Mitsubishi HC1500 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-2

HC1500 Lens Throw, Lens Shift, and Sharpness

Click to Enlarge.So close

he Mitsubishi HC1500 home theater projector shares the same placement measurements as the HD1000U. To fill a 100″ diagonal, the HC1500 can be as close as 11 feet 11 inches, or as far back as 14 feet 6 inches. This will allow some to mount on the shelf in the back of their rooms. Remember you are measuring to the front of the lens. So, with a shelf that is 24 inches deep, you are looking at a 100″ screen working in a room 16.5 feet deep, and, considering the HC1500 has plenty of power, the popular 110″ diagonal screen size will work shelf mounting in an 18 foot deep room. I wouldn’t be afraid to match this Mitsubishi projector with even a slightly larger screen, if that works in your room.

Click Image to Enlarge

As to sharpness, the Mitsubishi is pretty good. I would give it a very slight edge over the average DLP projector, and even a bit more, compared to the Panasonic. But all would be very close, until you get into the few projectors (rarely in this price range) that have superior optics and sharpness. The more expensive Sanyo PLV-Z5, is sharper, (and has a more visible pixel structure), but overall, the HC1500 does a good job.

For a sharpness test, I have recently switched to to my DTS sampler disk, for a different image, to demonstrate both sharpness and pixel visiblity. The image seen here, is about 10% of the DTS disk’s menu screen. Click on it, and you will see a much closer (and larger view) that covers probably no more than 5% of the whole screen. Pixel structure is slightly visible here. You will find this image on a number of other recent reviews, for comparison.