InFocus, maker of digital projection products, has launched the IN2100 series DLP projectors targeting educators and businesses. The Learn Big and Work Big projectors both feature 2,500 lumens with a 2,500 hour lamp life requiring those expensive bulb changes less frequently. The lack of filters will also save some costs with this new line, and both projectors also feature the BrilliantColor technology giving a bright projection at a fairly reasonable price.

The IN2100 series come in three models each having a different resolution (and price). The IN2102 has SVGA with a $599 price tag, the IN2104 is XGA retailing at $799 and the IN2106 is WXGA going for $999.

Runco has a new addition to their lineup of Xtreme DLP projectors with the VX-22i which they are introducing at the Consumer Electronics Show this year in Las Vegas. The VX-22i is based on their popular VX-22d model but this time they’ve integrated the DHD controller into the same chasis as the projector making a one piece high-def projector to provide a theater-like experience of your own.

All of the Xtreme projectors from Runco, the VX-22i included, run a three-chip DLP implementation with a chip dedicated to each color of red, green and blue for better color with high calibration standards and THX Display certification. This model also can be optionally equipped with what Runco calls the “CineWide” and “CineWide with AutoScope”. This add-on brings another $15k to the price of the projector but gives more of a real movie theater-like display. It can show 2.35:1 CinemaScope movies and gets rid of that unattractive black bar above and below the picture that you often get when trying to view widescreen pictures, even with switching between CinemaScope wide and 16:9.

Microvision, a light-scanning technology developer, is bringing to CES to showcase an advanced prototype of “the first handheld, battery-powered, plug-and-play projector based on the company’s single micro-mirror laser scanning display technology.” The company is calling this new pico projector for now the Show.

The Microvision Show is powered by the company’s proprietary “ultra-miniature PicoP display engine.” This technology will, according to Microvision, let you project a widescreen, WVGA (848 X 480 pixels), DVD quality image from the projector in a range anywhere from 12 inches (30 cm) to 100 inches (2.5 m) in size depending upon the projection distance.

SIM2, a developer of home theater products, is out with a stylish new home media projector which hopefully will match features with its high price. The SIM2 C3X 1080 is awaiting your credit card to be charged for around $32,000.

The SIM2 C3X 1080 is a small 3 chip projector using Texas Instrument’s latest DarkChip 4 chip (you home theater geeks know what this means so I’ll move on). It delivers self-described “benchmark quality” 1080p video display and makes use of special all-glass optics in the company’s proprietary light engine.

If you’re looking for something new to match with your “Star Wars” bedsheets, wallpaper and pajamas and that R2-D2 soy sauce bottle we told you about isn’t good for your bedroom then here is the droid that you have been looking for.

National Console Support is releasing an R2-D2 night light projector that will give you images of “Star Wars” goodness to drift off into dreamland while watching. Running off of two AAA batteries the projector will display moving vistas of the Death Star, an X-wing spaceship and Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon on your bedroom ceiling. Best of all the projector comes in two different models: the blue R2-D2 version or a red R2-M5 version if you actually like the “Star Wars” prequels over the original movie trilogy. The little guy’s legs move too and the dome flips over to reveal the projector (you didn’t think that the hologram projector was functional did you?)

InFocus announced it’s new Play Big IN1 Gaming projector, designed specifically for gaming consoles, like the Wii, Xbox, and PlayStation. In other words, it is optimized for gaming, with multiple S-video, component and composite inputs for DVD players, cable and satellite boxes. It combines projection with great audio and has all of the inputs that you need for your gaming consoles and other devices.

We are talking images up to 8 feet! It’s packaged with DLP technology from Texas Instruments giving you high quality images. How about a stereo system with built in amplifier? It has it. This gives you a BIG gaming experience in a device that is very portable. Gamers have been waiting for something like this for some time.

Viewsonic introduced today five new DLP projectors best suited towards educators and business professionals. An example of these new projectors is the PJ260D, priced at around $1,000.

The Viewsonic PJ260D make use of Texas Instruments’ BrilliantColor Technology to reportedly deliver “richer, more lifelike images by using a wider range of the color spectrum.” It is designed to be portable, available in a lightweight body. Viewsonic says it can automatically synchronize with the input source and projects in 1024×768 XGA resolution.

Epson is bringing a new high definition projector to its growing line. This new model is known as the PowerLite Home Cinema 720, priced at around $1,300.

Epson says the PowerLite 720 is capable of projecting HD quality images at up to 120 inches. It features 3LCD technology to help it accomplish this as well as a three-chip optical engine. The 720 offers users up to 1,600 ANSI lumens, 10-bit color processing and up to 10,000:1 contrast ratio.

BenQ earlier this week unveiled a new digital projector with a high brightness which is reportedly easy to use. The new BenQ SP820 should be available this month.

The BenQ SP820, weighing in at 8.2 pounds, offers up a brightness of 4,000 ANSI lumens. This is coupled with 1024×768 resolution, a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and digital zoom. The compact design of this projector includes a built-in handle for portability, while a lamp door on the side allows for an easier time of changing out the lamp.

Project-a-Phone - you know, like Toss-a-Tomato - unveiled today a device which lets you display a live image of a phone screen on a computer so you can do various things to it. The ICD-1300 is priced at around $295.

The Project-a-Phone ICD-1300, which is actually a lower cost sibling to the equally obscure ICD-5000, is designed to work with virtually any mobile device. It clamps onto the phone and “delivers a live video feed of the screen image to a PC through a USB cable.” Included Windows software lets you “record video and audio, takes still images individually or in a programmed sequence, and can display multiple screens simultaneously.”

While digital light projectors drop in price and rise in their ability to deliver crisp images, the gulf between the high-end projectors and the average ones still remains a wide one. Consider SIM2’s SIM2 Grand Cinema C3X 1080 which is described by the firm as being the world’s smallest (by 40cm square) and lightest (10 kilos) full high-def three-chip DLP projector. It also may be the world’s best-looking DLP too, but can it answer a question better than Miss South Carolina?

The C3X 1080 gives you 1920 x 1080 progressive video, 10-bit video processing with full depth of picture, HD scaling, deinterlacing so your 24fps is of the utmost clarity when you’re paying attention to it. It does that by having inside of it three 0.95-inch, 1080p DLP chips designed by Texas Instruments, the best that the industry can make for projection displays. Additionally the unit’s software can calibrate itself to precisely deliver the best picture that your set-up can muster. If the C3X 1080 had a red circle light and spoke in a quiet voice we would call it HAL.

Toshiba unveiled today what it’s calling a compact projector with “extreme short projection” and wireless functionality. The Toshiba TDP-EX20U is priced at around $1,600.

The Toshiba TDP-EX20U is a mobile projector with DLP technology, 3,200 ANSI Lumens and a contrast ratio of 2000:1. The “extreme short projection” feature means the projector can put up a 60-inch image from just three feet away. It also comes with Windows Vista networking capabilities and built-in 802.11g wireless if you want to connect it to a network or notebooks from anywhere in the room and deliver sequential presentations without the need for cables.

Epson unveiled its newest high end projector targeted towards HD lovers. The Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema 1080 UB will be available in December for an as yet unspecified price.

The Pro Cinema 1080 UB delivers 1080p resolution and contrast ratios measuring up to 50,000:1. It’s one of a handful of projectors carrying the latest 3LCD optical engine that uses 12-bit video processing and a new polarizing light filter to deliver better blacks and contrast ratios. Brightness levels can reach 1,600 ANSI lumens and two HDMI 1.3 inputs provide connectivity for high definition video formats.

Panasonic today unveiled at the CEDIA event a new LCD home theater projector with has dedicated cinema and gaming modes. The PT-AX200U, which updates the popular PT-AX100U, should be available in October.

The Panasonic PT-AX200U’s gaming mode, said Panasonic, reportedly improves signal processing for 1/3 response time and also tunes picture quality so more image details appear in very dark or over-saturated areas that are prevalent in many games. The projector’s cinema mode offers features like an advanced sharpness control, high end color filter and better color correction.

InFocus today announce the IN38, the latest addition to its line of Work Big meeting room projectors. The new projector is designed to give a powerful and effective projection while still maintaining a small, quiet footprint.

The projector measures 13×16.5×9.5 inches and weighs about 12 pounds, but for its size it puts out and impressive 3,500 lumens (2,800 in Whisper mode) with an equally impressive 2000:1 contrast ratio. It’s data compatible up to 1280 x 1024 and will take video as high as 1080i, automatically scaling when you take it home to watch your high-def movies at 16:9. The IN38 also has a 1.2X optical zoom letting it throw images with a range of 2.5 feet to as large as 25 feet. It also has a slew of inputs including M1-DA, Component, VGA and S-Video.