Epson had this prototype of a new 1080p LCD projector on static display, but not on demonstration. The PowerLite Pro Cinema 1080p uses the company's newest D6 C2 Fine LCD panels. No price or availability date was announced.

Salamander's new Chameleon furniture line is going to thrill a lot of Suzi Homemakers who want to find a home for hubby's electronic toys. The Hampton model here sells for $1,899, and there are four other models available as well. Options (not included in the price) are rear mounted power strips and Plasma mounts. The optional fan cooling and IR repeaters will come in handy when those solid wood doors are shut too. This little company is located in my neck of the woods in Connecticut and you have to admire how they've grown. Their products are well engineered and assemble easily. I've had one of their Synergy racks for over three years and I love it. These look even nicer still.

OK, before reading any further you should know that I’ve purchased and used Vandersteen audio loudspeakers as a reference for the last several years, and that I’ve had many intimate and extremely satisfying experiences with Audio Research’s gear as well. So, when I rolled over to the Vandersteen-ARC-Kubala-Sosna room at the CEDIA off-shoot T.H.E. Show, these people were preaching to the already converted to be sure!

ProjectionDesign has a unique solution for high end custom installer. Their Action Model Three 1080 projector, using a single 1080p DLP chip, but is equipped with two lamps and two color wheels. In other words, the projector has two light paths that are recombined before being sent out the lens. ProjectionDesign claims that this eliminates rainbows, and in ten minutes of viewing, I only saw one rainbow that wasn't caused by rapidly turning my head. I'm real sensitive to color rainbows, so I'll have to say they succeeded.

Classe will market the SSP-900 surround pre-pro next year for around $25,000. Start skipping lunch.

JVC demonstrated a new 1080p/D-ILA video projector that is expected to sell for around $7000 when it becomes available next year. it looked outstanding, even outperforming the Sony VPL-VW100 ("Ruby") set up side-by-side with it. I saw no significant shortcomings, at least under show conditions. It even had the best contrast I've yet seen on a JVC projector, by far.

I spent the better part of an hour in several separate visits watching the new Sony VPL-VW50 SXRD 1080p projector. While one could argue that there were better images to be seen at the show (comparing projectors under show conditions, with different screens sizes, materials, and different program material is a nearly hopeless exercise), there were only a few that could compete in the Sony's price range. The above screen shot won't really tell the whole story (screen shots are also an iffy thing) but I'll go with it anyway. The odd shape is simply due to limitations in the camera positioning. The image was a true rectangle. Honest.