With some big glass like that, we can’t imagine Sanyo’s new LP-XL40 projector will get by in the classroom without at least a bit of teasing — kids can be so cruel. But while they’re laughing, the XL40 will be propping up some fairly large XGA images at the “worldwide shortest projection distance.” At 30 inches you can fill a 60-inch screen, while with 40-inches of distance it can focus an 80-inch image. You can even set up the unit to project from an angle to the side of the screen without image distortion, to allow you to point at the screen without the temptation to make ducky shadow puppets. Sanyo is mainly targeting this LCD projector at the educational market, for cramming into those crowded classrooms, but it might make a nice option for that home theater you were trying to squeeze into your walk-in closet. The 1500 lumens and 400:1 contrast ratio aren’t much of anything special, and the $4,478 price tag seems a bit counter-intuitive to the crammed spaces they’re hoping will give this thing a go, but we suppose it’s a bit cheaper than square footage.