HC5000BL Home Theater Projector Review - Image Quality

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Art Feierman

HC5000BL Home Theater Projector Review - Image Quality

Since the Mitsubishi HC5000BL is the first 1080p resolution home theater projector to come in for review, I think it's only appropriate to start off this section talking about sharpness.

During the course of this review, I got to spend significant time comparing the HC5000BL (link to specs) with my 720p resolution BenQ PE8720 (switching back and forth between the two in my viewing room), and observing the HC5000BL side by side with the 720p resolution Samsung SP-H710AE home theater projector and the Sanyo PLV-Z5, in our testing room.

Either way, the Mitsubishi produced a sharper image then the 720p projectors. Even the BenQ, known for its sharpness, simply cannot resolve fine details as well as this Mitsubishi projector.

Having the extra resolution produced a visibly sharper image, even on standard DVDs with their inherent resolution below either the 720p projectors or the HC5000BL. On images from HD-DVDs and HDTV, the sharpness difference is even more noticeable.

Sharpness Comparision

HC5000BL warnerbrosLarge

SamsungSP-H710ae WarnerCloseLarge

Of course if you sit far enough back from your screen, your eyes will not be able to see the difference, but I would say that only a very small percentage of those buying projectors will actually sit far enough back to not be able to see the difference.

One note of interest. The HC5000BL as received had the Sharpness control set for +2. That left us with some visible edge sharpening. I finally settled on what I thought was best, in the -2 to -4 range. You'll have to figure out what you like best, it's a bit subjective.