Meridian’s 810 projector boldly claims to be the Reference Video System, and after seeing it for myself I think that’s a fair assessment. The US$185,000 box (that’s right!) uses specially calibrated JVC D-ILA light engine panels to deliver a resolution of 4096 x 2400 pixels, or put simply, 10-freaking-megapixels. Compare that to 1080i’s one paltry MP of resolution, or 1080p full HD’s skimpy 2MP. So how does the 810 do its magic? With a very unique scaling engine.
How much contrast does one man need? Meridian’s MF10 1080p projector is said to deliver 30,000:1, and for the low-end-automobile sticker price of US$15,000. (Too bad it’s not scalable: I’ll settle for 10,000:1 for US$5,000—or hell, a 30:1 for US$15.) This projector doesn’t use the more common lower-end engine based on TI’s DLP chip, but a three-chip system based, like Sony’s SXRD, on an LCD derivative called “liquid crystal on silicon.” In this case, it’s JVC’s D-ILA technology. Each chip has the 1920×1080 resolution, and manages red, green or blue. There’s a motorised lens with 2X zoom capability for smaller rooms, but who are we kidding? If you can afford this, you’re gonna have a room big enough to do it justice. [Meridian]
