Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance Posted on October 17, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Review - SP-A600 Projector Highlights - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Overview - Samsung SP-A600 Special Features - Samsung SP-A600 Color Wheel2. Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour - Samsung SP-A600 Physical Appearance - SP-A600 Projector - Control Panel - Samsung SP-A600 Inputs and Outputs - Samsung SP-A600 Menus - Samsung SP-A600 Remote Control3. Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour - SP-A600 Lens Throw - SP-A600 Lens Shift - SP-A600 Anamorphic Lens4. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality - SP-A600 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Samsung SP-A600 Projector - Flesh Tones5. SP-A600 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Level Performance:6. Shadow Detail Performance7. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality28. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality3 - SP-A600 - Overall Color & Picture Quality9. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality4 - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports10. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Brightness - Samsung SP-A600 Sharpness11. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance - Samsung SP-A600: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise12. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Calibration and Settings - Samsung SP-A600 Color Temperature - Samsung SP-A600 Basic Settings - Samsung SP-A600 Post Calibration Grayscale: Movie 1 (User 1) mode13. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Calibration and Settings1 - RGB Settings - Brightest Modes:14. Samsung SP-A600 – Projector Screens - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Screen Recommendations - Samsung SP-A600 - Competitors - SP-A600 vs. Epson Home Cinema 6100 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. InFocus X10, Sharp XV-Z1500015. Samsung SP-A600 – Projector Screens - Samsung SP-A600 vs. BenQ W5000 - Samsung SP-A600 - Warranty - Samsung SP-A600 - Review Summary - Samsung SP-A600 Projector - The Bottom Line16. Samsung SP-A600 – Review Summary1 - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Pros - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Cons - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Typical Capabilities Samsung SP-A600 Projector BrightnessI do love bright projectors. When it comes to the SP-A600‘s brightness in its “best” mode, it is one of the brighter ones out there. Most 1080p projectors measure between 300 and 600 lumens in best mode. Only rare (and expensive) models exceed 1000 lumens in best mode. These were the measurements for all modes, pre-calibration. Shown along with the lumens are the color temperture measurements for white (100 IRE): Vivid 1017 @ 9583K Dynamic 638 @ 8399K Standard 702 @ 7235K Movie 1 738 @ 6155K Movie 2 669 @ 5034K User 1 729 @ 6145K User 1 seems to be virtually identical to Movie 1, with the small measured differences within the margin of error of our equipment. Post calibration, Movie 1 (User 1) 715 lumens measured @6467K. Switching to low lamp, brightness drops to 522 lumens, a larger than typical drop of 27% (20-25% is most typical). That percentage drop should hold in all modes. With a measured 1017 lumens in Vivid mode, that puts the Samsung SP-A600 projector in the high side of average range for a bright mode for projectors in this price range. (Note, a few, however can get much brighter, such as the Epson Home Cinema 6100, which is about 50% brighter in best mode, even though the Epson is over 200 lumens less bright when comparing best modes.) Going from mid-point on the zoom to full telephoto (it’s really not far to go) drops the brightness by about 12.5%. Going from mid-point to full wide angle increases brightness by 4.5% To give you an idea of how the various “bright modes” compare, below are the same image shot with the same exposure. The first is Vivid, followed by Dynamic, then Standard: SP-A600SP-A600SP-A600PreviousNext Samsung SP-A600 SharpnessToday’s single-chip DLP projectors are typically a little bit sharper than most 3LCD or LCoS projectors, due to the other technologies being 3 chip devices. And with that, there’s always at least a tiny bit of misconvergence to unsharpen the image. The Samsung SP-A600 projector, as expected, does provide a very sharp image. Some DLP projectors are a touch sharper, and one recently reviewed, the Sharp XV-Z15000, seems similar, but the Z15000 has more trouble with edge to edge sharpness than most others. That is to say, both the Sharp and Samsung projectors will look very sharp at the point where you have focused it, but look towards the corners, and the SP-A600 would hold its sharpness better than the Sharp. Samsung SP-A600Sanyo PLV-Z3000Mitsubishi HC6500Panasonic PT-AE3000Optoma HD8200InFocus IN82PreviousNext 1. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Review - SP-A600 Projector Highlights - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Overview - Samsung SP-A600 Special Features - Samsung SP-A600 Color Wheel2. Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour - Samsung SP-A600 Physical Appearance - SP-A600 Projector - Control Panel - Samsung SP-A600 Inputs and Outputs - Samsung SP-A600 Menus - Samsung SP-A600 Remote Control3. Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour - SP-A600 Lens Throw - SP-A600 Lens Shift - SP-A600 Anamorphic Lens4. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality - SP-A600 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Samsung SP-A600 Projector - Flesh Tones5. SP-A600 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Level Performance:6. Shadow Detail Performance7. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality28. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality3 - SP-A600 - Overall Color & Picture Quality9. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality4 - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports10. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Brightness - Samsung SP-A600 Sharpness11. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance - Samsung SP-A600: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise12. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Calibration and Settings - Samsung SP-A600 Color Temperature - Samsung SP-A600 Basic Settings - Samsung SP-A600 Post Calibration Grayscale: Movie 1 (User 1) mode13. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Calibration and Settings1 - RGB Settings - Brightest Modes:14. Samsung SP-A600 – Projector Screens - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Screen Recommendations - Samsung SP-A600 - Competitors - SP-A600 vs. Epson Home Cinema 6100 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. InFocus X10, Sharp XV-Z1500015. Samsung SP-A600 – Projector Screens - Samsung SP-A600 vs. BenQ W5000 - Samsung SP-A600 - Warranty - Samsung SP-A600 - Review Summary - Samsung SP-A600 Projector - The Bottom Line16. Samsung SP-A600 – Review Summary1 - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Pros - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Cons - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Typical Capabilities Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality4 Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance