable 1080p DLP projector. However, there is one interesting thing to note about the W9000: there is a 2.35:1 Panamorph lens available for it, allowing for the home cinema enthusiast to enjoy true widescreen cinemascope projection. Other than a few custom calibration features and the Advanced Continuous Electronic IRIS which produces a contrast of 8500:1, details are pretty slim. Still, a more affordable 1080p DLP projector with inexpensive 2.35:1 capabilities would definitely be a welcome sight. Careful when we say inexpensive 2.35 though - most panamorph lenses still run about $2,500.
[via Benq]

Continuing on their never-ending project, Engadget has just posted the fifth part of their series on how to build your own LCD projector. They’re assembling the housing for the projector and making sure that everything lines up correctly as well as a few other important details. As always, it is an excellent read that any handyman or handywoman can appreciate.

[Read How-To: Build your own HD projector (Part 5)]

After their initial announcement months ago about their entrance into projector manufacturing, Lumenlab released their first projector with HDTV compatibility today: the EVO Projector V1. This is very exciting for everyone as they have managed to deliver the projector as promised at only $499. The projector itself employs a 7″ LCD panel to display WVGA (854 x 480) 480p widescreen images up to a 110 inches diagonally. The lamp, which only costs a mere $30 to replace, generates a brightness of 1000 lumens and a contrast of 600:1. With all the connectivity including Component RCA and Computer VGA, it’s also surprising to see that they’ve also included an integrated TV tuner into the projector via Coax Cable. Perhaps the bigger manufacturers will follow suit and drop prices on home cinema projectors as they have an interesting competitor to contend with now. Considering that they named it V1, we can speculate that there will eventually be a V2 (A sub-$700 720p projector perhaps?), so Lumenlab obviously means some serious business with this projector.
[via Lumenlab]

If you are worried about DLP “rainbows” and LCD “screen door” effects, somewhere in between the two is a best of both LCD and DLP technologies called Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS). LCoS is more expensive than LCD and single chip DLP technologies, so only a few projector manufacturers use it, and those that do mostly have their own variation of the technology. Take JVC for example: their new home cinema projector that they announced today, the DLA-HD1, uses JVC’s own LCoS technology called Digital Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier (D-ILA). The DLA-HD1 only has a brightness of 700 lumens, but where the D-ILA technology really shines is on the amazingly high 15,000:1 contrast. Providing rich and colorful 1080p images, this projector and its D-ILA technology is perfect for the serious home cinema enthusiast. Of course, the downside of having the best is that you have to pay for it; the DLA-HD1 will be available in Japan this January for ¥798,000 ($6,780 USD), and in North America in February as the DLA-RS1. While that may be a hard bargain when similar 1080p LCD and DLP projectors will be available sooner and for half the price, the benefits of D-ILA technology might be worth that extra cash and longer wait.
[via EngadgetHD]

Engadget is busting out the wood glue and drills while almost finishing up their own do-it-yourself projector. Building the housing for all the components looks like the most fun part of building your own projector. They’re almost done with the project, and if you’re excited about the prospect of using power tools and inexpensive projectors then read on.

[read How-To: Build your own HD projector (Part 4)]

BenQ introduced a new projector that offers quite a bit of performance for very little money. BenQ’s MP510 projector is the first projector ever to come in at an MSRP under $500, and is currently the lowest priced projector on the market. The MP510 is perfect for mobile presentations, weighing in at only 5.7 lbs and having a brightness of 1500 lumens. The SVGA (800 x 600) DLP chip and only having VGA, Composite RCA, and S-video connectivity are the real weak points of the projector, but for PowerPoint presentations, you really don’t need much more than that. The MP510 will begin shipping sometime this month.
[via BenQ]

Those NEC projectors we mentioned in yesterday’s posting were pretty well received, but not everyone is a fan of LCD technology. So to make sure everyone is happy, NEC introduced three portable DLP projectors today for those who like high contrasts and bright images. The three new projectors all share the same XGA (1024 x 768) 0.55″ DLP chip and 1500:1 contrast ratio but each varies in brightness and price. First up, the NEC NP40 gives off a brightness of 2200 ANSI lumens at a cost of $999.00 USD. The NEC NP50 is a tad brighter by 400 lumens and a tad more expensive by $200. Add 400 more lumens on top of that and another $100 and you’ll get the NEC NP60. Sure, they’re a little heavier on the wallet compared to yesterday’s NEC projectors, but they are brighter and have a much higher resolution than most of them, and they are at least lighter on your shoulder by almost half - weighing in at only 3.5 lbs. Sadly though, a lot of that missing weight comes from the missing connectivity. These three only come with the essential ports: RGB, S-Video, and Composite RCA. All three will be available sometime in December. In the meantime though, you can check a the side-by-side comparison of these three for all the extra details.

[via PCmag]