LG CF181D: Sharpness

Posted on February 20, 2010 by Art Feierman

Sharpness

The LG CF181D is an LCoS projector. However, it's more like an LCD projector in one regard, and that is, it lacks the digital pixel alignment feature found on JVC and Sony (and even Cinetron) LCoS projectors. Most 3LCD projectors could also sport this feature, but generally, the LCD crowd hasn't added it - yet.

That's OK. This particular LG had very good pixel alignment, better than most 3 chip projectors I get to see.

As a result, the image was every bit as sharp as the other LCoS projectors that have been though here, and for that matter, the Epson 8500UB. I have the Mitsubishi HC6800 here, which I haven't fired up yet, but, if there's one LCD competitor that might appear a touch sharper, I suspect it will be that one, as Mits has always put out particularly sharp projectors.

Overall, I'd describe the LG CF181D as one of the sharper "typically sharp" 1080p projectors. It's still not quite sharp enough to be considered a step up, which is mostly made up of single chip projectors. For movie watching, I have no issues at all. For my sports, and notably the Olympics, I know that I've got two DLP projectors here, that I would say appear sharper enough to be relatively "razor sharp" on the sports. The LG can't quite match them. (One is the low cost Mitsubishi HC3800.)

Please note, we are slowly switching to using the Playstation video logo as our sharpness example, instead of the old dts-hd logo. The original sample test disc from dts died, and they can't find me another.

Sharpness slideshow

Sharpness

LG CF181D

Sharpness

Planar PD8150

Sharpness

JVC RS25

Sharpness

Mitsubishi HC7000

Sharpness

Panasonic PT-AE4000

Sharpness

Epson Home Cinema 8500UB

Sharpness

Optoma HD8200

Sharpness

InFocus IN83

Below: Close up of a computer monitor, from Space Cowboys (Blu-ray), left to right: LG CF181D, DLA-RS25, Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, and BenQ W6000. The DLA-RS25 holds its own against most, but not a few of the sharpest DLP projectors.

LG CF181D