Looking for all the world like a huge crouching beetle, the gloss-black PD8150 is one of two single-chip 1080p DLP projectors to emerge from Planar's impressive engineering facility in Oregon, US. 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 its 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. The light engine uses the same Unishape lamp waveform technology described for SIM2's D80E [see p64] but with a beefier 230W high pressure mercury lamp. A 180W economy mode doubles the life-expectancy of the lamp from 2000 hours to 4000 hours. Sealed, user-replaceable lamps are offered at ￡399 from distributors, CSE. Planar has equipped its PD81 50 with a fabulously comprehensive set-up facility. Take a deep breath, hit the 'menu' key on its IR remote and don't panic because the PD8150 is one of the very few projectors I've reviewed that's almost perfectly calibrated when defaulted to its factory settings.
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