Cinetron HD700 - Performance

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Art Feierman

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:

Sharpness - comparison

JVC DLA-RS25

Mitsubishi HC3800

Mitsubishi HC7000

Epson Home Cinema 6500UB

Sanyo PLV-Z3000

Optoma HD8000

InFocus IN83

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.