[Editor's note: this review is excerpted from John's write-up of the 2004 Projector Expo.]

Another favorite from the show, one I wish we had been able to spend more time with. After taking the time necessary to properly set up, install, and focus the anamorphic lens, the crowd was a little restless, so we moved through the presentation without a lot of feedback from the audience. One person did immediately pipe up with "is it me, or does this look better than the 5700?" as soon as we put an HD clip up on the screen, however.

The HT-1100 does have a smoothness that is very appealing, especially after the intensity of the 5700. Brightness, with the iris open and the bulb on normal mode, was actually very high on the Carada Brilliant White screen. When we switched to high contrast mode with the iris closed, the image was still plenty bright on the 110" Carada Brilliant White, but the blacks and contrast were noticeably better. The image thrown by the HT-1100 in this mode was almost as good as the Sharp 12000, with tremendous contrast and great depth. The LOTR HD clip looked colorful and three-dimensional, with a smoothness that I don't think any of the other projectors possessed. We put up the ATTACK OF THE CLONES clip next, and the definition and depth in the dark city scapes toward the beginning of the film were extremely well rendered.

The Screenplay 5700 vs HT-1100 battles on this forum have become the stuff of legend. The NEC HT-1100 has a smoother, higher contrast, more 3-D look than the 5700, while the 5700 is brighter, more intense than the HT-1100 with the tiniest bit more sharpness and detail. With the anamorphic lens, though, the NEC is capable of greater picture detail when viewing HD broadcasts than the 5700. With the HT-1100, NEC has eliminated two of the issues I had with the older HT-1000. First, the picture is now distinctly brighter while retaining most of the deep blacks of the HT-1000, and the colors are now truer, without the lime greens and slightly washed out reds of the 1000. I really like the HT-1100.