Color and Picture Quality
To examine and rate the LG PF 1000U, I set it up on my test bench, using the Normal Color Temperature setting and other default selections. I started by creating a 60-inch image and went through the five projection modes one at a time to see how they differed. Not enough? Go ahead and create your own by adjusting any of the image settings. There are two reserved for the user.
With a rated 150,000:1 contrast ratio, the projector has excellent grayscale imaging, but its black levels were disappointing with a huge gap between projected black regions and nearby areas with no image. No amount of adjusting the projector’s settings or Black Level made much of a difference.
The PF1000U's Vivid mode has oversatruated colors.
Starting with the Vivid mode, the PF 1000U put out exactly 1,000 lumens, but the color balance was off quite a bit. The yellows were muddy and most of the colors were oversaturated, leading to excessive blooming. It used 86.3-watts.
The projector's Standard mode is its brightest.
By far, Standard mode was the brightest and the best for most uses. The projector was able to put out more light, 1,021 lumens, while looking better, with more realistic flesh tones. At times some of the colors can appear a tad muted.
The PF1000U's Cinema mode is dull.
Change to Cinema and everything warms up, maybe too much. It also gets a lot duller with whites that were very diminished and actually looked yellow or orange at times. The PF 1000U’s overall output dropped to 686 lumens.
Its Sport mode's color are off balance.
In Sport mode, the PF 1000U put out 974 lumens but the whole screen takes on an other-worldly greenish/blue tone, while Game mode is similar but duller with a maximum output of 933 lumens.
Game mode's imaging is dull.
Text Readability
Unfortunately, the PF10000U’s focus isn't as sharp as more expensive projectors with better optics, however, in fairness, ultra-short throw projectors always are tougher to get good focus with. It was able to deliver readable text at as low as 10-points, but it can be a chore to read it.
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Video Performance
A Close up of Katniss - Jennifer Lawrence - in The Hunger Games
As a multi-purpose projector, the PF 1000U does well playing Blu-ray and online video. There was no stuttering, dropped frames for artifacting when playing a variety of clips and its sound was always well synchronized.
Pictures were taken of 2001, but came out dark, so other images have been substituted here. That said: In the beginning of “2001: a Space Odyssey,” the PF 1000U in Standard mode did an excellent job of reproducing flesh tones and close-up details like facial stubble and wrinkles. showing the minute details that are hidden in the shadows with lower resolution projectors. Not only are the scene’s broken rocks and ground textures visible and detailed, but the rippling pond in the early monkey scenes looked very realistic.
A test image built into the LG PF1000U projector
The star of the early part of the movie, the black obelisk was well defined and didn’t have any jagged edges; it appeared rock solid. Later, the dawn and dusk sequences had the right balance of warmth and realism. When the spaceship flies through the colors, each was well formed and saturated.
Its color balance was quite nice with realistic tones, particularly the warm sunrise and sunset scenes. In the penultimate scene of flying through an array of colors, the scenes looked oversaturated, but that could just be the effect the film was aiming at.
