Housed in a big square black box lies the heart of a high-end projection system. The CL-710 incorporates Texas Instrument’s HD2 version of a 1280:720 resolution DLP chip, which makes the projector HD-capable.

The CL-710 is Runco’s latest digital light processing (DLP) projector. At its heart is a single, HD2 version of the digital micromirror de vice (DMD) from Texas Instruments (TI). A DMD is a microchip with a grid containing hundreds of thousands of microscopic mirrors. This particular grid has 1,280 mirrors horizontally and 720 mirrors vertically, to be exact, which makes this projector compatible with high- definition signals. A spinning color-filter wheel, which adds color to the image, uses six segments, two each for red, green and blue. The HD2 chip is one of TI’s more advanced DMDs and exhibits substantially improved brightness and darker blacks than did the company’s previous versions. An HD2-plus chip was an nounced last fall at the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) convention, but improvements in preliminary products seemed barely noticeable.

The CL-710 houses the chip in a square black box. My apologies to Runco’s industrial designer, but the projector’s only distinguishing features are a silver thermos-like tube down the middle, which houses the lens, and the aforementioned blue logo light. The latter seems better suited for a tricked-out hip-hop star’s SUV. Fortunately, you can turn the light off. The projector is also available in a long- throw version (CL-710LT, $10,995) designed to sit farther from the screen. You could hide the LT version in a space behind the room’s back wall. Otherwise, cables can be routed through an open space on the bottom of the projector so that mid-ceiling or coffee-table installations appear clean and simple. A trapdoor on the back of the unit provides finger access to the input connections. An angled power cord is about the only thing that would make physical installation any easier.

Editor Mike Wood agrees that the cool blue logo light is attractive, but finds the proliferation of such lighting on A/V products rather gratuitous. Fortunately, you can turn the light off from the user menu and just enjoy the show.

The input panel accepts one cable for each signal type (composite, S-video, component, RGBHV and DVI). The RGB input accepts progressive-scan and high-definition component (YprPb) signals from DVD players or HDTV tuners. You’ll probably need an outboard switcher (audio/video preamp or receiver) to route multiple video sources.

A sexy solution would incorporate an outboard video processor like the Runco CLP ($1,995), which would accept all your video inputs, convert the various signals to match with the projector’s resolution, and then transmit the signal via a single digital (DVI) connection.

Then again, the outboard unit would duplicate much of the projector’s excellent internal processing. Anything other than the CLP may not do this as well as the projector. On its own, the projector converts regular video material, be it from DVD or other sources, to the DMD’s native resolution with a slight loss in resolution, which is about the only drawback. Film-based material is handled well, with no jagged edges or other artifacts common to the process. The resulting picture is solid and detailed.

An outboard box would also eliminate the ability to use the display’s picture-in-picture function. With multiple sources connected to the unit, you can select one for the full-screen view and another to watch in a small side window. Granted, this is a common feature on regular televisions, but it’s rare for a projector.

Whether you use an external processor or not, you’ll find setting up the system to be quite simple. The remote and on-screen menu are substantially easier to use than Runco’s previous models and rival the best of the company’s competitors. There are separate buttons for every important projector feature, including inputs, aspect ratios and power functions. Everything is easy to find and to access, and the projector reacts quickly. If you use a more advanced control system, like a Crestron Smart Touch or even a Philips Pronto remote, rest assured that this unit can be easily integrated into that system.

I had to make some adjustments to the picture controls for DVD signals, but any decent installer will do that for you. The projector will remember separate picture settings for each input, which means you don’t have to change the settings every time you change inputs. In addition, you can save three memory settings for each input and then recall them from the remote.

With the projector adjusted to industry-standard settings, the picture really popped. I watched a six-foot-wide image on a Stewart Filmscreen StudioTec 130 screen. Colors were vibrant yet seemed natural, image details were razor sharp, and black levels were exceptionally dark. Sitting too close, I could see video noise or snow in dark shadows, but the exceptional black level more than made up for it. This is a substantial achievement given the relatively small screen size. Many DLP projectors can be too bright, especially in the dark portions of the image, and they look better on larger screens that disperse or absorb some of the excess light.

While shadows were dark, the overall image was bright. In fact, Runco is one of the few companies offering legitimate light-output specifica tions in its product brochures. The measurements I took were even slightly better than Runco’s, which is commendable. The projector’s gray scale or color temperature, an industry reference that relates to the hue or color tone of the image, was also reasonably accurate. Darker images were a touch red and brighter images were slightly blue, but this was obvious only to our test equipment. Regular viewing shows an image cast in rich, neutral colors. For more technical measurements, click here .

Blue lights aside, Runco’s CL-710 is an excellent product that is easy to recommend. There are quite a few projectors in this price range, but rarely do they do so many things so well.

Photography by John Phillip

Connections: One composite, one S-video, one compo nent (480i only), one component/RGBHV (480p, 720p, and 1080i) and one DVI with HDCP

Contact:
Runco International
www.runco.com
800.43RUNCO

Price: $9,995