Panasonic PT-AX100U

With a street price of $2k the AX100U lies somewhere between the ultra budget projectors and the higher end price tags. However, its feature set makes it obvious that you getting a great deal. With the Dynamic Iris, you can expect a 6,000:1 contrast ration and a brightness of 13.0 to 60.4 fr-lamberts depending on the mode you use. This model also carries support for stretching 2.35:1 movies with 720p or 1080i resolutions.

From the article:

Of all of the projectors I have owned or seen, the PT-AX100U is the one that
I would be most comfortable recommending to first time projector owners.
There are multiple reasons for this, including its price point, but largely
the flexibility that Panasonic has designed into this particular model. From the
vertical and horizontal lens shift and large throw range that allow it to
work in many environments, to the ability to go bright when needed, while
also providing a good color balanced mode with good contrast ratio for dark
room viewing, this is just a really good unit. When I get a call from a
friend of a friend or a relative telling me that they are thinking about
getting a front projector and asking me for a recommendation, I expect the
PT-AX100U to be the first projector to come to mind for a while, even if I
do end up recommending something else after finding out their budget and
other factors.