Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Performance Posted on July 16, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Review - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Highlights - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Overview2. Mitsubishi HC4000 Special Features - Black Level Performance - DarkChip 3 - HC4000 Lamp Life - 1.5:1 Zoom Lens3. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Physical Tour - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector - Appearance - HC4000 Control Panel - Input/Output - HC4000 Menus - Mitsubishi HC4000 Remote Control - Mitsubishi HC4000 Lens Throw - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens4. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality - Mitsubishi HC4000 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector - Flesh Tones5. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality 2 - Mitsubishi HC4000 Black Levels & Shadow Detail6. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality 37. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality 4 - Mitsubishi HC4000 - Overall Color & Picture Quality - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports8. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Performance - Mitsubishi HC4000 Brightness - Effect of Brilliant Color on lumen output (Sports mode):9. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Performance 2 - Lumen Output on Low Lamp (Sports mode, Medium Color Temp, Brilliant Color off) - Mitsubishi HC4000: Bottom Line Sharpness10. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Performance 3 - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise11. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Calibration and Settings - Mitsubishi HC4000 Basic Settings - Mitsubishi HC4000 Post Calibration Grayscale - RGB Settings12. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Projector Screens - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Screen Recommendations13. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Competitors - HC3800 vs. Epson Home Cinema 8100 and Home Cinema 8500UB - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500, HC6800 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. BenQ W600014. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Competitors 2 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. Sharp XV-Z15000 - HC3800 vs. Optoma HD20 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. BenQ W1000 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. Panasonic PT-AE300015. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Warranty16. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Review Summary - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector - The Bottom Line - The Very Bottom Line on the HC4000 projector: - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Pros - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Cons - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Typical Capabilities17. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Full Specifications In this section we consider the brightness, sharpness, and image noise of the Mitsubishi HC4000 (check out Mitsubishi here) home theater projector. Also considered are the physical attributes of light leakage and audible noise. Mitsubishi HC4000 BrightnessAlthough this is a pre-production projector I’m working with, I don’t expect the full shipping models to be any brighter, as most of this projector’s design has been around for a year and very stable. I will note that there are some minor differences, but over all, the HC4000 (click for specs) measures a bit less bright than the HC3800. Such things aren’t surprising, it could be lamp variation, or perhaps the characteristics of a Darkchip3 cause some loss, compared to a DC2. I had thought that to a large extent the difference between them was related to quality control, as well as perhaps a different angle of operation for the mirrors? No matter. Here’s a projector that’s extremely bright in its best mode. The HC4000 (check out Mitsubishi here) manages about 950 lumens in its best mode (Cinema, Medium color temp, Brilliant Color on). That’s almost as bright as the more expensive BenQ W6000. Lumen Output and Color Temp for various Gamma modes at 100 IRE (Brilliant Color off Auto 567 @ 6673 Sports 607 @ 6726 Video 584 @ 6763 Cinema 569 @ 6649 When you need maximum lumens, the HC4000 doesn’t have many more in reserve, measuring maximum brightness of 1151 lumens, with gamma mode on Sports, and color temp on medium, but that’s still better than the average home theater projector (average is about 1000 lumens for “brightest” mode, and just about 500 lumens for “best” mode). Header Content Medium (default) 607 High Brightness 872 Cool 468 Warm 561 Effect of Color Temp setting on lumen output (Sports mode) Effect of Brilliant Color on lumen output (Sports mode):Color Temp on High Brightness= 1150 That would indicate that Brilliant Color is adding about 32% more lumens to the image. That should be comparable in other modes. Let’s take a look at a couple of images – comparing Brilliant Color On (first image below), to off. The same exposure was used for both, so this provides you with a really good idea of what the difference in brightness is, in real life: In Best Mode (Stored in User 1, based a modified Medium color temp, and Cinema gamma, with BC off: In Best Mode with BC offBest mode BC onSports mode BC offSports mode BC onPreviousNext Here’s another pair: Even our Sports mode at its brightest, still looks pretty darn good, color wise. PreviousNext 1. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Review - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Highlights - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Overview2. Mitsubishi HC4000 Special Features - Black Level Performance - DarkChip 3 - HC4000 Lamp Life - 1.5:1 Zoom Lens3. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Physical Tour - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector - Appearance - HC4000 Control Panel - Input/Output - HC4000 Menus - Mitsubishi HC4000 Remote Control - Mitsubishi HC4000 Lens Throw - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens4. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality - Mitsubishi HC4000 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector - Flesh Tones5. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality 2 - Mitsubishi HC4000 Black Levels & Shadow Detail6. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality 37. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality 4 - Mitsubishi HC4000 - Overall Color & Picture Quality - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports8. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Performance - Mitsubishi HC4000 Brightness - Effect of Brilliant Color on lumen output (Sports mode):9. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Performance 2 - Lumen Output on Low Lamp (Sports mode, Medium Color Temp, Brilliant Color off) - Mitsubishi HC4000: Bottom Line Sharpness10. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Performance 3 - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise11. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Calibration and Settings - Mitsubishi HC4000 Basic Settings - Mitsubishi HC4000 Post Calibration Grayscale - RGB Settings12. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Projector Screens - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector Screen Recommendations13. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Competitors - HC3800 vs. Epson Home Cinema 8100 and Home Cinema 8500UB - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500, HC6800 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. BenQ W600014. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Competitors 2 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. Sharp XV-Z15000 - HC3800 vs. Optoma HD20 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. BenQ W1000 - Mitsubishi HC3800 vs. Panasonic PT-AE300015. Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Warranty16. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Review Summary - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector - The Bottom Line - The Very Bottom Line on the HC4000 projector: - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Pros - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Cons - Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector: Typical Capabilities17. Mitsubishi HC4000 – Full Specifications Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Image Quality 4 Mitsubishi HC4000 Projector – Performance 2