First, what's the real-world difference between the HD1000U and the HD73?

I know the HD73 is DarkChip3, and the HD1000U is DarkChip2. 5x vs 4x wheels.

What does this REALLY mean? Is there a visible noticeable difference between then? If so, what are they?

Finally... the age old DLP vs LCD question.... Between the two DLPs (HD1000U or HD73) and the three LCDs (Z5, AX100U, or PowerLite 400) --- what's going to give the best picture? This is in a light controlled environment and I don't particularly care about lens shift. All I care about is which makes a better picture. Better color accuracy, better color saturation, better blacks/greyscale, etc.

I know some of this stuff is hashed out over and over... and I have been reading other threads on the same.

I appreciate any input. Thanks!

The real world difference is richer colors, deeper blacks (mostly makes for better dark scenes) and a more filmmlike image with more overall depth. Is it worth the price differenc? IMO, no, because the HD1000U could easily be modded for near the performance of the HD73.

There is a major difference in color wheel design between the two that is more important than which DC# it has - for example the mitsu HC3000 and HD1000 have the same DC2 and could not be more different when everything else except that is the same.

modding out the clear segment is small improvement to contrast - but you still have smaller segments for color on the wheel.

What you need to focus on is what is the calibrated performance - what is the brightness/contrast when optomized for D65, gamma, color decoding and what is it's color gamut?

For your dedicated HT I would put a closeout/used Mitsu HC3000 on the list and get it calibrated. That would be your best bet - unless you want to risk importing a HC3100.

Kras,

I realize there are differences... but I don't understand what they are? Is it that the HD1000 has a clear segment and the HD73 does not? How does this effect picture quality?

any good websites on the DLP vs LCD Projector comparisons?

Heres' a pretty good onehttp://www.projectorcentral.com/lcd_dlp_update.htm also I know the HD1000 has sealed optics so you never have to clean a filter or worry about dust blobs. After living with an LCD without sealed optices I can tell you sealed optics are a very good thing to have.

OK, so let's say you take the HD73 out of the picture...

Leaving the HD1000 and the Z5 or AX100

Does the HD1000 have any significant benefits over the LCD competitors?

HD1000U has better black level, sealed optics, brighter, So far more reliable than AX100, cheaper, some say the picture quality is better than the Z5. Half the price of the AX100 and Z5 so you could buy a new sub $1000 projector next year and get the latest new features with the money saved versus having a Z5 or AX100 for two years.

IMO the HD1000U is hard to beat for the price when compared to the LCD projectors, but if you need lens shift or the HD1000U offset won't work in your room then you may be better off with one of the LCD models.

As for the offset how high is your ceiling and what size screen do you plan to use?

I have 12 foot ceilings, and will be using a 54x96 screen.

I'm not concerned with the offset.

Yep offset not an issue for you.

HD1000U has better black level, sealed optics, brighter, So far more reliable than AX100, cheaper, some say the picture quality is better than the Z5. Half the price of the AX100 and Z5 so you could buy a new sub $1000 projector next year and get the latest new features with the money saved versus having a Z5 or AX100 for two years.

IMO the HD1000U is hard to beat for the price when compared to the LCD projectors, but if you need lens shift or the HD1000U offset won't work in your room then you may be better off with one of the LCD models.

As for the offset how high is your ceiling and what size screen do you plan to use?

Actually, the AX100 has a lower black level than the HD1000u with a 0 IRE full field - I just had both of them in to trial this past 2 weeks. I didn't take any measurements as I had a couple of hours max before I could return them. The HD1000u had decent ansi contrast but the AX100 looked to have better on/off (DI really helps here). Too much light spill and I saw some rainbows at the 4x speed so the 1000u went back; dust blob and panel misconvergence on the AX100 so it went back also. Next one I want to look at is the Mitsu 3100 (but maybe the Optoma HD73 also).

We are about a week or so into the HD73 and every DVD we have played looks a ton better than what we were used to with the Z2.. The colors in the HD DVD's are incredible. Black is black, white is white and all the colors in between look totally natural.