Mitsubishi HC9000D Home Cinema Projector - Review Summary

Mitsubishi HC9000D Projector - The Bottom Line

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Things are heating up in the high quality plus 3D capability projector arena, with the addition of Mitsubishi's HC9000D. And the HC9000 is priced in the low middle range, compared to the field of competition. Which we consider spanning from the JVC DLA-RS40 and Sharp XV-Z17000 (both under $5000), on the lower end, to the Sony VPL-VW90ES and JVC DLA-RS60 at the very top (at $10K, and $12K respectively). We believe that Mitsubishi's use of a $5995 price likely well represents what the HC9000 will sell for.

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Before we get through, we'll address the HC9000D for those only interested in 2D, and those wanting both 2D and 3D.

There're are currently up to about a half dozen projectors in our $3500 - $10K ($12K allowing for the JVC) range, that offer 3D as well as 2D, at 1080p, with a very high quality, Ultra High Contrast projector.

This Mitsubishi HC9000D falls somewhere below the middle in terms of price, and of course, being surrounded, is never fun. Nonetheless, the HC9000D seems to be handling the competition fairly competently.

The HC9000D calibrates very nicely, a conclusion drawn from all my hours of viewing it. I also did some side by side viewing two different JVC's and an Epson UB and report color and skin tones at least as good as any of them!

The iris of the HC9000D offers fixed or variable (dynamic) iris operation. The iris in dynamic mode was perhaps the only feature that gives me pause. Its smooth, but apparently very slow, and can be audible when it resets. I think I did hear it once (other than at start up and source changes, etc.) But to double check, I then put on the first 45 minutes of Hunt For Red October, with no sound on, and despite the very dark passages, and bright ones, I never heard a peep out of the iris.

I do favor faster dynamic iris designs, by the time this iris gets fully adjusted on a drop to a quick dark scene, the scene is probably over. Best I can tell, it never fully adjusted down on that short segment in Casino Royale that I take the night train scene image from.

The good news is that the projector has some very good black level performance, even without running the iris dynamically. (Yes, there are 3 manual settings - non-dynamic, as well as a custom mode for one of 18 steps). It may not match the more expensive JVC's which are still the best at blacks, but the HC9000D pretty good even without dynamic iris, and better, with.

Brightness:

One reason the HC9000D is scoring big points with me, is its brightness. With 700 lumens in its best mode (we consider 500 about average) and 1000 lumens at its brightest (1005 measured), which we consider average, that still gives it a big advantage on most of the competition. Entry level quality projectors, are often brighter.

For 2D plenty of lumens for a large screen, 130" diagonal isn't out of the question, although if you like sports with lights on, you'll want a smaller (or higher gain) screen.

3D is the brightness issue if you are a 3D projector. The HC9000D doesn't have as many lumens for 3D as I would like, but it is the brightest of all of the projectors of this group, so far. We haven't gotten to the JVC RS40, and there will be some new competition soon, but it bests the Sony and the more expensive JVCs, as well as the Sharp, in overall brightness, and for 3D.