Projecting images

GIZMO GALLERY

The Epson TW1000 is for those imagery buffs who do not mind paying for the luxury. Canon's LV7265 is comfortable but not as bright as the Epson projector.

The new 1080p resolution format""considered a high-definition TV video mode""it appears, is giving projector manufacturers a chance to shine in the home theatre market.

The Epson Home Theatre projector TW1000 beats others in the high definition (HD) performance market that includes names like Panasonic, BenQ, and Sony. Epson's petite form factor seems to have acted as an attraction.

Measuring just 124 mm x 406 mm x 310 mm, the projector is a boon for those looking to give their homes a chic or contemporary look. Being twice as powerful as any 720p model, the Epson TW1000 is all about picture details. It uses the latest 3-LCD chip that's made by Epson and this chip is native 1080 x 1920 pixels and thus true HD. (For instance: 720p is 1280 x 720 pixels and 1080p is 1080 x 1920 pixels.)

The TW1000 has a maximum contrast ratio (CR) of 12000:1. The result: fantastic imagery. You can really see the difference when you place it besides a 720p model.

It livens a 100-inch screen or an entire wall. From movies to video games, and with lights on or off, every performance is superb. Set-up is simple. But you will need Rs 2.15 lakh to take this projector home.

Canon's LV 7265, on the other hand, lends a comfortable big-screen image display, something that has become essential to business, education and many other fields today. Canon has upped the price-performance impact of its affordable LV Series of LCD-based multimedia projectors with LV 7265.

With a compact (310mm x 109mm x 265mm) size and weighing just 3.1kg, the LV 7625 can double up as a multimedia projector in anything from a private room to a boardroom.

Although not as bright as the Epson, LV 7625 promises brightness of 2,500 lumens, which essentially means that you don't have to draw the blinds to start your presentation.

The LV 7265's minimum projection distance is around 1 metre and it is equipped with the zoom lens of 1.6x. This beamer outputs resolution in the range from XGA (1024 x 768 pixels) to SXGA (1280 x 1024 pixels).

Canon has added a built-in interface, called DVI-I, for perfect reproduction of digital signals from PCs or other digital video sources such as DVDs, plus a VGA output for an external monitor as well as S-Video, VGA and there is also an in-built 5W speaker.

It also boasts of a Quick Start and Quick Cooling, starting up in about eight seconds and cooling down within 30 seconds. And it really does.

The Canon LV 7265 projector has been priced at Rs 1.10 lakh and is a more affordable option for those less likely to nitpick on image quality.