Taiwan-based BenQ, a major supplier of projectors, said LCD screens are just too costly compared to projectors which can produce larger images and are friendlier to the eyes.

Steve Lin, country manager of BenQ Philippines, said projectors are viable alternative to LCD TVs when playing the Wii or viewing movies at home. "Projectors have bigger screen and have the same image quality," he said.

Lin said BenQ, which, by the way, also sells LCD monitors, digital camera, notebook PC, and media discs in the Philippines, wants to tap the middle-age bracket (18 to 45) since this market is more technology savvy.

"We want to elevate our profile higher in the Philippines as a young and dynamic company," the soft-spoken executive said.

BenQ, according to Lin, is second largest projector maker in the world and in Asia Pacific. It held the same position in the country in the first quarter of this year but has slipped to third in the third quarter after a competitor bagged bulk orders.

However, Lin the company is hoping to regain its footing with the introduction of new multifunction projectors targeting various markets and another model that incorporate split-screen technology.

It has also unveiled two new DLP projectors which targets business, government, and education segments. The MP622 and MP622c projectors are ideal for small to medium rooms, multiple users, crossover home and office applications, and multimedia school use.

But extra interesting is BenQ SP830/831 which features HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) processor and BrilliantColor technology with a high ANSI lumen at 3500/4000.

Targeted for large venues, from small conference room to auditorium and museum exhibitions, the projectors are already compatible with Windows Vista Basic. Its embedded HQV processor enhances the picture-in-picture or split-screen function of the projector.