LG CF181D Menus Posted on February 20, 2010 By Art Feierman 1. LG CF181D Projector Review - CF181D Projector Highlights - LG CF181D Projector Overview2. CF181D Projector – Special Features - Creative Frame Interpolation: TruMotion - Color Management System (CMS) - LG CF181D Projector: Dynamic and Manual Iris - Overscan Feature, and Edge Masking Issues3. LG CF181D Physical Tour - LG CF181D Physical Appearance - Control Panel - Input/Output4. LG CF181D Menus - LG CF181D Menus - LG CF181D Remote Control5. LG CF181D Lens Throw - LG CF181D Lens Throw - DLA-CF181D Lens Shift - CF181D Anamorphic Lens Support6. LG CF181D Projector – Image Quality - LG CF181D Projector: Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones7. LG CF181D Black Levels & Shadow Detail - LG CF181D Black Levels & Shadow Detail - The over large image from 5thelement starship in LG_CF181D8. LG CF181D Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Performance9. LG CF181D Shadow Detail Performance – 2 - Bottom line LG CF181D Blacks and Shadow detail10. LG CF181D Overall Color & Picture Quality - Overall Color & Picture Quality - LG CF181D Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports11. LG CF181D – Performance - LG CF181D Brightness - LG CF181D Projector - Uncalibrated12. LG CF181D: Sharpness - Sharpness13. LG CF181D: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - LG CF181D Image Noise - LG CF181D Audible Noise14. LG CF181D Projector Calibration and Settings - LG CF181D Projector Calibration and Settings - LG CF181D Color Temperature - Color Temp over IRE Range (Best Mode, Pre calibration) - LG CF181D Basic Settings15. LG CF181D Post Calibration Grayscale - LG CF181D Post Calibration Grayscale - Gamma settings - Regarding the CF181D Iris - LG CF181D RGB Settings16. LG CF181D – Projector Screens - LG CF181D Projector Screen Recommendations17. LG CF181D – Competitors - CF181D vs. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB - LG CF181D vs. BenQ W600018. LG CF181D vs. Panasonic PT-AE4000 - LG CF181D vs. Panasonic PT-AE4000 - LG CF181D vs. Sony VPL-HW15 - CF181D vs. JVC DLA-RS1519. LG CF181D Projector – Warranty20. LG CF181D – Review Summary - LG CF181D Projector - The Bottom Line - CF181D Brightness - LG CF181D Color Performance21. LG CF181D – Review Summary – 2 - Sharpness22. LG CF181D – Review Summary – 3 - The very bottom line23. LG CF181D Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - LG CF181D Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - LG CF181D Projector: Pros - LG CF181D Projector: Cons - LG CF181D Projector: Typical Capabilities24. LG CF181D Projector Specifications LG CF181D MenusLG’s menus are pretty good, just one or two objections. The first is obvious. Hit menu, and you get your 6 main menu choices up on the screen (image on the right). Select the one you want, and click. That’s not as efficient as most others, who will have a starting menu that shows all the main menus, but also displays the most widely used menu at the same time. (That is, main menu names – usually on the left). The most popular main menu, though (usually called Picture or Image) is also there when you open Menu. Saves a click. Hardly the end of the world, but one of those minor things. One other objection which I’ve also complained about Sanyo in particular (but also others), to task for, and that’s scrolling menus. With the LG, the Advanced menu has a lot more features than you see. You have to scroll down to find the rest. It’s not really well indicated and easily overlooked. And there are a lot of items to scroll through. That kind of thing has one diving for the manual. Of course that would bother a reviewer more than an owner. You owners will after a while remember that. For a reviewer – I work with a projector for a week or two, and spend tons of times in the menus, and therefore like a setup where everything is easy to find. While I make this complaint, it’s a very minor thing, so I’d also say “don’t worry about it – it’s not a big deal.” The first main menu is Picture (as shown) hit has all the basic stuff – brightness, contrast, color (saturation), sharpness, tint… The next menu is the Advanced Picture menu, with all the “fun” image controls (also shown here): There’s the TruMotion demo mode (half the screen does CFI the other half does not, for comparison purposes). The bulk of the advanced image controls are called either advanced, or expert, depending on which Picture mode (ie Vivid, Expert) you are in. That Advanced/Expert control area has your controls for iris control (manual, dynamic or off), CFI (creative frame interpolation – high or low), Color Temp, Gamma, Black Levels, and your RGB and CMS controls. Many of these you have to scroll down to find. One of those I had to scroll down to find, was the Overscan menu option for dealing with image noise around the edges, (very common with HD sources showing standard definition content, but other times as well). See my comments on the first page of the review near the bottom. The strangely named Screen menu deals with projector placement (front/rear, tabletop/ceiling), Aspect ratio, Keystone adjustment (please don’t) and a single test pattern suitable for focusing and positioning. Most manufacturers would tend to call that menu the Setup menu. Next is the Option menu, which is pretty bare bones, with menu Language choices the background color (and the color when you blank the screen), and two timers – one for sleep (shuts off when you tell it to, from Off, to 10 minutes, up to 240 minutes). There’s also Auto sleep, which will put the projector to sleep if no signal is detected for 10 minutes. These are common features found on a lot of home theater projectors, although I don’t consider them widely used, and often don’t mention them. There’s an Info Menu, and finally, a menu just offering your choice of Inputs. The Input menu nicely highlights the inputs with active signals. LG CF181D Menus Slideshow LG CF181D Menus Picture Menu LG CF181D Menus Advanced Picture menu LG CF181D Menus Advanced/Expert control area LG CF181D Remote ControlThe CF181D remote, I like a whole lot. The range is very good, not the best, but works well in my main theater, which stymies most remotes (about a 25 foot total trip including bounce off the screen). This is one of the few that works consistently as long as I point it pretty straight towards the screen. After you get past the range of the remote, it’s all more good news. The goldish backlighting is bright, but not quite, too bright, like, for example a couple of Optoma projectors with super bright blue LEDs. The remote doesn’t have a million buttons. Its layout goes something like this. At the top a single button for power – once for on, twice for off. A row of three for “setup” consisting of Auto, Aspect and Input (source select). Next comes navigation, two buttons -Menu on the right, Exit on the left, and right below that, the navigation buttons – 4 hours in a round configuration, with a center “OK” (enter) button. Then, a bit below two large buttons one for Brightness, the other Contrast. And right below them, in the center, the backlight button. Hit the button and the backlight stays on for about 5-6 seconds – an adequate amount of time. More space, and then 9 buttons in a total of 3 rows. All of these are direct access buttons allowing you to skip using the menus. The nine buttons are: Mode (Vivid, Cinema, etc.) Auto Iris, Keystone Still (freeze frame), Blank, (test) Pattern Color Temp, Sleep, and Gamma Hard not to like this remote control. True, a number of remotes have direct buttons for each source, and I wouldn’t have minded seeing say separate buttons for HDMI 1 and 2, but that’s hardly anything worth bitching about. Click Image to Enlarge 1. LG CF181D Projector Review - CF181D Projector Highlights - LG CF181D Projector Overview2. CF181D Projector – Special Features - Creative Frame Interpolation: TruMotion - Color Management System (CMS) - LG CF181D Projector: Dynamic and Manual Iris - Overscan Feature, and Edge Masking Issues3. LG CF181D Physical Tour - LG CF181D Physical Appearance - Control Panel - Input/Output4. LG CF181D Menus - LG CF181D Menus - LG CF181D Remote Control5. LG CF181D Lens Throw - LG CF181D Lens Throw - DLA-CF181D Lens Shift - CF181D Anamorphic Lens Support6. LG CF181D Projector – Image Quality - LG CF181D Projector: Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones7. LG CF181D Black Levels & Shadow Detail - LG CF181D Black Levels & Shadow Detail - The over large image from 5thelement starship in LG_CF181D8. LG CF181D Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Performance9. LG CF181D Shadow Detail Performance – 2 - Bottom line LG CF181D Blacks and Shadow detail10. LG CF181D Overall Color & Picture Quality - Overall Color & Picture Quality - LG CF181D Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports11. LG CF181D – Performance - LG CF181D Brightness - LG CF181D Projector - Uncalibrated12. LG CF181D: Sharpness - Sharpness13. LG CF181D: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - LG CF181D Image Noise - LG CF181D Audible Noise14. LG CF181D Projector Calibration and Settings - LG CF181D Projector Calibration and Settings - LG CF181D Color Temperature - Color Temp over IRE Range (Best Mode, Pre calibration) - LG CF181D Basic Settings15. LG CF181D Post Calibration Grayscale - LG CF181D Post Calibration Grayscale - Gamma settings - Regarding the CF181D Iris - LG CF181D RGB Settings16. LG CF181D – Projector Screens - LG CF181D Projector Screen Recommendations17. LG CF181D – Competitors - CF181D vs. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB - LG CF181D vs. BenQ W600018. LG CF181D vs. Panasonic PT-AE4000 - LG CF181D vs. Panasonic PT-AE4000 - LG CF181D vs. Sony VPL-HW15 - CF181D vs. JVC DLA-RS1519. LG CF181D Projector – Warranty20. LG CF181D – Review Summary - LG CF181D Projector - The Bottom Line - CF181D Brightness - LG CF181D Color Performance21. LG CF181D – Review Summary – 2 - Sharpness22. LG CF181D – Review Summary – 3 - The very bottom line23. LG CF181D Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - LG CF181D Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - LG CF181D Projector: Pros - LG CF181D Projector: Cons - LG CF181D Projector: Typical Capabilities24. LG CF181D Projector Specifications LG CF181D Physical Tour LG CF181D Lens Throw LnRiLWhlYWRpbmcuaGFzLWJhY2tncm91bmR7cGFkZGluZzowfQ==