Epson America Unveils Industry’s First 1080p Resolution Front Projector to Break $3,000 Price Mark

LONG BEACH, Calif., March 26 /PRNewswire/ — Imagine the excitement of having a ten-foot high-definition display in your home that lets you, your family, and friends experience sports, movies, and video games in larger-than-life sizes with cutting-edge true 1080p native resolution, the industry's most cutting-edge video signal to date. Epson America today announced a new 3LCD front projector — the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 — that not only delivers amazing video performance and visual impact, but is the industry's first to do so at the price point of $2,999.

Epson is currently the number-one selling brand of front projectors worldwide(1) and this groundbreaking 3LCD projector builds on that leadership by giving home entertainment enthusiasts one of the industry's most advanced, high definition display products available. Designed to maximize the viewing experiences of virtually any high definition content, the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 can produce display sizes up to 120 inches, which is more than eight times the display area of a 40-inch big screen television. The primary objective for this projector is to produce an unforgettable high definition viewing experience with movie theater impact in virtually anyone's home.

Many single-chip projection products currently on the market claim to achieve 1080p resolution through the use of moving mirrors, sequential color, and virtual pixels that create the illusion of seeing 1,080 full time vertical lines of resolution. However, Epson projectors achieve true 1080p resolution by actually using 1,920 x 1,080 pixels on each of the projector's three LCD chips, resulting in full-time color and full-time resolution that give viewers higher levels of rich, vibrant image quality. This technology further maximizes the visual benefits associated with today's most advanced multimedia entertainment devices such as HD cable and satellite tuners, HD-DVD players, Xbox 360 and 1080p-based technologies that include Blu-Ray and the Sony PLAYSTATIONTM 3.

"Without question, this projector is poised to make a profound impact on the home theater market and it won't take long for movie lovers everywhere to recognize that this projector represents the next must-have display," said Aaron Marinari, senior product manager, Epson America. "The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 is an amazing breakthrough projector that pushes the limits of technology by delivering cutting-edge blacks, rich colors, depth, detail, and all in true 1080p native resolution."

The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 features new, and in some cases
exclusive, video technologies that are designed to deliver an
unparalleled home theater experience. These include:

  *  Sharper image detail made possible via the projector's true 1080p
resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels)
*  Industry-leading connectivity -- Epson is currently the only projector
manufacturer to offer HDMI 1.3 connectivity with Deep Color support on
1080p native resolution projectors
*  Brighter, more accurate colors are achieved through the use of 3-chip,
3LCD technology
*  Wider range of black tones and up to 12,000:1 contrast ratio contribute
to increased visual depth via Epson's C2Fine technology
*  Superior optics -- Epson's exclusive AccuCinema lens system takes
advantage of 14 lenses, including two aspherical lenses, to maintain
superior picture integrity across the entire image from corner to
corner
*  More installation options -- the projector's lens shift capability
(96-degree vertical, and 47-degree horizontal) is currently the best on
the market, which makes it more adaptable to a wide range of room sizes
and install situations that may require unusual setup angles
*  Stylish pearlescent finish and compact size allow the projector to
visually blend in better with rooms that have white ceilings

The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 will be available in April 2007
through authorized Epson projector dealers and select retail outlets.

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