Premiere Design

In Greek mythology, the Titans were the children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). Similarly, the flagship Titan Reference video projector from Digital Projection International (DPI) was born from the union of heavenly images and earthly concerns about service accessibility and recyclability.

(Courtesy of First Impressions Theme Theatres)

The Titan Reference may not be much to look at physically—it would normally be installed in an enclosure to match the theater's décor—but the picture it produces is indeed heavenly thanks to its 3-chip DLP design using the latest 0.95" DarkChip4 DMDs with a resolution of 1920x1080. It boasts a peak light output of 4000-6000 ANSI lumens thanks to its dual 350W, high-intensity lamps and a peak contrast ratio of 5000:1—and that's without a dynamic iris, which DPI eschews as a marketing ploy at best and an artifact inducer at worse, a philosophy I share. DPI's ColorMax technology allows complete color and grayscale calibration, and a special xenon color mode is said to closely replicate the spectrum of a xenon lamp.

As expected with a top-flight projector, this one can be ordered with a variety of lenses, including three fixed and four zoom options. Also available is an anamorphic lens with motorized sled that DPI calls TheaterScope. Not only that, the Titan provides Intelligent Lens Memory (ILM), which lets you store different zoom and focus settings to automatically display various aspect ratios at constant height without an anamorphic lens, a rare and wonderful feature also offered by the Wolf DCX and Panasonic PT-AE3000U.

On the earthly side of things, the Titan's chassis is completely modular, allowing straightforward disassembly for servicing and recycling at the end of its working life, which should be a long and productive one because of its easy serviceability. Another environmentally conscious design element is called CoolTek, which embodies two principles—power efficiency and thermal management, resulting in higher brightness per watt of power consumed and lower internal temperatures. This minimizes the cost of operation and extends the life of delicate electronics.

The Titan Reference can be purchased by itself or in an "Extreme" package with the TheaterScope anamorphic-lens system and VIP2000 outboard video processor, which uses the Silicon Optix Realta chipset. Also available is a 3D configuration with a 120Hz refresh rate that alternates images for the right and left eyes, which also requires a special polarization-preserving screen and polarized glasses.

(Courtesy of First Impressions Theme Theatres)

Even the Greek gods would probably have to sell off some Olympian antiques to afford this beast. The basic Titan Reference is nearly $70,000, and the Extreme version costs almost $89,500. A Titan Reference 3D setup starts at $85,000, with the Extreme package adding nearly $19,500 for a grand total of almost $104,500. But for those with a bottomless bank account, the Titan promises some of the best video images ever seen by human or god.