Hitachi CPS840W

The Hitachi CPS840W borders on bulky (at 4.45kg) and has a colour scheme that is definitely drab. But don’t let that put you off — it performs well where it counts.
The Hitachi was initially excluded from review as it exceeded our price cap of $7,000. The manufacturer has set the recommended retail price at $8,020, but we found it at Harris Technology for $6,094. If you look around a bit more, you might find an even better price. Hitachi is aware of the price difference and stated that if retailers can afford to charge less, they are free to do so.
The price might lead you to expect that the Hitachi CPS840W would take out honours in the DisplayMate testing. However, it was no match for the NEC VT440, which beat the Hitachi in most categories except colour (where there was little difference between the two).
The intensity and sharpness of the colour scale projected by the Hitachi CPS840W was excellent, and in both cat egories it equalled the NEC VT440 with a perfect score. But this sharpness did not translate well to the greyscale. The menu options do not offer comprehensive brightness/contrast adjustment, resulting in a black that was less ‘true’ than that produced by the NEC VT44O. Greys were also slightly muddy, which was due largely to the limitations of the contrast scale.
The Hitachi CPS840W has inputs for RGB, Video and S-Video, and stereo speakers for audio functions. The remote control Is comfortable and allows full access to the functions of the projector. As with the Acer, a class 2 laser diode for precise pointing sits at the tip of the remote.
This is a good choice for budget projecting, but the NEC VT440 outclassed it in APCs tests.