Cinetron HD700 - Performance
1/31/2010 - Art Feierman
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Cinetron HD700 Brightness
The HD700 projector has 6 preset modes - of those, the 3 User modes start out exactly the same, and very similar to Theater mode. Shown below is measured brightness of each mode, and the color temperature measured for white (100 IRE).
Cinetron HD700 Projector - Uncalibrated:
Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom):
Dynamic = 961 @ 8071K
Standard = 879 @ 7983K
Theater = 868 @ 7313K
User 1,2,3 = 890 @ 7327K
Best Mode: After calibration, there was no real difference in brightness of Theater mode. Mike recorded 864 lumens, a drop of only 4 lumens and well within the accuracy of the equipment.
Brightest Mode: 961 lumens. Dynamic mode is defiinitely cooler looking than the calibrated Theater mode, but provides an extra 100 lumens, when needed
The Effect of zoom lens positioning on brightness: Our standard measurements reported are done with the zoom at its mid-point. Here are relative numbers from the Cinema 1 mode, for different lens positioning From a percentage standpoint, the differences will be the same for any mode, as you change the lens angle:
Zoom out: 852 (closest to the screen - wide)
Mid-zoom: 868 (mid-point on the zoom)
Zoom in: 702 (furthest from the screen - tele)
Those are the strangest readings I've seen in terms of the zoom affect on brightness. Normally Zoom out is the brightest, and as you move towards the more telephone zoom in, the lumen output drops. Mike doublechecked these measurments, and yes, Zoom out is actually dimmer than the midpoint.
I've been wracking my brain about how that could be. My guess may relate to the iris, which may not open fully wide enough to pass all light when the lens is at wide angle? Doesn't really matter why though, except that maximum lumens is one rational for ceiling mounting close, instead of shelf mounting further back.
The Effect of Low lamp (eco) mode on brightness:
Low lamp power ("Normal" lamp mode), Theater: 868 lumens
High lamp power ("Economic" lamp mode), Theater: 679 lumen
That works out to a drop of 22% of brightness when running the lamp in ow lamp mode. That same percentage difference should be unchanged, regardless of preset mode. Most projectors' low power modes drop power between 20 and 25%.
Sharpness
The Cinetron is of "average sharpness" for a 1080p projector. It seems every bit as sharp as the other LCoS and 3LCD projectors. Like those, this HD700 has slight misconvergence (they all do, the question is, "how slight"?)
The HD700 happens to have a digital convergence controls as do most LCoS projectors these days, although it's still pretty uncommon on LCD projectors. DLP projectors of course, are single chip (at least the ones in the under $10K range), and therefore do not have multiple light paths to converge.
For your consideration, our usual close up images:
Top left: Cinetron HD700, Top Left Center - JVC DLA-RS25, Top Right Center - Mitsubishi HC3800, Top right - Mitsubishi HC7000
2nd row left: Epson Home Cinema 6500UB, left center: Sanyo PLV-Z3000, right center: Optoma HD8000, right: InFocus IN83
Note, this first image still to come. It's currently missing in action.
Below: Close up of a computer monitor, from Space Cowboys (Blu-ray), left to right HD700, Sony VPL-HW15, Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, second row: JVC DLA-RS25 and Mitsubishi HC3800. The HD700 holds its own against most, but not a few of the sharpest DLP projectors.
Cinetron HD700: Bottom Line Sharpness
Apparently good optics, and the usual slight misconvergence add up to a typically sharp 3 chip projector. That said, most DLP projectors will appear a bit sharper - razor sharp, if you will, instead of just sharp.
Actually I like to refer to all 1080p projectors as either average, or "sharper still". And this one's an average one. As with my JVC, I do wish it was a touch sharper on digital content. On film based content, the softness of the film tends to negate a fair bit of the difference in sharpness between projectors.
Light Leakage
No issue at all! (that was easy).
Cinetron HD700 Image Noise
Overall, very good! General motion image noise is about average, and definitely a bit tamer than say, the average DLP projector (they do seem to have more image noise than LCoS or 3LCD projectors).
I noticed no troubling, obvious artifacts, although I admit I'm not always the best at spotting them sometimes. Nothing ever jumped out at me during my viewing sessions as being a problem. I'd say pretty typical overall, which should come as no surprise, because like with most big brand projectors, Cinetron outsources much of their image processing. As it turns out, they use Silicon Optix HQV. Some of the other brands that use Silicon Optix processing include JVC and Epson. That's pretty fine company to keep.
HD700 Audible Noise
The Cinetron HD700 is pretty quiet to begin with, and even better, lower pitched than most projectors. From a spec standpoint Cinetron says 24 db. What they don't say, is if that's lamp on high or low brightness. Usually when there's just one spec, it's the low power spec.
I wouldn't worry about it, though, the projector is quieter than my JVC, and I think, any of the other LCoS projectors, and quieter than the Epson UB projector, as well as any of the competing DLP projectors.
Bottom line, below average noise levels, and thanks to low pitch, extremely unlikely that noise will be a problem for you. If you find the HD700 too noisy, that probably means you wouldn't be happy with 75% of the home theater projectors on the market.