$6K Front Projector HT System Recommendations

[DrZeau]

Please help me w/ your rationale for Hitachi recommendations. Most reviews I've read suggest that the Panasonic, w/ its 2000:1 contrast (vs 1200:1 for Hitachi) beats that pants off Hitachi for black level clarity. However, Hitachi does offer better brightness w/ lumen of 1200 ANSI (vs 1000 ANSI for Panasonic).

Given the $1500 difference in costs, I'm not convinced that the additional 200 lumens will be worth it......yet, as you can tell I'm waffling and would welcome a great argument to go w/ the Hitachi! ;-)

should you go with the Hitachi and assuming a 92 to 100" screen, then ceiling placement should be at 12.5' with lens( not overall projector) aimed top dead center of screen. I know this model has a front IR sensor but not sure about rear therefore even with the equipment in front, you'll still need to be able to operate projector; I would run IR cable from projector and equipment rack to a sensor located somewhere below/above screen. I would also consider a upconversion dvd player and a Gefen DVI switcher. In a darkened room equipment lights can be distracting if not hidden---just something to consider

[AVMASTER]

in your original post you mention that lighting would be an issue at times, therfore my first thoughts would be to use a brighter projector with the trade-off being contrast. You could go between the two and utilize a Sony vplhs51; of course now you'll be spending more.