Looking for all the world like a huge crouching beetle, the gloss-black PD8 150 is one of two single-chip 1080p DLP projectors to emerge from Planar's impressive engineering facility in Oregon, US. The company has its roots in cutting-edge commercial, medical and industrial display technologies and recently acquired both Vidikron and Runco - prestige projector specialists - to bolster its high-end consumer interests. We'll reveal more about this fascinating brand in next month's 'Movers & Shakers'... As brand ambassador for this issue, the PD8 150 is off to a good start. The shapely carapace is sealed against any spurious light leakage down to 50% of its nominal black level output, features auto ceiling-mount detection and a detachable 'boot' that conceals all incoming cabling. The all-glass optics are substantial for a sub-￡5k projector and offer a 1.85-2.4 throw ratio (1.56-1.86 with the optional short-throw lens), but both zoom and focus are manual operation only, I'm afraid. Still, at least the ±15% horizontal and +120/-50% vertical lens shift mechanisms allow the PD8150 to be sited substantially off-axis without detriment to the image or the need to implement a last-ditch digital keystone correction.
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