Ease of use is also excellent. On its top panel are all of the controls you'll need to configure and drive the projector - and all of the functions are duplicated on a sensibly-designed remote handset with backlit buttons. The built-in ƒ1.8-2.3 lens has a 1.6:1 zoom ratio, and is capable of delivering a 760cm (300in) diagonal 16:9 image at a projection distance of 9.5m.

A 3m diagonal 16:9 image, which should suffice for most serious home-cinema applications, is possible at distances of between 3.8m and 5.5m. Remember that the larger the image you're trying to project, the dimmer it will be.

The HC5000 is furnished with a host of picture-optimising adjustments that make it a calibrator's delight. In addition to the usual contrast, colour saturation and brightness are gamma, colour temperature, noise reduction, sharpness, overscan and horizontal/vertical position controls.

It's also possible to manually force deinterlacing mode. Three banks of user settings can be memorised per input, for recall at the touch of a button.

Connectivity is good. Mitsubishi has endowed the HC5000 with both DVI-D and HDMI inputs. Both accept 480i/576i directly and will support HDCP. As a result, you'll be able to simultaneously connect your disc player and high-def set-top box. If you choose to use the HDMI switcher that's built into an AV amp (or an external unit) then the DVI input is free for use with a computer.

There's also a 15-pin D-Sub 'VGA' input for computers that don't have a graphics card with digital output. This can also be used, in conjunction with the appropriate menu setting and cabling, with RGB Scart (RGBS) or a second component source.

Also present on the rear panel are a serial port that allows a PC (or home automation system) to take control of the projector, plus a 12V 'trigger' output for automatically-activating motorised screens.

In many ways, the HC5000 is a landmark product: a Full HD projector capable of blistering sharpness, that has all the right AV credentials (love that HQV processing) yet comes with a price-tag that seems surprisingly generous and table manners that delight.

Get an audition as soon as you can - but be warned, you'll probably end up buying it.