Runco LS-7 - Review Summary

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Art Feierman

A summary of the Runco LS-7 projector's pros and cons and capabilities.

Runco LS-7 Projector - The Bottom Line

Click to enlarge. SO close

I truly am pleased to be as impressed as I am with the Runco LS-7 projector. I certainly had my reservations before the LS-7 arrived. Oh, I expected plenty of lumens, but I knew almost nothing about how well the Runco's do at black level performance. Well the short answer is, it does very impressive black levels, it handles blacks well enough that while they can always be better, other factors now dominate. And the two key factors are the color, and the brightness.

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Runco LS-7 Brightness

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Lot'sa lumens. 1450 lumens measured in best mode, at midpoint zoom. Wow!

People, lots of horsepower is certainly one thing 3 chip DLP projectors are well known for. Remember at $15K, this is essentially an entry level 3 chip DLP. You can spend $30K, $60K or even over $100K. And when you do spend more, you'll likely get a lot more lumens still. I love having all that brightness.

Placement flexibility is pretty respectable considering it only has a 1.3:1 zoom. The good news is that the lens if fairly long throw. As a result, of that throw ratio, a lot of people will still be able to rear shelf mount their LS-7, if that's their desire. It would, for example, work in my room, placed 20 feet back, hitting a 128" screen. Of course you can celing mount a few feet closer, and also get some extra lumens that way (not that there's a shortage)!

That immediately makes me want to say, yes, if you can afford it. Like every other projector we've ever reviewed, this Runco is definitely not the best at everything. The typical Runco LS-7 buyer, is probably someone who will spend more money on the room than on the projector, but still wants a great picture, plus first class support. Runco's dealers are highly trained, and heavy on the support. If you insist on a projector that appears sharper, or if the price is too steep, this guy's not for you. But if you want a great projector overall, and to buy it from a dealer who should be able to take care of all the details, this Runco, is very attractive.