1080p Comparison Report - Image Quality
March 2009 - Art Feierman
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Home Theater Projector Image Quality
The goal of this section is to allow you to quickly read over our findings for different projectors, all in one place. This year's report is tackling it more efficiently.
Above, Epson Home Cinema 6100: Men In Black, Blu-ray
For image quality, our primary concerns will be:
Out of the box color (without adjustment)
Naturalness of flesh tones
Black levels and shadow detail
Projector brightness
Image sharpness
Overall image quality ( "feel" of the projector). My partially subjective opinions on "film-like performance", ease of watching, and for lack of a better term, "wow factor" (some projectors just look good, and others make you think "awesome", even though they may technically be very, very similar).
Let's get started!
1080p Home Theater Projectors - Out of the Box Picture Quality
First things first: While the "out of the box" picture quality varies significantly (from not very good to extremely good), not one projector reviewed couldn't be improved with a good calibration. We always recommend you get your projector calibrated to get the most out of it. Best of course, is a professional calibration (unless you have the gear to do it yourself), but, alternately, you can improve a projector's performance even with a basic end user calibration disc. The third alternative is to try the calibration settings we provide. They aren't quite as in-depth as a full professional calibration, but readers consistently report a significant improvement with our settings, compared to out of the box performance.
$2100 and under 1080p Home Theater Projectors
This year there are five projectors in this group of entry level priced 1080p projectors. They cover a street price range of about $500 (US pricing).
Our focus here, is on "best" mode - usually the least bright, but designed to be the most perfect for viewing movies.
Sanyo PLV-Z700 projector:
In the Sanyo PLV-Z700 review, we described the out of the box quality as "reasonably good, and definitely not great". The overall starting image is slightly warm (reddish), and the projector is a bit weak in terms of shadow detail (improved by adjusting the brightness).
Mitsubishi HC5500 projector:
The HC5500 was a little better than the Sanyo, but still only "pretty good". Again, major improvements will be realized with a calibration.
Optoma HD806 projector:
Another case of a "pretty good image, although not a truly great one".
Epson Home Cinema 6100 projector:
The Home Cinema 6100, Epson's entry level 1080p projector, did a lot better than most: "The Epson 6100 is very good, right of the box in TheaterBlack 1 image mode - its "best" mode." "Skin tones need to look really good, and this Epson passes that test. After we fine tuned it, they looked even better." You'll get most of your money out of this one without calibration, but at least try our calibration settings, you should like them better.
InFocus X10 projector:
"The X10 is very good out of the box (that's pretty much an InFocus trademark). It's one of a relatively small percentage of projectors that many can enjoy without any adjustments." That pretty much covers it. If you are the type of person who never adjusted your existing TV set, you'll probably be happy with the standard settings. Contrast, however was way too high, and colors were a touch too warm (reddish) but less so than the Sanyo PLV-Z700. The thing about most InFocus projectors is that once calibrated properly, they deliver extremely accurate results with exceptionally gorgeous skin tones.
Bottom Line:
The Epson and InFocus do the best job right out of the box. Realizing these are entry level 1080p models, I suspect very few will even consider spending for a professional calibration. My recommendation, with any of these, try it right out of the box, but then put our settings into one of the user memories, and switch back and forth. Ours should provide anywhere from a slight to a dramatic improvement. Just remember, ours are general settings, and each projector of the same model is a little bit different, primarily due to lamp variation. Also lamps change their color balance slightly as they get more hours. So if you do notice a slight shift over time, try minor adjustments, but do so in a new user memory so you can compare the original and the newer settings.
Another image from the Epson Home Cinema 6100. From The Dark Knight
$2100 - $3500 1080p Home Theater Projectors
BenQ W5000 projector:
The BenQ W5000's out of the box performance is very good! Color tracks very close to the ideal 6500K, but with a slight shift toward green which can easily be adjusted out. Colors are rich, and the overall look is very film-like. Nicely done!
Epson Home and Pro Cinema 6500UB, 7500UB projectors:
We haven't reviewed the 7500UB yet, but realizing it is virtually the same as the Home Cinema 6500UB, we'll assume for purposes of this comparison that it will perform the same out of the box.
I described the out of the box image quality as "pretty good". TheaterBlack2 which we use as our best mode is a little warm (shifted slightly to red), and the image is oversaturated (easily cured by reducing color saturation from 0 to about -7). The projector also crushes blacks just a little, so taking the default brightness from 0 to +2 (or at least +1) makes a visible difference. Feedback from owners say our settings do provide a real improvement, although the out of the box is very watchable.
Epson Pro Cinema 7100 projector:
This is another projector we haven't worked with, but, again, it is essentially identical to the Home Cinema 6100. We assume this projector does better than most, out of the box. We described the 6100 as "Darn good" and that I was "pleasantly surprised". We also stated: "the Epson is good enough (out of the box) to be enjoyably watchable." Note that the brighter modes, on the other hand, tend to be a mess. You'll need to do some work there, to get good color. Try our recommendations in the calibration section of the Home Cinema 6100 review.
Panasonic PT-AE3000 projector:
We stated this, relating to the out of the box picture quality, in the full review: "Hooking up the PT-AE3000 for the first time, before any adjustments were made, yielded very good color accuracy. In fact, very little needed to be done to the color settings when we calibrated the projector. Still, calibration did yield a small, but real improvement." The default Cinema 1 was a bit oversaturated (easy to fix). "Extremely watchable" out of the box performance. That's a real plus for those that just can't be bothered.
Optoma HD8200 projector:
The HD8200 isn't bad, but needs work. Basically the image is simply too cool, with the color temperature over the full range of gray, averaging about 7250K, instead of the ideal 6500K. This review will be the next one published, but I haven't spent extensive time viewing the HD8200.
Sanyo PLV-Z3000 projector:
The PLV-Z3000 is just "watchable" out of the box. Reds are weak, and there's a shift to yellow green as well. Let's say "watchable" is hardly a compliment. This projector cries out for a calibration (or at least our settings), to even begin to achieve what it's capbable of. Even our calibration never completely got rid of the yellow-green shift, but it got rid of most of it, yielding a very good picture.
Sony VPL-HW10 projector:
The VPL-HW10 is another of those "pretty good" out of the box performers. Cinema mode is a bit to warm (too much red, relative to blues), and interestingly, their brightest mode, Dynamic, is the opposite, with a shift to blue. The Sony is a really good performer, but must be adjusted to get it to approach its full potential.
Mitsubishi HC6500, HC7000 projectors:
The HC6500 is another "watchable" projector (actually "definitely watchable"), but we warn that the picture can be improved significantly. That's a warning to do something, if you really want to get your money's worth.
The Mitsubishi HC7000 is their flagship projector, but they didn't get any closer to ideal, right out of the box, than they did with the HC6500. We said this: "Picture quality is respectable, but hardly great". Their "warm" color temp setting (the default for movie watching) is a bit warm - a bit heavy on the reds, the opposite of the other color temp settings, but it is the closest to ideal as a starting point.
Viewsonic Pro8100 projector:
A couple of comments from the Pro8100 review, about the out of the box color: "Although colors were off a bit, it was no worse than most projectors.", and more to the point: "To not have this projector calibrated to some degree, would be the waste of a good projector. Even your basic end user calibration disc will make a real improvement."
Above, from Space Cowboys, with the Panasonic PT-AE3000. Below, from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Epson Home Cinema 6500UB
$3500 - $10,000 Home Theater Projectors
BenQ W20000 projector:
The W20000 out of the box, is better than most. "Actually, right out of the box, if you select Cinema color preset, and Normal Color Temp, you get a well balanced image in terms of color." That combination is a touch cool (blue), but very slightly so, although I do actually favor that small shift for viewing sports. The bright modes are another story, way, way too blue, but if you turn on Brilliant Color (for bright modes only), it tames them right down. The W20000 is one of the best projectors we've tested, in terms of out of the box performance.
InFocus IN82 projector:
InFocus is getting a lot of miles out of the IN82, we reviewed it originally in October of 2007, before we were regularly reporting on out of the box color. In the calibration section, though we said this: "Color performance out of the box was very good, better than the majority of 1080p projectors." In fact, the IN82 tracked grayscale incredibly consistently, just a touch warm (but averaging about 6180K, which is very close). Only minor adjustments were needed. The contrast setting was a bit high, as well, but not by any significant amount.
The IN82 is one of those that can be improved, with calibration, but it's still very impressive without.
InFocus IN83 projector:
Newer than the IN82, the IN83 has the Darkchip4. One would expect even better color accuracy out of the box than the IN82, but that was not to be the case. Here was my comment at the time of the review: "Pretty darn good, but still not as good as it could be. Nonetheless, most would be impressed with even the default Cinema settings." That's still pretty high praise. BTW, the slight color shift with the IN83 is to the cool side, leaving skin tones a bit pale. The really good news, is that, once calibrated, the IN83 has produced the best overall color of any projector reviewed to date, and that includes my brand new JVC RS20. If you are buying an IN83, you have a shot at stellar color, go for it.
Image above from the JVC DLA-RS10, Lord of the Rings (the only movie images in this review that are not from Blu-ray disc).
JVC DLA-RS10 projector:
The RS10 was one of the best projectors in terms of out of the box performance. True, the image was oversaturated, an easy fix, and Brightness needs to be taken from default 0, to +1. The color temp before adjustment was only very slightly shifted to red (averaging about 6300K), and that is truly, very slight. Cinema 1, is the "best mode" for the JVC DLA-RS10.
JVC DLA-RS20 projector:
Interestingly, the "best mode" for the RS20 is Cinema 2 (Cinema 1 is warmer, best for watching black and white movies). Much to my surprise, the out of the box performance was disappointing for a projector in this price range, and doubly surprising in that JVC's tend to be very good, out of the box. As our top rated projector in this comparison, don't even think about not having it calibrated, or at least trying our settings. Both will yield dazzling improvement. That's not to say that the RS20 is terrible, just that leaving it untouched, is a waste of money.
Optoma HD8000-LV projector:
We never worked with the HD8000-LV, although it is the successor to the old HD81-LV, in that it's very bright. On the other hand, it's part of the HD80/HD803/ HD806/HD8000 collection. Tough to guess on this one, other than to say, that, with the exception of the most recent Optoma we reviewed, (the HD806 "provides a pretty good image, though not a truly great one"), I've been generally disappointed with Optoma's out of the box performance.
Planar PD8150 projector:
This is easy. This is a premium projector, at a premium price, so we expect great things. Our opening comment in the PD8150 review says it all: "The PD8150 is one of the best home theater projectors we've seen in the last couple of years when it comes to out of the box performance. Color accuracy is very good, but a touch on the warm (red) side, still it's very close to ideal, and very watchable."
Sharp XV-Z20000 projector:
Another one of the premium projectors, the Sharp XV-Z20000 has been around for a while, and quite possibly the oldest review of any projector in this comparison. Old, however is not a bad thing, and when it comes to out of the box performance: "Although the XV-Z20000 needs some minor adjusting out of the box, it is a pleasure to watch." Skin tones, in fact "appeared very natural, although before adjustment they were just a touch "cool". In other words, one of the best, without adjustment.
Sony VPL-VW70 projector:
I tried so hard to get in the VPL-VW70 in time for this review, but Sony it seems is fixated on getting their limited review units out to the print publications first, and those guys tend to sit on them for months. So, we're still waiting. The best indications of its performance out of the box, would be to compare what we said about the Sony HW10 in the recent review, and the older VW60 that the VW70 replaces. Hopefully they give us good guidance to the VPL-VW70's out of the box performance:
The Sony VLP-HW10 was "pretty good" with a shift to warm, while the older VW60, at one point in the review, was mentioned as "Weak out of the box performance, requiring a good grayscale calibration, as the default for Cinema, is way too cool (blue)".
The image below is from the movie Dogma, the projector used is the Planar PD8150.
1080p Home Theater Projectors: Natural Skin Tones
$2100 and under 1080p Home Theater Projectors
Sanyo PLV-Z700 projector:
I was generally very pleased with the PLV-Z700's skin tones. In the review, I commented: "Skin tones turned out to be extremely good overall, although in low lit scenes, it seemed they shifted just a little bit too much to red."
Mitsubishi HC5500 projector:
In several places in the original review of the HC5500, the skin tones were described consistently as "very good", with no specific notations or issue.
Optoma HD806 projector:
I think my comments in the review cover it all: "The HD806 serves up very good skin tones after calibration. This is a projector that grows on you. My initial impressions when watching it were that it is "so-so" on movies, but really skin tone handling is better than that. For watching HDTV and sports, on the other hand, it's very impressive immediately."
Epson Home Cinema 6100 projector:
Check this out from the Home Cinema 6100's review: "After our grayscale calibration, skin tones really looked very believable. The color textures in faces are very good. Despite that, the Home Cinema 6100 doesn't appear quite as natural as some other projectors in handling the flesh tones." This is chronic Epson. The trade-off seems to be the slightly more dynamic look to the Epson image compared to those other projectors. In other words, the aspects that I like to refer to as "pop and wow" seem to take their toll in making the projector a touch less "film-like" (a very subjective terms - as are pop and wow).
Let me just add that the Epson does skin tones extremely well most of the time, but the worse the source content, the less natural it looks, compared to some other projectors. Thus, the Epson tends to be strong on Blu-ray and HDTV, but less so, on TV and SD-DVD, in some cases. If a low res source isn't providing great skin tones, the Epson tends to make that worse. If you start with good source, the Epson does well. That's the best I can describe it. That's the trade-off for "pop and wow", it seems.
InFocus X10 projector:
Here's the champ of the lower cost group in terms of skin tones. I opened the section in the review with this comment: "We're now talking about after our basic calibration. Skin tones are gorgeous (they really are pretty good, even out of the box, before any adjustments). This is an attribute that the X10 shares with the more than double the price IN83." That pretty much says it all!
Above, of the Epson Home Cinema 6100, from The Dark Knight
$2100 - $3500 1080p Home Theater Projectors
BenQ W5000 projector:
I have always liked this projector. In its review I finished off with this about its skin tone handling: "Bottom line: While the out of the box color performance (Cinema mode) on skin tones is very watchable, setting up a user mode, based on Cinema mode, but decreasing the green content just slightly, makes the BenQ W5000 really excellent!"
Epson Home and Pro Cinema 6500UB, 7500UB projectors:
It's that pop and wow vs. natural again. I put it this way in the review: "After calibrating the Epson Home Cinema 6500UB, skin tones improved a bit, to the point of being really very good, but not the best. Still not as natural, as, say the InFocus IN83, and I'd even give the Panasonic PT-AE3000 a slight edge."
Epson Pro Cinema 7100 projector:
Again, we assume the same performance as the Home Cinema 6100 we reviewed: "Skin tones really looked very believable. The color textures in faces are very good. Despite that, the Home Cinema 6100 doesn't appear quite as natural as some other projectors in handling the flesh tones." What I added to that, above, holds true here, as well: the Epson does skin tones extremely well most of the time, but the worse the source content, the less natural it looks, compared to some other projectors. Thus, the Epson tends to be strong on Blu-ray and HDTV, but less so, on TV and SD-DVD... In such cases, should you notice, dialing down the saturation helps.
Mitsubishi HC6500, HC7000 projectors:
The HC6500 did a particularly good job on skin tones: "Beautiful, at least, after calibration. In fact the Mitsubishi HC6500 really does an excellent job. Skin tones look extremely natural..." No more need be said.
For the HC7000, I tended to rave about them even more than with the HC6500. My key statement in the review: "Post calibration, flesh (skin) tones are excellent. I found the HC7000 to really look good on all types of skin tones, in a wide variety of movies and other content." What more could you ask for?
Optoma HD8200 projector:
Panasonic PT-AE3000 projector:
Another excellent projector in this regard: "Excellent. With some 40 hours of watching the PT-AE3000, I have found the flesh (skin) tones to be very natural (after our minor changes when we calibrated). The PT-AE3000U isn't as natural as the InFocus IN83, which I raved about when speaking of flesh tones, but it is very, very, good."
Sanyo PLV-Z3000 projector:
The PLV-Z3000 managed to still have a very slight color shift to yellow green after calibration, and it can be noticed in skin tones. I suspect a more in-depth calibration can solve that, however. In the review I stated: "Post calibration, skin tones are very good, given the slight yellow-green emphasis. I find that in Pure Cinema mode, however, (perhaps, in part due to limited brightness), that faces tend to look a little dark and flat".
Remember, we tend to quibble over fine points, for the hard core enthusiast that cares about every minor flaw. In other words, don't get me wrong, this one looks pretty good too (as do the Epsons).
Sony VPL-HW10 projector:
Calibrating the HW10's best mode, dials out the slight red shift and leaves you with excellent skin tones. In looking back at the review, I apparently was sufficiently ennamoured with them, that I didn't even comment - just posted the photos. Bottom line, very nicely done!
Viewsonic Pro8100 projector:
Very respectable. In the review: "once the projector gets even a basic grayscale calibration and the saturation is toned down, it starts looking really good on skin tones." I'd put the Viewsonic about even with the Epsons, a touch better than the Sanyo PLV-Z3000..., and down a fraction from the best.
$3500 - $10,000 Home Theater Projectors
BenQ W20000 projector:
"After calibration, Skin Tone handling is very good! Not perfect though, I've seen better, notably the InFocus IN83." Well, considering I feel the IN83 has the best skin tones of any projector in the review, that's a pretty positive statement.
InFocus IN82 projector:
The older IN82 didn't do quite as well as the newer X10 and, of course, the IN83, but still: "The InFocus IN82 does a very good job on skin tones. After the minor adjustments I made to the grayscale, I found skin tones, overall, to appear very natural looking."
InFocus IN83 projector:
The best of all the projectors in this comparison. From the InFocus IN83 review: "I'll keep this simple. Skin tones on the IN83 (which I'm watching right now - National Treasure (the first one), are superb. I haven't seen better to date. Even my adjusted JVC DLA-RS1 can't match them." In fact, even after a very in-depth calibration, my own, brand new JVC RS20, still can't quite match the IN83 in this regard, and it looks great until viewing both side-by-side, where the IN83 still has a slight advantage.
JVC DLA-RS10 projector:
The RS10 is really rather excellent. Once again, though, I couldn't help but to compare to the InFocus in the RS10's review: "After calibrating and tweaking the JVC DLA-RS10, skin tones improved and we ended up with skin tones that we liked even better than (the RS10's) THX mode, although they are pretty similar. I was really loving the skin tone handling until I put the RS10 up, side by side with the InFocus IN83, which has the best looking skin tones of any projector I have worked with. Side by side, the IN83 still gets the slight advantage, but again, the RS10 only really comes up a little short by direct comparison."
JVC DLA-RS20 projector:
So, how did our top award winner, the JVC RS20 stack up? Well, the answer is, exactly the same as the RS10. Once again, I found skin tone performance to be truly excellent, extremely natural looking, and only bested (by a very slight margin), by the InFocus, in a side by side comparison. Without putting them side by side, I don't think I could possibly determine which one was the better of the two!
Optoma HD8000-LV projector:
Planar PD8150 projector:
Remember, we found the PD8150 to be one of the very best in terms of accuracy, out of the box. Relating to skin tones, my comment in the review: "After calibration, the image was even better, removing almost all of the slight shift towards red. The end result was excellent handling of skin tones, as the images below show..."
Sharp XV-Z20000 projector:
The sharp did very well on skin tones, after calibration. They were very good before calibration, but with a slightly cool (blue shift) look. Post calibration, that shift was eliminated, and "very natural" got even better.
Sony VPL-VW70 projector:
Guess work time again, since I still haven't received the VW70. Consider though, that the VW70's lower cost sibling was described as "excellent" in this regard. The older VW60 that the VPL-VW70 replaces, was described as: "Overall performance on skin tones is excellent. To further improve on what I saw on the screen - which rivals any under $10K projector I have worked with, you'll need a professional calibrator with more skills than I possess. On the other hand, I seriously doubt if any but the most hard core crazed, will be disappointed." Keep in mind that review pre-dates the IN83, which I don't believe the VW60 could match. Still, I expect excellent skin tones from the VPL-VW70.
Above: Men In Black - Mitsubishi HC7000
Black Levels & Shadow Detail
In this section, I'll discuss the combination of black level performance and shadow detail as one. Overall, some of these projectors do a little better (after normal adjustment), than others, in terms of shadow detail. That said, I consider those differences to be rather minor. Of far greater concern, is the black level performance. Often, after calibration, it is the black level performance that really separates these projectors from each other, far more so than other attributes. Thus - to a large degree, great black levels continues to be the quest for the "holy grail" of projector performance. Note, for those of you not familiar, the old CRT home theater projectors (from years ago), due to CRT technology, do essentially perfect black levels. All these fixed display projectors (3LCD, DLP, LCoS), by comparison, cannot produce a true black, so the quest to get as close as possible, still dominates home theater projector design.
I'll be referring to what I call "ultra-high-contrast" projectors quite a bit in this section, so a quick warning: I'll start referring to those as UHC projectors from time to time, to save keystrokes.
Above, from the DVE-HD test disc, projector: Sanyo PLV-Z700
$2100 and under 1080p Home Theater Projectors
None of the projectors in this group qualify as what I refer to as "ultra-high-contrast" projectors. These all do a respectable job, about as good or better than almost any under $10,000 projector could produce 3 or 4 years ago.
Sanyo PLV-Z700 projector:
While shadow detail was very good, I was, in the review, slightly disappointed with the black level performance of the Sanyo Z700. Not bad mind you, and better than the most entry level projectors in last year's report, such as the Mitsubishi HC4900. Considering this is the lowest priced 1080p projector, and that none of the others in this group are dramatically better, not bad, overall.
Mitsubishi HC5500 projector:
Black levels are a touch better than the Sanyo, and typical of this group. Shadow detail was particularly good.
Optoma HD806 projector:
Black levels are not the strength of the HD806. In fact, they were a big disappointment and the weakest of the group, with, for example, the HD806 in its best mode, not even able to match the black level performance of the Epson Home Cinema 6100 in its brightest mode. On the other hand, shadow detail was very good. That combination tends to give you lots of detail but a somewhat washed out look on very dark scenes, without any pop.
Epson Home Cinema 6100 projector:
I have no doubt that the Epson Home Cinema 6100's black level performance is the best of the five in this group. Oh, it's not a huge difference, but enough to give it a critical edge, and a key factor in it taking the Best In Class award for this category. I was initially very impressed, and immediately wondered if its black levels could compete with the least of the ultra-high-contrast projectors, the Sanyo PLV-Z3000. The answer turned out to be no, it couldn't. While better than the direct competition, the Home Cinema 6100 still fell more short of the Sanyo PLV-Z3000 than the difference between it, and the weakest of this group. All considered, its black level performance is as good as any of the other non-ultra-high-contrast projectors.
Shadow detail was classic Epson: not the best, but very respectable. The combination, though, of black level performance and shadow detail is excellently balanced, and the blacks are good enough to deliver some extra "pop and wow" compared to the others in this group.
InFocus X10 projector:
As InFocus's entry level of 4 1080p projectors, one wouldn't expect great black levels, and, that turned out to be quite true. If anything, its black levels are its achilles heel. No, nothing terrible about them, I'd say comparable to the Sanyo PLV-Z700, and still better than the Optoma. Black levels are not why you would choose this projector (remember - skin tones?). Shadow detail is really very good.
Above, two consecutive frames (I can't remember which was first) before/after a lightning flash. Projector: Mitsubishi HC5500.
Bottom Line: When it comes to black levels and shadow detail, the Epson has the advantage, even though a couple of others will reveal more shadow detail. Overall, second place, has to go to the Mitsubishi HC5500, with the Sanyo and InFocus just a slight bit further behind.
$2100 - $3500 1080p Home Theater Projectors
BenQ W5000 projector:
Ahh! If only the W5000 had even better black levels (but then, it would be the far more expensive W20000). Still, the W5000 performed very well. Remember, it was one of the first projectors reviewed in this group. At the time I wrote: "Again, the BenQ W5000 is extremely impressive. Okay, black levels are not best in class (that honor falls to the Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB), but the W5000 is just about next best, competing directly with the Sony VW40 for that honor. Shadow detail is excellent, both before and after adjustment."
Epson Home and Pro Cinema 6500UB, 7500UB projectors:
Without a doubt, the Home Cinema 6500UB (and we assume, the 7500UB) have the best black levels of any projector in this mid-priced collection. Shadow detail, typical of Epson, is not quite as good as the best. The Epsons blow away the non-ultra-high-contrast projectors in black levels, and manage to best, by at least a noticeable amount, the other ultra-high-contrast projectors.
The Home Cinema 6500UB has a ways to go to catch the JVC RS2, in terms of black levels. The Epson's black levels however are excellent, with only two or three projectors able to do better, and none in its price range! As you can see in the two side by side pairs below, the Epson has a very distinct advantage over the Panasonic PT-AE3000.
I found the Epson to approach the superb black levels of the JVC RS1 (we hadn't reviewed the RS10 yet), on very dark scenes without bright areas, but on mixed scenes, the dynamic iris can't fully do its thing so the far more expensive RS1 (and RS10), pull away on those scenes. Still, if you want better black levels, you will be spending twice as much, and the differences will not be particularly significant, relative to these Epson's, compared to even the closest competition in this class.
The combination of black level performance and shadow detail yields a projector with an extremely dynamic picture - lots of "pop and wow", and the best in class, in this regard!
Epson Pro Cinema 7100 projector:
The Pro Cinema 7100 should perform the same as the Home Cinema 6100. No match at all compared to the Epson UB projectors, but fairly typical, and one of the best non-ultra-high-contrast projectors. Shadow detail, as is Epson typical, is not the best, but "close enough".
Mitsubishi HC6500, HC7000 projectors:
I'd put the Mitsubishi HC6500 about even with the Epson Home Cinema 6100 (in the entry level class), in terms of black levels. That is, it is very good for a non-UHC (ultra-high-contrast) projector. If the HC6500 was sold online, no doubt it would be priced into the entry level category, but since it's not, it appears here. It is still one of the least expensive projectors in this class, so you do get your money's worth in the form of that extra "local dealer support". Enough said about that.
Shadow detail is described in the review as peforming "very well". The overall combination of black levels and shadow detail make it one of the best of the non-UHC projectors.
That brings us to the Mitsubishi HC7000, which is almost identical to the HC6500 except for the newer LCD panels, etc. The HC7000 is their UHC model, and has the performance to prove it. Depending on the type of dark scene, it either matches or beats the Panasonic PT-AE3000, placing it about even with the Sony VPL-HW10, but still trailing the Epson UB projectors. When we consider shadow detail, not surprisingly, the HC7000, like almost all of the UHC projectors, comes in as "very good shadow detail, but not the best".
All considered, the HC7000 may well be the second best in this class, although the Sony and Panasonic are certainly not far behind. The HC7000, though not overly bright, does have a lot of pop when handling dark scenes. (I really like it!)
Optoma HD8200 projector:
Very good shadow detail is the HD8200's strength, but black levels are its weakness. The HD8200 actually can perform rather well in terms of black levels but for the very visible dynamic iris, which tends to jump (up or down) in brightness, several seconds after a scene change. I found that annoying enough that I couldn't watch the HD8200 comfortably with the dynamic iris engaged, and that cost it dearly in terms of black level performance.
Panasonic PT-AE3000 projector:
I have to place the Panasonic PT-AE3000 as tied for second best of this group, trailing only the Epson UB projectors. At times the difference between them, as can be seen in side by side comparisons, can vary from very slight, to fairly significant. The Panasonic has a slight edge on shadow detail compared to the Epson UBs. The other stiff competition for the PT-AE3000 is the Mitsubishi HC7000, a notably more expensive projector (available from local dealers only). Even (to my surprise), the Sony VPL-HW10 can't quite match the Panasonic. The other similar, ultra-high-contrast 3LCD projector in the group, the Sanyo PLV-Z3000 definitely comes up a bit short of the Panasonic, though it easily outperforms most of the other projectors.
Sanyo PLV-Z3000 projector:
While the PLV-Z3000 has the least best black levels of the ultra-high contrast 3LCD projectors in the group, it still easily beat all the other projectors in this group, except for the Sony HW10 which was roughly comparable, though the Sony bests the Z3000. When it comes to shadow detail: "The Sanyo exhibits extremely good shadow detail. There may be a few projectors that can do a touch better, but I'd say that it is a non-issue."
Sony VPL-HW10 projector:
Black levels are pretty impressive, even if, overall, it comes up a bit short of the best. In its review, I stated: "The VPL-HW10's black level performance puts it into that select group of projectors where I consider the differences to still be there, but all have good enough black levels that the differences between them, for the most point, are very secondary, when deciding between them."
This Sony can't match the Epson, but is comparable to both the Panasonic and the Mitsubishi HC7000. The Sony, on the darkest scenes, can beat those two, but it's close enough as to, as indicated above, not be a final buying issue, between them.
Shadow detail on the other hand, is not among the best. It fits in to the mix, more like the Epson. Considering both black levels and shadow detail, what you end up with are very rich, dynamic dark scenes with lots of "pop and wow". Not quite as sensational as the Epson UB, but similar in look and feel.
Viewsonic Pro8100 projector:
The Viewsonic was reviewed before any of the other 3LCD projectors in this comparison and class. It is not an ultra-high-contrast projector, so in that regard, its black levels are more in line with the lower cost Mitsubishi, the Epson Pro Cinema 7100, and the Optoma. It is not a match for the others. Shadow detail is described as "extremely good". Let's say that black level and shadow detail are not the Pro8100's particular strengths.
Above, from Aeon Flux, Epson Home Cinema 6500UB. Below, from The Fifth Element, Sony VPL-HW10
$3500 - $10,000 Home Theater Projectors
Despite this group being our "premium" price range, there is a huge amount of difference in black level performance among these projectors, in fact more than in either other category. The least of these come up short of the ultra-high-contrast projectors in the $2100 - $3500 range, while the best, are - well the best, and by no small margin.
Above, from Casino Royale - Projector: InFocus IN83
BenQ W20000 projector:
Despite two irises (one dynamic, one manual), the W20000 does not qualify as a UHC projector. Black levels at their best, could beat the InFocus IN83 (Darkchip4), on very dark scenes, but overall, the IN83 has a slight advantage on mixed brightness scenes. It isn't a match for the UHC projectors, but has some of the best black levels among those that I don't classify that way. Then consider shadow detail, which I described in the W20000 projector review as "superb". What you have, is a well balanced projector in regard to black levels and shadow detail combined, but the great shadow detail isn't enough to make it a serious competitor compared to projectors like the JVCs, and we expect, the yet unreviewed Sony VPL-VW70.
InFocus IN82 projector:
The aging Darkchip3 IN82 is one of the weaker performers in this class, in terms of black levels, but it does extremely well on shadow detail. Black levels definitely fall short of the BenQ W20000. The good news is that the IN82 - despite being sold only through local dealers, is one of the least expensive in this class.
InFocus IN83 projector:
Oh dear! If only the IN83 had really great black levels. It sure has just about everything else in terms of picture quality, but black levels, while not bad, are definitely its weakness. It's no match at all in black levels for the best projectors in this class - especially the JVCs, which reign supreme. Despite black levels that are so-so for this group, it's one fine projector. Shadow detail, I should note, is excellent, an InFocus trademark.
My personal take is that someone at InFocus engineering (or management) should be shot, for not adding a dynamic iris to the IN83. The extra black level performance that a good dynamic iris should add, might well have allowed the IN83 to seriously compete for the top Best In Class award in this report.
JVC DLA-RS10 projector:
OK, last year in our report, the RS2, and RS1 had the best black levels of any projectors reviewed. The RS2 simply blew away the competition, with only the RS1, and close behind, the Sony VW60, even coming close. So, what could we expect from the RS10? The answer is, pretty much what one would guess. The RS10's black levels are just slightly better than the RS1's, not enough to be of significance, and the RS10 still isn't a match for the RS2, or its replacement, the RS20. Still, nothing like coming in second, losing out only to your own top of the line projector. When it comes to shadow detail, the DLA-RS10 does a very good job. I suspect that the older RS1 has a slight edge over the RS10 in terms of shadow detail, but, it's a moot point. The combination of the RS10's black levels and shadow detail make for a great combination only bested by the RS20.
JVC DLA-RS20 projector:
Building on what I said right above, let's be clear. Nothing I've reviewed to date, can match the black levels of the RS20. The older RS2 comes closest. I'm completely sold on the RS20 in this regard, and it is a large part of the reason I purchased an RS20 for myself less than a month after I reviewed the RS20. Shadow details, while not the best, are close enough, as they say. The combination is stunning. I watch a lot of sci-fi, action, etc, and they tend to be dripping in dark scenes, sometimes dynamic ones, some times muted. It doesn't matter what I throw at the JVC RS20, blacks are stellar. Even in bright scenes, it is easily noticeable that the blacks are darker than any of the competition. No projector is perfect, but it is truly the black level performance that has resulted in JVC's top of the line projectors taking our top honors, two years in a row.
Optoma HD8000-LV projector:
Making assumptions based on the rest o the HD8xxx series of Optoma projectors, black levels are likely near the bottom of the pack. I'd also guess that shadow details are less than stellar. That noted, I've consistently found that Optoma projectors have particularly rich dark colors, so that despite overall weakness in shadow detail, my best guess is that the HD8000-LV still manages to provide solid performance on dark scenes.
Planar PD8150 projector:
I was very impressed with the PD8150 projector overall. As one of the DLP projectors, I didn't expect truly great black levels (on par, say, with the JVC's), but, Planar has a very good dynamic iris in the PD8150. The end result is the best black levels of any of the DLP projectors we've tested, and one of only DLP projectors I really consider to be a UHC (ultra-high-contrast) model. In fact, the Planar, at its best, can likely match the JVC RS10, or at least come close. In mixed dark and bright scenes, where a dynamic iris is less effective, though, the RS10 would win handily.
The strong black level performance, combined with shadow detail I described as comparable to the excellent InFocus IN83, makes this the strongest of any of the DLP projectors, and a serious overall contender despite its high price, thus the Special Interest award (the other going to the significantly less expensive InFocus IN83).
Sharp XV-Z20000 projector:
The XV-Z20000 is another excellent DLP projector. Black levels are very impressive, and as I pointed out in the Sharp review, that it came close to the JVC RS1. (This Sharp is another one of those projectors that's been around for a while.) I count the Z20000 as a UHC projector, despite the relatively low contrast claim (12,000:1), which if anything, is more of an indictment of relying on contrast specs. Shadow detail was very good, but hardly exceptional, falling a touch short of the older JVC RS1 as well. The reason the Sharp did not win an award isn't due to performance in this area, but rather more related to low lumens, and high price tag.
Sony VPL-VW70 projector:
Once again, I must conjecture about the VW70. There are several projectors that I really would have liked to have reviewed before this report published, but none more so than Sony's VPL-VW70 projector. The older VW60 that it replaces was truly an excellent projector, and expecting only minor improvements, I would expect the VW70 to be a top contender. The VW60 had just about the best black levels last year, shy of the two JVC's and I expect that would remain true this year. Shadow details on the older Sony were typical for this class. Not the best, I considered them to be not quite as good as the JVC RS1. Thus, I would project that, overall, the VW70 has great (almost as good as the RS10) black levels, and similar shadow detail. That's the best I can do, until one finally arrives. At that point, I will comment in detail within its review.
Above, from The Dark Knight: JVC DLA-RS20
Overall Color & Picture Quality
I'm going to keep this very short, since I consider this to a large degree to be subjective. Instead of going into each projector, and trying to describe its overall Color and Picture Quality, I'll comment on them together. In some cases I'll mention the brighter modes, especially for sports and general HDTV/TV viewing, where I see something special.
$2100 and under 1080p Home Theater Projectors
In our entry level category all of the projectors but one are generally fairly comparable. There aren't great differences in terms of black level performance or shadow detail, but how accurate the colors are does vary, as does the amount of wow factor, when watching.
Overall, I favor the Epson Home Cinema 6100, despite its less than the best skin tone performance (very good overall, but shows weakness when watching lower quality content). The Home Cinema 6100 does exhibit the best black levels, and it also has the most dynamic looking image. That extra amount of dynamic look ("pop and wow"), has strong appeal to the typical home theater projector buyer. It means less to the hard core enthusiast looking for the technically most perfect looking image. As an added bonus, a properly tuned Epson really is spectacular on sports and HDTV viewing, in part due to the Picture Quality, but definitely assisted by all those spare lumens the Epson has to throw at your screen. The Epson also has the advantage of extra lumens so that it can also look better on larger screen sizes than several of the others.
Only the Optoma HD806 can match the Epson in terms of maximum lumens, but it isn't a match in most other categories. No threat there.
After the Epson, my money is on the InFocus X10, thanks to great skin tones and shadow detail, even if black levels are not the best of the group. While the black level/shadow detail combination (including the slighly low gamma) inherently give the X10 less "pop" than the Epson, if all else is equal, the InFocus has the second most lumens in best mode (by a substantial margin) and that means plenty of extra power to give you a bright dynamic look.
Only the HD806 has more lumens in best mode than the X10, but still has to be considered the weakest of the group, thanks to its very unimpressive black level performance. In that regard, it is the only other projector (besides the X10), (theoretically) that can handle a really large screen, and it can go even larger. The HD806 may be a very good projector for that reason, for those who just want a bright projector and are very non-critical about everything else.
That brings us to the other two 3LCD projectors in this group. I have to pick the Mitsubishi over the Sanyo for overall picture quality. They are close, but the skin tones are slightly better (based on our calibrations) on the HC5500. The Mitsubishi also has a slight edge in black level performance. The reason the Sanyo picked up an award, and the HC5500 didn't, has nothing to do with this area, but rather things like price, features, etc.
I think the HC5500 has the advantage in most of the areas considered, relative to the Sanyo. Any of the 3LCD models, as well as the InFocus X10, are perfectly fine in terms of overall picture quality to serve as an "entry level" 1080p projector, even for those who have higher standards, but not the budget to move up into more expensive, higher performance projectors. Most likely, other things, like budget, brightness and features, and of course, the ability to work in your setup, will be your deciding factors.
Above, Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, shot with the older Epson Home Cinema 1080 from my original Epson Ensemble HD.
$2100 - $3500 1080p Home Theater Projectors
Since we are only considering overall color and picture quality, and other key issues, such as brightness, price, features and placement flexibility aren't factors here, you may be a bit surprised by some of my thoughts. Here goes:
For this category, the projectors I think are the most outstanding include the BenQ W5000, the Epson Home Cinema 6500UB and Pro Cinema 7500UB, the Panasonic PT-AE3000, the Sony VPL-HW10 and finally the Mitsubishi HC7000.
Not that they aren't also good projectors, most of the non UHC projectors don't score as well in my personal opinion. Of my favorites, the BenQ W5000 is a cut below the others in terms of black levels, but it has a great look and feel to the picture that puts it up there with the others.
While overall, I favor the Epson UB projectors over the Panasonic PT-AE3000, they are definitely, as far as I'm concerned, about tied in overall picture quality. The Panasonic has the advantage in terms of film-like performance. It is very natural looking, but less dynamic than the Epson. Still the Epson easily offsets that with its black level performance advantage.
I find the Sony VPL-HW10 is most similar to the Panasonic. I'd say it has a bit more "pop" to the picture, and can sometimes best the Panasonic in terms of black levels. I just can't pick a winner between those two.
The Mitsubishi HC7000 is very interesting too. Its black levels are pretty impressive, and its sharpness - something I decided to not spend much time on in this comparison report, also gives it extra advantage. The HC7000's weaknesses aren't related to picture quality. I found it to calibrate particularly well for color accuracy. Its higher price and lower lumen counts are what held it back in the award race, not its overall picture quality.
Sanyo's PLV-Z3000 is truly a great projector for its price, but we just couldn't get its color accuracy as good as most of the others (that slight yellow-green caste we couldn't lose), and it's black levels while excellent by most standards, were still the weakest of the UHC projectors in this price range, though far better than the rest of the field. As a result, for purposes of overall picture quality, it doesn't, in my mind, score as well as the Epson, Mitsubishi HC7000, the Sony, and the Panasonic. It has a definite advantage in black levels compared to the BenQ W5000, but not enough to offset the BenQ's color, and film-like performance.
That brings me to the Epson Home Cinema 7100, The Mitsubishi HC6500 and the Viewsonic Pro8100. All three are lower contrast projectors than the other 3LCD projectors. They vary a bit in terms of how good their colors are, and there are some differences in black levels, but they are easily grouped together, a notch down from the others. Of these, it's a tough call between the Epson and the Mitsubishi, with the Pro8100 a tad lower performance in my mind.
Finally that leaves the Optoma HD8200. Strangely, it's the only other DLP projector in this group (the BenQ W5000 being the other). When properly calibrated, its colors are pretty good. But its lackluster black level performance puts it at the bottom of this group. After all, someone has to be at the bottom. The HD8200 has its place in this group, and there is a target market of potential users that it can serve well, but for those ranking picture quality high in importance, the HD8200 isn't going to be their choice!
$3500 - $10,000 Home Theater Projectors
Above: BenQ W20000 - House of the Flying Daggers
Now we are getting into premium projectors, and for the most part, if you are spending upward of $3500, then Overall Picture Quality is extremely important to you. Sadly, the inability to get the Sony VPL-VW70 (and for that matter the brand new Samsung SP-A900) reviewed befor this report, does leave a few questions unanswered, but here's my best take.
Forget the rest. The JVC DLA-RS20 owns top honors for Overall Picture Quality. Not far behind, though, are their less expensive DLA-RS10, the Planar PD8150, and the InFocus IN83. Most likely the Sony VPL-VW70 belongs in this second tier as well, and we'll be sure to comment when we review it.
The InFocus IN83 is the biggest anomaly of the group above. It is the only one without really great black levels, but manages to make up for it, as I keep saying, with the most accurate, natural color, of any of the projectors. I would worry that that may just be how we calibrate, but the InFocus projectors as a group, repeatedly exhibit the great color. As excellent a picture as I'm getting from my new JVC RS20, when I put that side-by-side with the IN83, I was very surprised to see that the IN83 looked better still in terms of skin tones. Until that moment I was 110% satisfied with the RS20's color. In fact, I have been unable to find flaw with the RS20's colors watching the projector extensively, it was only that side by side, that let me see it could be better still.
Since the IN83's "flaw" is its black levels, it may well be the best choice for many folks, where they can't fully darken a room. Or, more to the point, its overall picture quality significantly closes the gap if your room has light walls, where the reflected light from the screen image, ultimately bounces back and washes out the blackest blacks significantly.
Back to the rest. I really would have liked to have had the Planar PD8150 here at the same time as the JVC RS10. That should have made for a very interesting comparison. Both have similar black levels, although the DLP Planar, needs its dynamic iris to get up where the RS10 lives all the time in terms of blacks. It would have made a great comparison - LCoS vs. DLP. Many still swear by DLP, so that would have been very telling.
The BenQ W20000 is no slouch either. Very good color, and skin tones. It sort of fits about half way between the IN83 and the Planar in some regards, and costs less than either. Even though on dark scenes, it bests the IN83 for blacks, the two are close enough that, while the W20000 is very good in all other areas, the IN83 is just too good when it comes to color accuracy, and I have to favor it when thinking Overall Picture Quality.
As to the rest: The IN82 has great color, but it's aging, and its likely lowest performance black levels of the group is enough to more than offset the color. It just comes up visibly short on most dark scenes compared to almost all the others in this group.
That takes us to our two "guess work" projectors - the Sony VPL-VW70 and the Optoma HD8000-LV. The Optoma's strength is going to be elsewhere, not in picture quality. While it should be fine overall, its black levels probably kill it, compared to the field. (It is dynamic iris equipped, but haven't found an Optoma yet whose iris I find acceptable for watching). On other older HD8xxx projectors, they tend to be mechanically noisy, and even if that's not the case with the HD8000-LV, its tendency to rather visibily bump up or down the scene brightness several seconds after going from a dark, to bright scene. For that reason, I normally have disengaged the dynamic iris when reviewing other Optoma home theater projectors.
The Sony VPL-VW70 should be a serious contender. Certainly I really liked its predecessor, the VW60, and expect no less for the VPL-VW70. Color accuracy and film-like qualities should be excellent. If it could match the JVC RS10 consistently in black levels (not likely), and for that matter, in lumens, it probably would have been an award contender. Let's say that if there is some reason that both of the JVCs just won't work for you, then consider the VW70, to be, likely the next best thing in picture quality. Keep in mind, when I talk black levels between projectors that are close, and one has a dynamic iris (such as the Sony), and the other doesn't (JVC RS10) then you can expect that dark scenes will be more dynamic on the projector without the dynamic iris, as projectors with dynamic irises tend to compress the brightest areas at least a little, so that their irises can accomplish their task.
1080p Projectors: Viewing HDTV, TV and Especially, Sports
Although this is the Picture Quality section, when I discuss HDTV and Sports I find that I cannot effectively do so, without bringing projector brightness into the equation. That's one reason why I place this section below the Overall Picture Quality section, to isolate it a bit.
Simply stated, I work under the assumption, that when watching general TV/HDTV programming (not movies on HDTV, but the rest - American Idol, Price is Right, The Tonight Show, Gossip Girl, Heros, CNN, etc), and especially sports, that no one likes to watch in a "cave" - an otherwise pitch black room. Most of us prefer some lights on, or even a bit (not too much) coming in through windows. Oh, you might like that watching by yourself, but general programming and sports are just as often a family and or friends thing. You have no problem with conversation among watchers, in fact probably prefer it.
For that reason, a truly great projector for movie watching may not be barely acceptable for watching your favorite football team with a few friends over. Over here, for example, my wife and daughter often have a small crowd for American Idol and Gossip Girl. (No comment on that content from me - I fear for my life.)
Thus, projector brightness is a key factor, and most of us are willing to sacrifice black levels, even color accuracy, for a nice bright image.
For my comments I'm assuming a typical screen of about 100 inch diagonal. All of the projectors have enough muscle to handle that size for movies, but some may struggle in terms of brightness with some intentional ambient light present.
$2100 and under 1080p Home Theater Projectors
Sanyo PLV-Z700 projector:
While not one of the brighter projectors in this group in best mode, the PLV-Z700 does have a fair amount of muscle in its brightest mode, and that combined with overall picture quality, to be solid performer for this type of viewing.
Mitsubishi HC5500 projector:
Start with the HC5500's very good overall picture quality. Then factor in its brightness which is the least bright of this group, and the HC5500 is more likely to struggle even on a 100 inch screen when you have that football game on, and more than the bare minimum of ambient light.
Optoma HD806 projector:
The Optoma is one of the two "light canons" in this group. The HD806 really comes into its own for sports viewing and general TV/HDTV programming. Assuming you aren't rainbow sensitive, it's right up there at the top with the Epson Home Cinema 6100. Actually, for things like sports, even those of us sensitive to rainbows, tend not to have a problem as those pesky rainbows are best seen when you have fast moving white objects against a large very dark background. You just won't see that in a football game, or any other sport, and while some programming will have dark scenes, you are probably less critical for TV than for movies.
That makes the HD806 a great family room or bonus room projector for general non-movie viewing. As I said in the review, the HD806 is probably more at home as a projector in a sports bar, than in a home theater, but, then, if sports are your thing, and your room isn't a "theater", the HD806 may be just what you need for the upcoming March Madness basketball tournament.
Another strength for this type of viewing is the HD806's inherently sharp image. One appreciates small differences in sharpness more with digital content (such as HDTV sports) than film based movies.
Epson Home Cinema 6100 projector:
Not only is the Epson strong in this class for movie viewing, but it is also every bit as strong for sports and TV/HDTV. It measures the brightest of these projectors in its brightest mode, with even the HD806 coming up a few hundred lumens short. That said, I favor a calibrated Livingroom mode over the Epson's Dynamic mode. It gives up about 20% of the maximum lumens, but that still makes it about tie with the Optoma. In Dynamic mode, the color accuracy falls off quite a bit with significantly over strong yellows and greens. Our calibrated Livingroom mode, though does a very nice job in overall color accuracy, for a bright mode. The Epson is without a doubt my favorite projector in this group for this type of viewing!
InFocus X10 projector:
The X10 does great on sports and general TV/HDTV viewing. Kick on its Brilliant Color, and it falls right in the middle of the pack in brightness, yet still retains slightly more accurate colors than any of these other projectors in their brightest modes. It makes a great family room projector, as well as performing well in a more theater like setting. Brilliant color has minor issues, but gives you a boost in the image's "pop and wow". Skin tones, for example, get a bit too contrasty, but the underlying color accuracy remains exceptionally good. If you are heavy into sports, but also demand good movie quality, the X10 has got to be a top choice in this price range, with only the Epson its equal.
Bottom Line: It stacks up this way. For general sports and HDTV/TV (but also demand for good movie performance), I'll go with the Epson as the top recommendation, but the X10 as next best. The Sanyo, despite being the least expensive, is third, the Mitsubishi, due to shear lack of lumens, is next, and the HD806 last. But, if all you care about is sports, you can move that Optoma up with the Epson and InFocus.
$2100 - $3500 1080p Home Theater Projectors
Above HDTV - Epson Home Cinema 6500UB
BenQ W5000 projector:
If you need the extra horsepower, engage Brilliant Color. You'll still have good color accuracy, but a bit too much "pop" to be really natural looking, but the W5000 does a really good job cutting through ambient light, without losing its very good picture quality. Even with Brilliant color off, it is average in terms of brightness among this group of projectors! On a 100" screen it can handle an impressive amount of ambient light. Especially with Brilliant Color off, the BenQ does a really good job for general TV/HDTV viewing - those Discovery HD, and Travel HD documentries look great. The W5000's sharpness makes it better still.
Epson Home and Pro Cinema 6500UB, 7500UB projectors:
The two Epsons kick out significantly more lumens than any of the other projectors we have considered, when in its Dynamic mode. Colors are off, but if you really want "the lights on", none of the others can match its horsepower in dynamic mode, if you can forgive those strong yellows and reds. Use Livingroom mode, and you still get plenty of lumens (still the brightest of the group) and picture quality remains very good. For my annual Superbowl party, I parked my JVC RS1 in favor of the 6500UB, for its brightness. Even with a fair amount of ambient light, everyone was blown away with how good it looked (and that was Livingroom mode). A well calibrated Livingroom mode does just fine too, for general viewing. For those same HDTV specials like Discovery HD, the Epson shines, although if it has a weakness, it doesn't have quite as razor sharp looking an image as the sharpest projectors.
For sports viewing, I have been using its Frame Interpolation set to Low. It's not perfect, but I can see a little bit of smoothing of fast moving objects, especially in sports like tennis, and even basketball. There are occasional artifacts but, no one, including me, noticed, with 30 plus guests watching the Superbowl.
Epson Pro Cinema 7100 projector:
Since black levels aren't a serious concern for this type of viewing, the Pro Cinema 7100 does, essentially, just as well as the two UB projectors. And for less money.
Mitsubishi HC6500, HC7000 projectors:
Both Mitsubishi projectors share the same comments, except for brightness, where we found the HC6500 to have more muscle. The only other appreciable difference is black level performance, for this topic. In brightest mode the color accuracy is particularly good with both, but the lumens are weak (HC7000), and barely average (HC6500). These are not great choices - especially the HC7000, if you want to have more than a little ambient light in the room. To be fair, I get by adequately with my JVC RS20, on a 128" screen with about the same lumens as the HC6500. On the other hand, I sure wish my RS20 had 50% more lumens in brightest mode, than it has. Enough said!
The lack of lumens for this type of viewing definitely impacted (especially the HC7000) in our overall ratings, as well. I have said before, that the HC7000 is a great projector - for those who are primarily - or almost exclusively interested in movie watching, and aren't concerned with other types of content.
Optoma HD8200 projector:
Panasonic PT-AE3000 projector:
The PT-AE3000 has the best frame interpolation for those who find motion blur on sports to be an issue. If you consider that important, that gives the Panasonic an extra edge. On the downside, its performance in terms of brightness is strictly average - it just can't put up a really bright, punchy image when dealing with the same amounts of ambient light that the Epson's handle easily. (The Panasonic is about the same as the Mitsubishi HC6500, but a touch brighter.) Colors are good, with the Panasonic's brightest mode (Dynamic) definitely being better than the Epson's, but the Epson still has a lot more muscle (about 40%) even with Livingroom mode, where the color playing field is pretty much leveled.
Sharpness of the Panasonic is about average, so you won't get the crispness of the image found on some others in this group. I find its sharpness to be just a tad less than the Epson, but not enough difference between those two, to matter.
Bottom line: the Panasonic PT-AE3000 has enough lumens for sports and other viewing with some intentional ambient light present, but nothing to spare, unless you are on a particularly small screen.
Sanyo PLV-Z3000 projector:
Sanyo has not been known for bright home theater projectors, but we were to some degree pleasantly surprised here. The PLV-Z3000 can actually push out quite a few lumens, in fact it is brighter in brightest mode, than most of the competition.
The thing is, you won't find those lumens unless you know where to look. The default settings even for brightest mode, don't come close to what this Sanyo projector is capable of. We don't understand why Sanyo so limited the brightness of the PLV-Z3000 in its Dynamic mode, but we quickly figured out where they were hiding. Check out the Brightness section in the review, and you'll see we found about 30% more lumens available, with no real penalty for this kind of viewing, by changing a few settings. Even doing that the Sanyo PLV-Z3000 still trails the Epson's but none of the others in this group has an advantage.
The Sanyo also produces a slightly sharper than average image compared to the others in this group. Not the sharpest, but for sports and HD content, every little bit is nice to have.
In our opinion the PLV-Z3000 is one of the best in this group for sports and TV/HDTV viewing!
Sony VPL-HW10 projector:
The sharp image, combined with good color makes the Sony HW10 a good choice for sports and HDTV/TV viewing, but brightness remains a concern. Color accuracy was very good, but if you want that intentional ambient light, I believe only the Mitsubishi HC7000 has less lumens in its brightest mode. All that said, if you aren't going with a large screen, or too much ambient light, the Sony, performs very well.
Viewsonic Pro8100 projector:
This type of viewing is one of the strengths of the Pro8100. Though no match for the Epsons in brightness, it fits into the next tier, similar to the BenQ, Mitsubishi HC6500 and the Sanyo PLV-Z3000. The image has a lot of "pop and wow" for sports and HD digital content. If sports and TV are your thing, and movies are purely secondary, that's a good reason to move the Pro8100 on to your short list.
$3500 - $10,000 Home Theater Projectors
Above, from HDTV - JVC DLA-RS20
BenQ W20000 projector:
Like its lower cost sibling, the W20000 is a really excellent projector for this type of viewing. Start with a really sharp looking image, with above average brightness in its brightest mode, yet very good color accuracy, and you are in business. You'll want Brilliant Color turned on for the maximum lumens, with the result being an overly dynamic look, which takes its toll on skin tones, but, if you are watching sports, you simply won't care. Even for more normal viewing, including those stellar Discovery HD features, Brilliant Color isn't to the point of being a problem, but you can turn it off, and still have an average brightness projector (among brightest modes), and excellent color accuracy and skin tones.
InFocus IN82 projector:
While I strongly favor the more expensive IN83 overall, for this type of viewing the IN82 is excellent. The difference in black levels doesn't really come into play when you have some intentional ambient light, and the IN82 has lots of lumens, more, for example than any of the other projectors in this group, except for the IN83, and that unknown, the Optoma HD8000-LV, which is probably the brightest of the group, since that's what their LV designation is about. If your thing is sports and TV/HDTV and movies are secondary, the IN82 is a good way to save a chunk of money compared to the IN83.
It's been about a year and a half since I reviewed the IN82, so my feelings are based on extensive use of the IN83, and the rather consistent way the family of InFocus projectors perform. Should be a really good one for that next football game, American Idol, or CSI: Miami!
InFocus IN83 projector:
Well, you can figure this one out from the above paragraph. The IN83 is killer for HDTV, and sports. The image is razor sharp, the color accuracy the best, and, the IN83 has plenty of lumens. Again, only the HD8000-LV has a chance of being visibly brighter. Since InFocus lent me the IN83 for an extended period (many months), I must tell you, that I spent far more time watching sports on the IN83 than any other projector. Saturday afternoons, my JVC would sit idle while the IN83 pushed out hour after hour of college football. I just loved it, great color and roughly probably more than twice the lumens of my JVC RS1, since its lamp had about 1300 hours on it. But, even if the JVC had a new lamp, the IN83 should double the brightness.
I've done tons of watching the same type of materials with the Epson Home Cinema 6500UB, but the IN83 wins for sure, for this type of viewing. I've got a really well tuned LivingRoom mode (a great balance between brightness and color accuracy, etc.), but the InFocus IN83 has better color, period, and easily matches the Epson lumen for lumen.
JVC DLA-RS10 and DLA-RS20 projectors:
No point in doing these separately. While there are a number of subtle differences between the two, none are critical for this type of viewing. The two are almost identical in brightness. The sad part about the JVC projectors is that they simply don't have a whole lot of extra lumens going from best to brightest. So, while they are both two of the brightest in best mode, of this group, they are below average when outputting maximum lumens. The older JVC RS2 was significantly dimmer than these two, which is why I had to pass on buying the RS2 last year. Having the lumens for proper viewing of sports and HDTV on my 128" Firehawk screen was my biggest concern. No, that's not exactly right, I knew what I was getting because its pretty much the same brightness as my RS1. Let's say that its limited lumens were the one thing I could have asked to be better. My RS20 would be pretty close to perfect, if only it could crank out 1500 lumens or so in brightest mode.
But, it has enough! I'm happy, and I watch hours a day of HDTV content, with Discovery HD, Science HD, Travel HD and similar content, or sports or at night, a movie, running in the background when I'm in writing mode, and that's typically at least 25 hours a week. (You think writing these huge reviews is easy?)
The JVC projectors compromise virtually nothing in order to get their extra 100 lumens (compared to best mode), so the picture quality for such viewing is gorgeous. It just would be nice to have more lumens. Hey, I dream of a home theater projector that can kick out 5000 lumens so it looks like a huge plasma when you have the window shades up, but, other than large 5 and 6 figure priced three chip DLP projectors, no one is offering that kind of horsepower.
OK, after all that ranting, let's keep some perspective. My screen is a very large one. If I was firing onto a 100" screen I wouldn't need to make a fuss at all.
Optoma HD8000-LV projector:
I saw the older HD81-LV easily handle a 150" screen in movie mode! (OK, it was in those pretty ideal, pitch black trade show demo rooms). It was the brightest around last year. I'd be really surprised if this newer "LV" isn't the brightest of this group, and probably any in this report. The Optomas have punchy color too. I'll propose that (without seeing it in action), that the HD8000-LV is as good as any for Sports and HDTV general viewing. I'd figure the InFocus to have more accurate color, but I don't know many who are as finely critical for this type of viewing as for movies.
Planar PD8150 projector:
While the picture quality will be just fine, the PD8150's below average brightness in brightest mode is its weakness for sports and general HDTV/TV viewing. It's got a mode - Adaptive Contrast - that really helps cut through the ambient, but any way you slice it, it's not a bright projector, still significantly dimmer than the JVC's and they are strictly average.
Sharp XV-Z20000 projector:
The Sharp XV-Z2000 plays out pretty much like the Planar, in its lack of lumens. Since the Sharp though, is also not very bright in its best mode, you would typically be using a smaller screen, probably 100 inch diagonal at most, so, if the XV-Z20000 is the right projector for you for movies, you'll probably be just fine for HDTV and sports.
Sony VPL-VW70 projector:
I guess we're on a roll here, with the Sony VPL-VW70 expected to be another of the lumen challenged when it comes to sports and TV/HDTV viewing. Of course, that's a guess. After all, JVC's RS20 is dramatically brighter than the older RS2. Could Sony pull off the same trick? Well, for this type of viewing it sure would be nice if they can. I liked the older VW60 for its great picture quality for this type of viewing, but lumens were a big problem. I'm figuring that if the VW70 is only about the same as the VW60, then the JVCs are probably a good 50% brighter, and that makes a difference.
Above, HDTV, with a healthy amount of ambient light - InFocus IN83 (also, the nature of my Firehawk screen is such that there would be less washing out sitting in the center or to the left of the screen. It was a great looking image from my captain's chair.
Bottom Line for HDTV/TV and Sports Viewing in this projector class:
Every one of the tested projectors has impressive picture quality in their brightest modes. Color accuracy is very good, all considered. Only the untested HD8000-LV is an unknown in that regard. The dynamic look of the different projectors does vary, but the overriding factor, is lumens, if you want some lights on. Forgetting everything else, if this is the only type of watching you plan on, the InFocus projectors are probably the best. After that, don't forget the BenQ W20000, I've spent many years owning older BenQ's, and the newer ones have the same general characteristics, so you can count on the W20000 to do a good job. The JVC pair has to be next, and then the less bright projectors. Finally, if you need every last lumen, that Optoma may be the ticket.
Above, another IN83 image - modest ambient room light.