There are no LED front projectors, or at least not anything worth looking into.
LCD or LCOS (if possible) will yield the picture/price point that he is wanting.
DLP isn't bad by any means, but you don't have as many choices with DLP. LCOS has the potential to give him the inky dark blacks and is great technology, just not sure about the sub $2000 price point.
Projector Central has some good info out there that can generally be trusted.
Look for real contrast numbers, and not the "fake" 2,000,000:1 crap. Unfortunately, most of the manufacturers use those fake ones where they compare the projector in the brightest lamp mode, with the iris fully open, projecting out a super white image for the "on" brightness measurement, and then compare that to when the projector is turned off. What kind of crap is that? Most of them do that, but they measure slightly different. Usually those 2,000,000:1 numbers come down to a real number of like 18,000:1 when factoring the brightest and dimmest image that the projector can display without being dumb and turning it off. This is mainly in the LCD market. LCOS should yield numbers like 50,000:1, but that is a "real" number, and not inflated. Again, not sure that you can get into LCOS for under $2000 though.
There are other factors like 3D vs. 2D only displays. I have a 3D capable JVC (uses LCOS), but got it because it has been rated as the best 2D projector under $4000 for 2.5 years (and its replacement was given that honor the year after). I don't care about 3D at home, where other projectors do great with 3D, but their 2D image quality isn't the best.
Here is a guy who tested out a LOT of projectors and has been highly respected for his ratings and results. The information is from September 2013, but a number of the models should be the same.
Coderguy's Top Projector Picks 
