Whether or not to project...

After considering changing my speaker setup to include 6 identical speakers, I've also started looking around at some options for a larger picture. As a result I've started auditioning a few projectors in the sub $4000 (AUD) price bracket. I'd seen a few reviews and decided to check out a few that had rated highly.

The projector that impressed the most out of the three was the Sony VPL-HS50, the picture (mainly where detail level) was concerned impressed me the most. The one thing that made this unit stand out from the rest was every time I looked at it I could do nothing but enjoy the movie. Every time I tried to look for artifacts or flaws in the picture I always had to catch myself realizing I'd just started watching the movie. In my opinion the picture was more watchable than Infocus 7210 (which we started to audition but found the image difficult to watch for long periods) or as detailed as a JVC D-ILA.
This is not to say that the other two projectors are bad, far from it. I think it would be fairly safe to say that no matter which projector you selected of the three you'd be happy with the picture.
After seeing the projectors in a few different environments I discovered that choice would mainly be what time of environment you would be using the projector. I found that (despite the specifications) the Hitachi PJ-TX100 gave the brightest picture and could be viewed in quite high ambient light conditions. The Sony VPL-HS50 was the darkest of the three and was really only suited to a darkened room but gave the best detail levels. The Panasonic AE 700 sat somewhere in the middle.
As far as negatives were concerned I found that due to the brightness of the Hitachi's picture it occasionally became washed out. The Panasonic displayed the most evident vertical banding, although it wasn't always noticeable, it was visible on some of the units that I saw. The only problem that I noticed with the Sony was a slight problem with jagged edges of some objects but this was only noticeable when the unit was displaying a 150" image, on all the screens around 100" or less the problem disappears.
As I said earlier my pick would be the Sony VPL-HS50, the picture that it displayed was so involving you just wanted to break out the popcorn and keep watching. No matter how often I tried to look for faults I was always draw back to enjoying the picture. Even when displayed on a 150" screen with a viewing distance of 3m it was a pleasure to watch. However, if you are looking for a projector less dependent on you room being completely dark, moving to the Panasonic would not result in any great picture quality sacrifices.