Digital Trends

At a paltry $20,000.00 USD one might wonder which market might benefit from such a device. Weighing enough to justify a $675.00 shipping charge (150 lbs.), this is one monitor that might actually be too heavy to get into the house without some help. 

We can see a chance for those into flight simulations to immerse themselves in a cockpit view, or maybe a demonstration Kiosk in the lobby of a Microsoft building, but little else until the cost of the 180 monitor is more feasible. Personally we might take out a loan, for our love of new technology, but how often are the gains worth the cost. This projection system won Computer Graphics World Magazine Year 2000 Innovation Award. A very prestigious award.

The hemispherical projection screen Is a cool idea. It's liable to be a pretty fantastic 3D view of anything you would care to show on it, especially with specs like these: Color reproduction of over 16 million colors (24 bit) and a native resolution in excess of 2 million pixels and Active-matrix LCD projector but, at 50 to 60 Hrtz for the refresh rate, it barely meets the specs of yesterday's technology.

The 180 monitor connects straight to the to the VGA port of your comptuer system. Infinite focus lens: in focus at any distance from the screen. 120 W projector lamp (bulb included). Constructed of high-impact fiberglass and high-strength aluminum alloys. Power requirements: AC 100 to 120V/200 to 240V (for overseas use), 50/60Hz; 180W. 5'3" H x 5'5" W x 3'5" D

The 180 Computer Monitor reminds us of the wall screen monitor in Total Recall that Arnie had in his apartment! Perhaps the way of the future is here already in this latest offering in the Monitor world. Hopefully, as with other Projection display devices, prices will fall enough to watch this technology start to be readily available to the every day shmoe and his killer DVD collection. As a gamer, I am praying that the day comes soon.

We would have liked to see a built in surround sound model with a better refresh rate to it. A high wattage 5.1 THX system and built-in DVD player would make this the total entertainment package, as far as I am concerned. Star Wars would be cool again and Terminator 2 would probably give you nightmares on a system like this!       

More information can be found at hammacher.com