1080p Home Theater Projector Comparison Report - Image Quality7

Posted on March 14, 2008 by Art Feierman

Sanyo PLV-Z700

I was generally very pleased with the PLV-Z700's skin tones. In the review, I commented: "Skin tones turned out to be extremely good overall, although in low lit scenes, it seemed they shifted just a little bit too much to red."

Sharp XV-Z15000

I certainly liked the Sharp: Movie 2 mode on the XV-Z15000 does a very good job on skin tones once you input our calibration changes. In fact, "very good" is most likely an understatement. I've watched a lot of movies with this Sharp, and find little fault with its handling of a wide range of skin tones.

Viewsonic Pro8100

Definitely off a bit, before any adjustments, and made worse by the oversaturation, but once the projector gets even a basic grayscale calibration and the saturation is toned down, it starts looking really good on skin tones.

Vivitek H1080FD

Click to enlarge. SO close

Upon close inspection: Skin tones are very good. There is a very slight, almost paleness to faces [like Gandalf's below], due to the touch less redof the Epson Home Cinema 8100, from The Dark Knight than there should be. When viewing, the projector doesn't really feel like it's a little thin on red, as the image has a good bit of contrast, and a lot of punch.

Bottom LIne: Even the least of the projectors these days does a pretty good job. If I had to be pinned down as to which three of these 10 projectors had the best looking skin tones, overall, I think I'd have to go with the Panasonic, the Mitsubishi HC3800 and the Sharp XV-Z15000.

Click to enlarge, so close.The Epson Home Cinema 8100, from The Dark Knight