One of the first 1080p DLPs to be available is the Optoma HD81 ($10,000, due in June or July). This two-piece projector/processor system employs a new Texas Instruments 1080p chipset that supposedly delivers better color and does away with the "wobulation" used in rear-projection DLPs like the HP MD6580n, employing 1920x1080 actual mirrors.
The press release on Optoma's new top-of-the-line projector also boasts of an improved contrast ratio of 6,000:1, along with a new color wheel, 10-bit color processing, a Gennum VXP scalar, and a galaxy of adjustments that include five-step brightness control and a "studio grade" color-management system. The company is also touting the projector's quieter operation. As a two-piece system, the HD81 houses all of the input connectors in a separate processor box that connects to the projector via a digital cable that can be as much as 100 feet long. Among the processor's many connections are a trio of HDMI inputs that are, according to the company's rep, compatible with 1080p sources.
Texas Instruments' press release, for its part, mentioned a number of other front-projector manufacturers that would be producing 1080p DLP-based projectors this year, including Marantz, Projectiondesign, Runco, Sharp, and Sim2.