Sounds like Chevy, Runs like a BMW

But you guys, yeah, you know who you are, you want your big screen rear projectors. The Sony SXRD Grand Wega TVs are available in up to a 70" size. That's a big picture that might just satisfy a front projector snob like me. For comparison purposes, I've placed Stereophile reviewer Kal Rubinson next to the KDS-R70XBR2 70" set in place of the ruler I did not have handy. Thanks Kal. The set is just what you'd expect from SXRD; three chips, no color wheels (and hence no rainbow effects), 1920 x 1080p resolution and glorious pictures (albeit set to slightly cartoonish extremes on a few of the sets, par for show conditions). Other features include the same upgraded release of the DRC (Digital Reality Creation engine), 2.5, used with the Sony Bravia LCD panels, and unique to digital projectors, Sony's Cinema Pro Black, a variable iris technology that adjust the iris stops up or down based on available light content in the movie to yield up to 10,000:1 contrast ratios. The 70" KDS-R70XBR2 (est. $7,800) and 60" KDS-R60XBR2 (est. $5,300) units won't ship until the fall.

If the new Grand Wega's are priced too rich for your blood, the new A2000 rear-projection line by Sony features the same .61mm SXRD chipset of the Grand Wega sets in more affordable 50" (KDS-50A2000, $3,500), 55" (KDS-55A2000, $4,0000) and 60" (KDS-60A2000, $4,500) sizes that ship this summer.

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