Viewsonic Pro9000 Projector - Performance 3

Viewsonic Pro9000 Sharpness

We have here a classic single chip DLP projector.  I tend to think of the Pro9000's most direct competition as being lower cost DLP projectors that run on conventional lamps.

That said, the Pro9000 is nice and sharp.  It is comparable to other single chip DLP projectors in that price range.  Remember, one reason you will be paying around $3000 is for the long life light source.  For example, the Panasonic PT-AE8000 (which is selling for slightly less), for a moderately heavy user, will be spending about $1000 on lamps over 4-5 years.  ($379 x 4000 hours).

For a 40 hour a week type, that's a lamp needed every two years, of course to last two years at that rate, the lamp will be down about 50% in brightness before you are replacing it.

Back to sharpness.  There is also a detail enhancement feature with this projector.  It did not seem especially smart.  The default setting was fine, but push it too much and it becomes grainy.

Of note, above.  Reality Creation was on, setting 20.  For this type of image, I believe it actually detracts from the sharpness of the text, but still looks really sharp

Light Leakage

Image Noise

Basic image noise is just about what expect for single chip DLP projectors.  Motion artifacts were also good.  In terms of slow panning, the Viewsonic did slightly better than the Sony VPL-HW50ES, and comparable to the Epson Home Cinema 5010.

We looked for image tearing, 1 for 1 pixel mapping.  The Viewsonic Pro 9000 had no issues:  First image below, very small type.  The second image shows vertical and horizontal lines 2 pixel thick in the center of the test pattern.  They are clearly produced.

❮ ❯

Audible Noise

Viewsonic claims 22db in eco-mode, and 28 at full power. That won't make it the quietest home theater projector around, but it will make it one of the quietest.  Few projectors claim below 20 db. Many of today's projectors, including others in this price range can be in the 30 - 34 db range at full power, which is a bit of noise.  Really noise adverse people seem to demand 25 db or less.

Overall, even at full power, in my room, sitting just about 4 feet away, I almost never noticed the fan noise, even on quiet scenes.  Although I barely used eco-mode, it should be quiet enough to make everyone happy.