[nigel_ht]

Now that we've had a forum split, it made me wonder if the differences between the price categories are larger or smaller today than say three-four years ago?


I'm leaning toward "yes the differences are larger" in as much as the there is more that a vendor can do to tailor a projector for the HT market. I think in part this is because the market for HT itself is now larger if still a tiny percentage of total digital projector sales. The market is large enough that boutique makers can interest large manufacturers into doing a production run of specialized machines whereas more projectors in the past were modified mainstream projectors (like for example the Runco VX1000C vs the VX-1c and 101c).


On the other hand, technology has improved to the point that many business or budget HT projectors perform fairly well compared to what was available a few years ago.


An associated question is whether or not the rate of change for digitial projectors has increased or decreased over time and whether the trend will continue into the future...though I think we had a thread on this not too long ago.


I'd have made this a poll but the reasons behind opinions seems more likely to be interesting than whatever the majority feels.


Nigel

 

[Pultzar]

They should have called it "high price" and "low price" projectors. I have seen some "low end" projectors that put up a much better image than some "high end" projectors.

 

[Carl Brinkman]

With the HT crowd now familiar with the JVC D-ILAs and the new DLP 16:9 projectors introduced recently there is certainly more interest in the $10k and up digital offerings than there was a few years ago.


Also there are a number of projectors in the under $3k range that are finally good enough to use without making major appologies. So from that standpoint we have two clusters to watch rather most being centered around the $5k mark.


Technology has been going pretty fast for at least 4 or 5 years now. I saw a preview of the then new Faroudja quadroupler at CES in 1966 and was blown away. That lead to the $4k NRS and now down to a few $50 chips internal to the DVD player or projector.


Digital projectors have been making improvements every year. The new 16:9 DLPs are the first I've seen (other than D-ILA) that don't make major compromizes. They will get much better in the next 4 to 5 years but the current offerings are a new level to simply enjoy and forget the hardware. It's too damm bad that JVC hasn't been serious about the HT market as it is certainly a contender functionally. If properly calibrated OOB and available through a half decent distribution network it would have been a real force in the market.

 

[sessamoid]

I think these forum categories will make much less sense come around Christmas time, or whenever the hd2 dlp projectors hit the market. Supposedly, the prices on these new projectors should be considerably lower yet provide a much better picture. Will we then just abolish the 5000+ forum?

 

[nigel_ht]

Ack, I didn't want another forum discussion.


Thinking about it on the drive back from Mom's, I think that I've refined my position...the differences are greater between the two market segments but they mean less.


As someone else commented the 3K projectors are becomming good enough that no major apologies need to be made.


All in all, a good thing for us folks eh?


Nigel