New ViewSonic HD projector coming soon

Later this month, ViewSonic will roll out a new DLP home-theater projector, the Cine5000. While standard HDTVs get most of the buzz, front projectors represent a great value if you want a huge screen and you don't mind dimming the lights. The Cine5000, for instance, should have no problem filling a 150-inch screen, and it has an estimated street price of $2,000. Its 1,280x768 native resolution is capable of displaying every pixel of 720p sources, and it can receive HD signals from its HDMI input, component video input, or VGA-style PC input. ViewSonic mentions a bunch of other specs, such as a 2000:1 contrast ratio, 1,000 lumens, Faroudja DCDi video processing, and Texas Instruments DarkChip2 DLP chip, but we won't know how those specs translate to real-world performance until we test it. As with all DLP-based technology that uses a color wheel, some users may experience the rainbow effect.

While $2,000 might seem cheap compared to big-screen HDTVs, it's more than some comparable DLP models, such as Mitsubishi's HD1000U ($1,500 list). We expect to have a full review of the Cine5000 as soon as possible.

Sources: ViewSonic via AboutProjectors via Engadget