Yamaha DPX-1200 DLP Projector

Yamaha Electronics Corporation debuted its fourth generation DLP Digital Cinema Projector, the DPX-1200. The DPX-1200 features the newest DLP DMD light engine, the 720P DarkChip3, which delivers 25 percent higher contrast than previous DLP engines. The new chip substantially improves natural blacks and gradations in the DPX-1200's picture quality. The projector's design was based on Yamaha's "Natural Black" concept, specifically engineered to achieve deeper levels of black than most conventional projectors are capable of producing.

The DPX-1200 uses a high-resolution lens (f= 2.7-5.0) that maintains sensitivity to the very edge of the lens. Four anomalous dispersion glass components have cut the chromatic aberration in half while maintaining a short focal point and high-magnification zoom.

For a true 16x9 home theater experience, the DXP-1200 has a 1.6x motorized zoom lens capable of accommodating a lens-to-screen distance of 9 ft. 10 in. to 15 ft. 9 in. on a 100" diagonal 16x9 screen, for extreme flexibility in projector placement. The projector also features a motorized vertical lens shift that is ±50 percent of projection height, and digital keystone correction for a perfectly rectangular picture even if users need to mount the projector above or below the screen center. The Natural Color Adjustment system fine tunes the picture by adjusting the color temperature in increments of 500k ranging between 5,000k and 10,000k, and up to 12 different combinations of parameter settings can be stored with easy future recall. The DPX-1200 offers brightness levels of up to 800 lumens, and stated contrast ratios of up to 5000:1. In addition to the normal menu, a one-line graphical menu configuration can keep projector operation adjustments simple.

The DPX-1200's high-speed, seven-segment color wheel adds a Neutral Density (ND) filter on the green segment to improve color reproduction and detail in darker scenes, and to provide a sharper, more accurate picture.

The DPX-1200 handles a wide variety of analog and digital signals including HDMI, component video with BNC terminals and RGB, composite and S-video inputs. In addition, the DPX-1200 features a PC standard RS-232 serial port so users can control the projector via a computer or system controller. For additional system integration, a 200mA +12V trigger can activate a motorized screen when the projector is powered on or off.

Other features include Smart Zoom for projecting 4:3 sports broadcasts onto a full 16:9 screen; Cinema Zoom, which tracks a cinescope size black bar outside the 16:9 screen; six memories for each input; Operation Status Lock; Lamp Power Selector; Selectable Video Scan; Manual Display Aspect Selection; Still Function; Message Display; and Automatic Aspect Conversion.

The DPX-1200, priced at $12,495, will be available in February 2005. For more information visit www.yamaha.com/home .