Hitachi is one of the best-known names on the CE market and, over the past few years, has released a relatively large number of A/V products, including here quite a large number of projectors. And this is exactly the type of device we'll talk about as follows, namely the company's CP-X608, released back in the second half of 2006, an installation projector that delivers good quality images as well as an advanced set of connectivity options at a surprisingly affordable price tag.



The projector uses three 0.8-inch P-Si TFT LCD panels, which help it attain a maximum resolution of around 1024 x 768 pixels and diagonal sizes of up to 300 inches. The contrast ratio is not exactly bad, but not that awesome either (just 1000:1), but the device does provide a very good light output, namely 4000 ANSI lumens, attained with the help of the 285W UHB lamp, which boasts an overall functioning life of around 2000 hours.



It's also important to note the fact that the device's standard lens (F=1.7~2.1, f=24.3~29.2mm) provides a throw distance ratio of 1.5~1.8:1, a zoom ratio of x 1.2 (manual zoom), as well as 16.7 million colors and a color depth of 8 bit/color.



The CP-X608 offers a rather normal set of connectivity interfaces, namely 15-pin Mini D-sub, BNC (x5) (shared with component), M1-D (HDCP Decoding for digital video signal), S-Video, various RCA and stereo mini jacks, an SVHS, an USB connector (M1-D terminal), as well as an RJ-45 interface for connecting to a network. Moreover, the device has also been equipped with a wireless module, which means that it can be hooked up to IEEE 802.11b/g networks fast and easy (it can receive video signals from up to 4 PCs at a time).



And since we're on the subject of connectivity, it's also quite important to note the fact that the projector can be used for making presentations even in the absence of a PC, as it sports an USB slot for connecting flash drives and a slot for SD memory cards. Furthermore, it is compatible with some of the most common image file formats around, including here JPEG, BMP, PNG, as well as with MPEG4 motion picture files.



The projector is compatible with a wide array of resolutions, including here VGA, SVGA, XGA, SXGA, SXGA+, UXGA Capability, MAC 16-inch (for PCs), as well as SDTV: 525i(480i), 525p(480p), 625i(576i) and HDTV: 750p (720p@60Hz), 1125i(1080i@50/60Hz) video resolutions. It works with the most common video systems around, namely NTSC/PAL/SECAM/PAL-M,N/NTSC4.43,



The CP-X608 from Hitachi can be purchased for around $3,200 from various retailers, which makes it quite an affordable product, all things considered.