Mitsubishi HC9000D Projector - Performance-3

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Art Feierman

Mitsubishi HC9000D: Bottom Line Sharpness

I've usually complimented Mitsubishi for their projectors' sharpness. The HC9000D is no exception. No three chip (be it LCoS, LCD, or DLP) will converge flawlessly (giving single chip DLP's an advantage), but beyond all that, there are still degrees of sharpness and clarity. Nothing with 3 panels, of late, has looked as good as JVC's $12K RS60, but, that aside, the Mitsubishi looks very crisp and clear. It's still not going to appear quite as sharp and crisp as a comparably well done, single chip DLP like the competing Runco LS5 we reviewed not long ago.

I left the sharpness control at default 0. It takes a lot of movement to get a little sharpness out of it. Those looking for a crisper image will find Detail Enhancement, to probably the control they're looking for. Low really does crisp up the image, with seemingly greater sharpness. Medium is a slight increase but High, looked over the top. Using the control also makes the image noise more visible. The more detail enhancement, the less natural the image. Try low, though, you might like it.

HC9000 Light Leakage

None to speak of. One note, like most other LCoS projectors the panels used are not pure 1080p. In the case of this Mitsubishi HC9000D, the panels are 1920 by 1280 - instead of 1920x1080. You can dimly see that extra vertical putting out "black" but enough to show up faintly on a dark scene, if your screen frame isn't masking it. Normally, though, it is, so, not an issue.

HC9000D Image Noise

Silicon Optix Reon VX processing assures a very clean set of image processing abilities. Since we use the Silicon Optix test disc, there were no surprises, the HC9000D does very nicely.

Engaging Detail Enhancement makes the background image noise more visible.

Mitsubishi HC9000D Audible Noise

Medium quiet, but low pitched, the HC9000D should be fine for all but the really noise adverse. Low power definitely brings the noise down to quiet levels.