If you want bang for the buck, the Optoma HD7300 with its own outboard video processor is one heck of a deal. True it’s only 720p and not the holy grail of 1080p resolution. However, the unit’s external processor—which allows for precise adjustments of contrast, brightness, grayscale, color, gamma and sharpness—makes this combination a winner.

The Optoma HD7300 delivers excellent high-definition images from any HD source, be it broadcast or disc. The short-throw lens makes it capable of projecting 100-inch diagonal images from less than 10 feet away, which is perfect when you don’t have a lot of space. Additionally, the horizontal and vertical lens shift allows for placement just about anywhere.

Between the projector and the processor there is a full suite of available video inputs for any video source you can imagine. And with the external scaler, they are all upconverted to a pristine 720p resolution.

DLP Technology: Single-chip 720p DarkChip3 DMD

Resolution : 1280 X 720p

Contrast ratio: 5,000:1

ANSI Lumens: 1,000

Connections: 1 DVI; 2 Component Video; 1 S-Video; 1 Composite; 1 VGA; 3 HDMI ports on video processor plus additional (????); 2 Component (BNC); 2 Component (RCA); 3 S-Video, 3 Composite; 1 VGA

Communication Connections: 2 RS-232; 2 12-Volt Triggers; 1 IR port

Lamp Life (in hours): 3,000

Price: $4,995

Web Site: www.optomausa.com