NEC HT510: DLP delight

By Guy Cocker on 31 May 2005, 11:06am

Cinema is dead! A bold claim, but judging by the number of budget projectors pouring into Crave every day, we'd say our trips to the local Odeon are numbered. One of the most attractive models yet is the NEC HT510 -- a £1,200 beauty that now takes care of after-hours entertainment here in the office. Despite its lack of DVI input for high definition playback, we're pretty impressed with what it has to offer.

The secret ingredient is a DLP chipset -- DLP (for Digital Light Processing) technology, developed by Texas Instruments, has not only knocked LCD into a cocked hat, but now offers truly cinematic pictures at around £1,000. That means it will take even less time to recoup the investment on your own cinema -- just don't forget the little cup holders for your sofa.

While the lack of HD means that pictures as detailed as the Sistine Chapel won't be yours just yet, high-definition Blu-Ray movies won't be around until next year anyway. In the meantime you can take advantage of a 1,000 ANSI Lumens brightness, an ultra-low 26 dB fan noise and progressive scan component input. Yumm!

If the exorbitant fee charged for these megastars has been putting you off, now may be the time to sign up some more affordable talent. A full review of the HT510 is on the way to see if it can pass the audition. -GC