HomeTheaterMag Reviews: Yamaha DPX-1300
By Matt Burns 
posted Jul 27th 2006 11:13AM
posted Jul 27th 2006 11:13AM
Home theaters are all the rage these days and despite everything that Mark Cuban can do, they are keeping people out of normal movie theaters. Front projectors can easily surpass the picture quality that is found in many theaters and this new one by Yamaha is a great example. This is a single chip DLP setup that sells for $12,499 and is only 720p. (we will get to that) Home Theater sat this guy down on their bench and walked away very impressed. How impressed you say? "Well, to be sure, the DPX-1300 is the pinnacle of single-chip 720p DLP performance." That's a quote right from the horse mouth. Sure, this projector is only 720p but my goodness, Home Theater loved it.
If you are in the market for a high-end projector, this is a must read for you.
[Via HDBlog]
I don't think if I had the cash I would pick it over the Sony VPL-VW100 (Ruby). This from Ultimate AV in February comparing the Ruby to the Yamaha:
I've only spent time (just a few hours, so far) with one other projector that will give this one a serious run for its money. At a notably more expensive $12,500 the Yamaha DPX-1300 offers more light output (if you open up its manual iris, and admittedly I'm also viewing the Yamaha with a new lamp), more accurate color points, more adjustability, cheaper replacement lamps, and a somewhat sharper image. Yes, the latter observation sounds odd when you consider that the Yamaha has a lower native resolution (1280x720), but the apparent resolution enhancement might be due less to the Yamaha itself than to its Silicon Optix scaler—the current hot ticket in that department.
On the other hand, while it's hardly noisy, the DPX-1300 is louder than the nearly silent Sony, can't match the latter's blacks (though it's not exactly chopped liver in that department), does flash the occasional rainbow, and doesn't produce quite as silky-smooth an image as the Sony on high definition sources—almost certainly due to the Sony's higher pixel count. (A full review of the DPX-1300 is in the works).
Hey Matt, you said "my goodness" - now everyone take a drink. That is, everyone who's playing the Matt Burns Drinking Game (tm) with me. ;-)
On topic, for $12,500 I don't think I could justify to myself to get a single-chip DLP projector.