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LG AF115 Projector Calibration and Settings

Posted on October 11, 2013 By Art Feierman

We normally calibrate each home theater that is reviewed. We perform contrast, brightness, saturation and other image adjustments, as well as a grayscale balance. A complete professional calibration can go even further, but the settings we provide generally offer a anywhere from a slight to dramatic improvement, compared to the “out of the box settings”.

In this case, though, with a projector that’s pre-production, and without knowing pricing, or even if it will be sold in the US, our usual calibration was not done on the AF115. We settled for some quick brightness measurements, and I adjusted color “by eyeball” to create a “best” mode, for viewing.

Since this is not a production projector, firmware color tables are likely to change, so reporting our settings wouldn’t be of any help, regardless.

LG AF115 Commentary

While in many ways the AF115 feels like the CF181D, they are not the same. I tried for example dropping in all our calibration settings (both basic settings, and RGB) from the CF181D, and while the results weren’t bad, they were obviously not close to a proper calibration. Not only were the colors slightly off, but the brightness setting proved different. The 53 setting for brightness was a couple two high – for this AF115 projector I found 51 to be “on the money”, at 53, the blacks were unnecessarily being brightened.

LG AF115 - Projector Screens

LG AF115 Projector Screen Recommendations

Since the LG AF115‘s black level performance is just average, and not exceptional, all else considered, I’d recommend an HC gray surface to lower blacks. That assumes no special room requirements, that might demand a different type of screen. If you are working in a family room environment, that high contrast gray screen will also help with ambient light coming in from the sides.

Certainly there’s a good amount of “best” mode lumens to go around, so most people will still have a nice bright image.

That said, you should consider your room (wall/ceiling/floor color), ambient light issues (day and night), etc. to determine what screen surface will work best for the mix of content you tend to watch.

Even this lower powered LG can fill all of my 128″ Firehawk G3. I can say, that although pairing this LG with my Firehawk worked out well, but I still favor projectors with higher contrast, better blacks.

Bottom line – unless you are going with an exceptionally large screen (at least as large as my Firehawk, probably), you’ll be best served with a high contrast gray, like the expensive Firehawk, or any number of less expensive HC gray screens including the Elite HC gray (light gray – a “compromise surface), or the Da-lite HC Da-Mat, to name two. Or even the Da-lite HC Cinemavision, which is a light gray HD screen like the Elite (the HC Da-mat is a darker gray with lower gain).

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LG AF115 - Competitors

COMING Eventually. (everything below is just template).

This page will only be completed once (if) the LG AF115 comes to market in the US, and the pricing is published. Once I know pricing, I can position it. Without pricing, there’s no ability to conjour up an understanding of the projector’s value. This projector at $3000 (in the US), would be a terrible value (especially with the CF181D at $500 less). But at $899, it might be the best overall value in the industry. So, we’ll just have to wait and see what strategy LG applies here in the US, if the projector makes it here, at all. -art

AF115 vs. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB

LG AF115 vs. BenQ W6000

LG AF115 vs. Panasonic PT-AE4000

LG AF115 vs. Sony VPL-HW15

AF115 vs. JVC DLA-RS15

LG AF115 Projector - Warranty

The LG AF115 provides a good warranty. The warranty consists of 3 years of parts and labor. If one compares the LG AF115’s warranty to the most direct competition:

The Panasonic PT-AE4000’s warranty isn’t as good, due to a 2000 hour maximum.

The Epson 8500UB also has two years, but includes an overnight replacement program both years, for a real advantage.

The BenQ W6000 has only a 1 year warranty

Sony VPL-HW15 – also a 2 year warranty without extra frills

Mitsubishi HC6800 and HC7000: also a standard 2 years

Sanyo offers 3 years parts and labor on their competitive projectors, but, it must be noted, unlike other brands, Sanyo doesn’t replace initially defective projectors (DOAs). They repair them instead, and they guaranty no more than 72 hours at their location for any warranty repair.

That gives you a pretty good idea of the competition.

As I said to begin with – a good warranty. Just not anything special to write home about!

LG AF115 – Performance
LG AF115 – Review Summary