Projection & Display (See PDF)

The PLV-WF10 has WXGA resolution (1,366 x 768 pixels), dual 250-watt UHP lamps, nice speakers and a slew of AV connections for any type of installation. It's also 4,000-lumens bright and has the company's Real Color Manager system, a set of tools that provides white balance, color separation and gamma correction.

Price: $12,995. Contact: Sanyo North America Corp., 888.495.3452, www.sanyolcd.com.

The Realis SX50 gets extra brownie points for being the first projector to combine LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) imaging technology and SXGA+ resolution (1,400 x 1,050 pixels) with an affordable price tag. The result is a high-detail projector that doesn't skimp on color or brightness, with 2,500 lumens of lamp power and images that projects pretty, bright and clean.

Price: $3,999. Contact: Canon U.S.A. Inc., 800.652.2666, www.usa.canon.com.

Runner up: Dell 5100MP Price: $3,499. Contact: Dell Inc., 800.757.8434, www.dell.com.

In a year of lackadaisical projector development, Mitsubishi went out on a limb with its tiny, LED-based PocketProjector. The 14-ounce, battery-powered projector fits in a pants pocket and is perfect for those intimate presentations in the booth at your local coffee house.

Price: $799. Contact: Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America Inc., 888.307.0349, www.mitsubishi-presentations.com.

Runner up: Plus V-339 Price: $1,995. Contact: Plus Vision Corp. of America, 866.427.8855, www.plus-america.com.

Though other companies have shown bigger prototypes, LG Electronics calls its 71-inch MW-71PY10 the world's largest "in-production" plasma display. It ain't cheap, but for anyone who wants the biggest and the best, this humongous flat-screen display provides 1080p resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) and a 1,200-to-1 contrast ratio for deep, dark blacks on the screen.

Price: $75,000. Contact: LG Electronics, 800.243.000, www.lgusa.com.

Runner up: Panasonic TH-65PHD7UY Price: $10,000. Contact: Panasonic Corp. of No. America, 800.528.8601, www.panasonic.com

This LCD display comes with 1,366 x 768-pixel resolution and dual inputs to accommodate either an analog or digital signal. It has an 800-to-1 contrast ratio, a 170-degree viewing angle, plus extras such as picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture technologies to let you display a presentation slideshow next to a video clip or perform other content combinations.

Price: $6,999. Contact: Samsung, 800.726.7864, www.samsung.com.

Runner up: Sharp PN-455 Price: $9,595. Contact: Sharp Electronics, 866.484.7825, www.sharplcd.com.

The 1080p-resolution 6580iFB is an LCOS-based rear-projection display perfect for detailed graphical presentations or HD video. Brillian says the display's pixels have a 90 percent fill factor, which eliminates any perceptible screen-door effect. The 65-inch display is only 21 inches deep and can be mounted in-wall or on a stand.

Price: $9,999. Contact: Brillian Corp., 602.389.8888, www.brilliancorp.com.

Runner up: Sharp 65DR650 Price: $21,000. Contact: Sharp Electronics, 866.484.7825, www.sharplcd.com. Erasing the background behind an image can be a cumbersome task, but Corel's Knockout 2 makes it amazingly easy. This plug-in for Adobe Photoshop is a great masking tool for separating a detailed object from its surroundings—something designers do all the time.

Price: $100 Contact: Corel Corp., 800.772.6735, www.corel.com.

Runner up: Digital Anarchy Backdrop Designer Price: $199. Contact: Digital Anarchy, 415.462.5872, www.digitalanarchy.com.