This month, we have a major feature article on video projectors, starting on page 8. It surveys all the currently available high-definition video projectors. This has been a mammoth task and inevitably, by the time this issue goes on sale, there may be some newer models on the market. That, of course, is a permanent hazard whenever you are trying to take a survey of rapidly moving technology.

And make no mistake, video projector technology has moved very rapidly in the last few years while the prices have dropped markedly. A few years ago there were few people who could contemplate owning a realistic home-theatre system but now anyone who is thinking of buying a large plasma or LCD set can buy a high quality video projector instead and probably save money at the same time.

I said as much in our February 2006 issue and following my own advice, recently purchased an LCD video projector. What a wonderful acquisition it has been. Every time we sit down to watch a DVD I just marvel at the picture quality and the mind-boggling technology which produces it. And this is without high-definition DVDs which will no doubt give a further quality improvement.

As one who well remembers the early days of TV and the common advice as to how far away you should sit from a 21-inch TV set to avoid seeing line structure, the picture quality we achieve today on a screen (actually just the wall) several metres wide is quite remarkable. Screen door effect? Not a problem! And yet only a year ago most LCD projectors could have been criticised for this drawback.

Certainly, you still need a darkened room to enjoy a video projector but in my case at least, that seems to be part of the ritual; you are not merely watching TV but having a theatre experience in your own home. Apart from having better picture quality than in a cinema, you also don’t have to endure sound levels that are too loud, the sounds and smell of popcorn or even having to cope with tall people sitting in front of you!

So why compromise with a plasma or LCD TV set? Or even with one of the rear projection sets? Provided you have a suitable blank wall or space for a large screen, you can have a high-definition video projector, for a similar or even less amount of money. Then you can be enjoying really large pictures in your own home. Now that is a true home theatre experience.