As I fire the Model Three 1080 up, I can't help but wonder if PD really has managed to nail the combination of high-end third- party processing, new DMD chipset, and DuArch technology so soon. Happily, such concerns are immediately squashed, as the Model Three 1080 produces a picture quality that's extraordinarily good.

The fine detail and texture displayed in the image is nothing short of revelatory, with the projector regularly showing minute elements in my favourite 1080i HD sources that I didn't even realise were there before.

Part of this astounding clarity is doubtless down to the sheer pixel count that the Model Three's image contains. But credit must also go to the remarkable lack of noise that's visible in the picture, which dramatically proves both the benefits of a) matching the native DMD resolution to the source image's native resolution, and b) the considerable prowess of the Crystalio II processing engine.

Yet more proof of just how good - and intelligent - every element of the Model Three 1080s optics and processing is can be seen in the way it clearly reveals the difference (in terms of stability and even more texture) of between 1080p and 1080i sources.

Incredibly though, it's not just high-def's friend. The Crystalio box also does a mind-bogglingly good job of upscaling standard- definition sources - anything above a composite feed, anyway - to fit the projector's 1080p preference. The SIM2 last month excelled in this regard, but I'd argue the PD is even slightly better.

Also setting the Model Three 1080 apart is its DuArch-inspired combination of extreme brightness and hugely expansive contrast - a combination which aids the projector in producing richer, more detailed and more subtly greyscaled dark areas than I've ever seen before, certainly on a single-chip projector.

The trouble ProjectionDesign has gone to in the name of colours pays off handsomely too, with a pretty much picture perfect palette with all types of source image.

The only downers I could see with this projector are minor. First, the need for two colour wheels, and to cool two separate lamps, means the unit makes quite a whirring noise, and second, fast moving objects occasionally look fractionally indistinct. Though this is true to some extent, of course, with all DLP models.

It might be big, expensive and even ugly, but the best way to sum up the Model Three 1080 is to say that it really does deliver the closest experience to actually going to a good commercial cinema that I have yet seen - only without the usual scratches and dirt specks over the picture!