Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-4 Posted on August 9, 2008 By Art Feierman 1. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p 3LCD Home Theater Projector Review: - Overview - Mitsubishi HC5500 Highlights2. Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Physical Tour3. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-1 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Out of the Box Picture Quality - Skin Tone Handling4. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-2 - Black Level and Shadow Detail - Black Level Performance5. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-3 - Shadow Detail Performance6. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-4 - Shadow Detail Performance 2 - comparision7. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality 5 - Shadow Detail Performance 3 - comparision8. Shadow Detail Performance 49. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-6 - Mitsubishi HC5500 projector - comparision10. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-7 - Mitsubishi HC5500 projector 211. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-812. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-9 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Image Sharpness 2 - comparision - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports13. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-10 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Overall Image Quality14. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-1 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Menus - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: User Memory Settings - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Remote Control15. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-2 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Brightness 16. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-3 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Audible Noise Levels - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Screen Recommendations17. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-4 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Measurements and Calibration - calibration, settings - movie watching - Contrast - Brightness - HC5500 Image Noise 18. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Warranty19. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Summary, Competition, Pros and Cons-1 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Competitive Aspects20. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Summary, Competition, Pros and Cons-2 - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z2000 - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. Panasonic PT-AE2000U - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080UB - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs Viewsonic Pro810021. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Summary, Competition, Pros and Cons-3 - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. Optoma HD80 - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. BenQ W500022. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Summary - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Bottom Line23. Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector Specifications Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Measurements and CalibrationFirst here are the measurements “out of the box” for best mode, with lamp at full power. Those settings are Color Temp set to medium (that measured best), Gamma set to Auto White (100 IRE) 6594K Light gray (80 IRE) 6969K Medium gray (50 IRE) 6849K Low gray (30 IRE) 6731K calibration, settings Brightness 3 Contrast 3 Color Temp Medium Gamma Cinema Lamp mode Standard (high) movie watching White (100 IRE) 6596K Light gray (80 IRE) 6556K Medium gray (50 IRE) 6488K Low gray (30 IRE) 6433K Now that is a nice, tight, almost dead on, set of numbers, with a very slight shift from cool (bluish) to warm (reddish), as one measures from white to dark gray. Of note, down in the noise levels of our equipment – below 30 IRE where accuracy is iffy, the HC5500 shows a shift to stronger reds and blues and a drop in green. This is only going to be visible in very dark areas, mostly in dark scenes, and, in fairness, we see significant shifts in these dark gray/black areas on most projectors. One nice thing about calibrating the HC5500 (and other Mitsubishi projectors), when adjusting the color temp, you can choose any of the built in settings as a starting point (ie. Medium, High Brightness, Warm…). For our purposes, we found in pre-calibration, that Medium was the closest, so when creating Color Temp User 1, we told the menus to use Medium as the starting point. Contrast Red 0 Green 0 blue 8 Brightness red 6 green 0 blue 6 In setting the Gamma into its User 1, we set controls for ALL (so that R,G, and B, all have the same settings): High -3 Medium -4 Low -4 And of course, for movie watching, you’ll definitely want the dynamic iris turned on! The iris is very fast, and rarely detectable even if looking for its action. Remembering back to the HC4900 which lacked a dynamic iris, and had very mediocre black level performance, the addition of the dynamic iris is the primary improvement in this projector, so take advantage of it! HC5500 Image Noise 1. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p 3LCD Home Theater Projector Review: - Overview - Mitsubishi HC5500 Highlights2. Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Physical Tour3. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-1 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Out of the Box Picture Quality - Skin Tone Handling4. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-2 - Black Level and Shadow Detail - Black Level Performance5. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-3 - Shadow Detail Performance6. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-4 - Shadow Detail Performance 2 - comparision7. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality 5 - Shadow Detail Performance 3 - comparision8. Shadow Detail Performance 49. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-6 - Mitsubishi HC5500 projector - comparision10. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-7 - Mitsubishi HC5500 projector 211. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-812. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-9 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Image Sharpness 2 - comparision - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports13. Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p Home Projector Review: Image Quality-10 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Overall Image Quality14. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-1 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Menus - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: User Memory Settings - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Remote Control15. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-2 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Brightness 16. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-3 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Audible Noise Levels - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Screen Recommendations17. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-4 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Measurements and Calibration - calibration, settings - movie watching - Contrast - Brightness - HC5500 Image Noise 18. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Warranty19. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Summary, Competition, Pros and Cons-1 - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Competitive Aspects20. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Summary, Competition, Pros and Cons-2 - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z2000 - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. Panasonic PT-AE2000U - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080UB - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs Viewsonic Pro810021. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Summary, Competition, Pros and Cons-3 - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. Optoma HD80 - Mitsubishi HC5500 vs. BenQ W500022. Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Summary - Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector: Bottom Line23. Mitsubishi HC5500 Projector Specifications Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector Review: General Performance-3 Mitsubishi HC5500 Home Theater Projector: Warranty