Thomas J. Norton

Epson offered impressive demos of its PowerLite Pro Cinema 4030 ($2499) and 6030 ($3499) projectors, the former in 3D, the latter in 2D. Each of these models come with 3 year parts and labor warranty (90 days on the lamp), a spare lamp, and a ceiling mount. Both are finished in black and are available only through "CEDIA" channels--that is, to the custom installer. But the on-line or conventional shopper can get the same performance as the 6030 with the new PowerLite Pro Cinema 5030 (shown here) at $2600 (a wireless version is available at $2900).

Planar showed an 84-inch UHD set available in a variety of configurations: a straight display, a somewhat brighter straight display, a display with a writable surface (shown here) and more. It can also show four standard HD programs at the same time in opposing quadrants of the screen. Pricing was a little confusing, but plan on at least $20,000 and up, depending on the version you choose.

Planar is the company that bought out Runco a few years back, but if they are still making projectors they weren't showing them this year. The passing of Runco as a distinct entity is notable in the annals of CEDIA EXPO. That company nearly always had one of the largest booths at the show.

ADDENDA: In scoping out the Wisdom Audio demo (discussed elsewhere here) I noted that it was using a 3-chip Runco DLP projector. Under Planar, Runco projectors are indeed still available.

For the adventurous home theater, Joy Carpets & Co, offers a range of carpets, from conventional to truly wild.

Not to be a party pooper, but the best carpet for a darkened home theater using a projector and screen is as close to jet flat black as you can manage. Black walls and ceilings, too. Just sayin'.

I think a hundred or so interior decorators were just administered CPR.

Any screen can be used for 4K projection, but unless the screen surface is sufficiently smooth and free of roughness or graininess, those tiny 4K pixels can be degraded. Da-Lite features a wide range of screen materials that it argues are 4K-ready.