Movies come home

The first decade of the 21st century is shaping up to be the golden age of home cinema. And if you're going to truly replicate the experience of the big screen in your front room, the most crucial requirement is that your screen is, well, big.

With a £1,000 projector, you can expect to get an 80-100in picture (possibly more if you have the room).

In contrast, other types of display, such as gas plasma or LCD TVs, will probably cost significantly more for the privilege of owning a screen that's just half the size.

While projectors can be eyecatching when you want them to be, most can blend in with the furniture when not in use.

If it's a home cinema that you want, with perhaps the odd sporting event such as the Euro 2004 and Wimbledon finals this weekend and the Olympics later this summer thrown in, then a projector will prove your dream date.

TRY THEM OUT...

Hitachi Illumina PJ-TX10
A bargain-basement model, the LCD-powered Hitachi boasts a vivid and well-defined image, a short throw lens, and (at its best) a virtually inaudible 26db of operating noise. That it can do this for less than a grand defies belief.
Price: £950. Tel: 01628 643000.

Epson TW200
A step up from the TW10, this offers 1280x720 resolution support for ultimate effect. It also has manual lens shift adjustment, allowing you to get a perfect image even when the TW200 is not directly opposite the projector screen.
Price: £1,600. Tel: 0800 220 546, www.epson.co.uk

JVC DLA-SX21E:
No round-up of home cinema projectors would be complete without one model offering LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) technology. You're going to need to be pretty serious about your set-up to want to pay the £6,000 asking price but the natural image, stunning colour reproduction and excellent 1400x1050 resolution support might just sway you.
Price: £6,000. Tel: 020 8896 6000, www.jvcpro.co.uk

Infocus Screenplay 5700
This DLP (Digital Light Projector) is calibrated to 'D65 Hollywood perfection standards', meaning you can expect to experience its glorious colour scheme and crisp picture quality without having to adjust any of the settings. The price tag is actually quite reasonable when you consider that it outclasses many of the models costing several thousand pounds more.
Price: £3,000. Tel: 0800 028 6470, www.infocus.com

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