BTW, I wrote a 'Piano: six month's later' column in addition to my original review; both are available at http://www.greengart.com/askavi.htm .

Azyran,

Sorry to hear you're so sensitive to rainbows. Most people aren't.

But even so, I also considered a RPTV before buying a PLUS Piano. In my case, I simply couldn't fit a RPTV larger than 53" down the stairs to my basement home theater. My choice: either upgrade my analog 53" RPTV to an equally sized HD-capable RPTV, or keep the analog model and supplement it with an 84" (4:3) screen and projector. The size difference there is enormous, and when it comes to involvement / suspension of disbelief / losing yourself in the movie ...size matters.

In terms of Outlaw, I just can't see how they can play in this space. Later this year PLUS and InFocus are expected to release home theater projectors based on TI's HD2 chipset - 720p, better blacks, better contrast, brighter - in the $6~7K range. One (or both) of those companies may OEM them for a major consumer electronics brand for sale through big box retailers. 480p units (the PLUS Piano and InFocus ScreenPlay) currently sell for $3-4K, and might go down in price further with HD2 versions. The PLUS unit has wonderful ergonomics, and both of them were designed with home theater performance in mind.

So how could Outlaw compete?

To provide their usual value proposition, Outlaw would have to hit insane price targets for a 480p unit - basically, they'd have to sell an Outlaw Piano for $2K, and an Outlaw Sharp 9000 for $4-5K. Even if they did, PLUS and InFocus have the economies of scale, capital, and Internet distribution model to compete with Outlaw on price. Nobody else could, though, because everyone else has dealer margins to protect. So if Outlaw can hit those price targets - and I SERIOUSLY doubt they can - they can play the digital projector game. Otherwise, I think you'll see them sit on the sidelines until some new technology comes along that changes the rules of the game. Maybe 1080p LCOS, or something else 18 - 24 months out.

-avi

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Sr. Product Marketing Manager looking for new position to pay for home theater gear. Leads? Questions? AskAvi@Greengart.com. Thanks.

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[This message has been edited by Avi (edited May 09, 2002).]