Mitsubishi HC9000D 3D SXRD Projector (TPV 106)

Mitsubishi’s latest projector provides full 1080p HD 3D display capability and features SXRD reflective liquid crystal imaging panels

Remote Control
Featuring soft pinkish backlighting (but no dedicated backlight button) the remote features direct input selector buttons, which is a big plus and is especially useful for programming macro sequences into a system remote controller. There are also dedicated buttons for major picture adjustment modes, and a dedicated button to get to a user pre-set picture memory, along with discrete power on/standby buttons.

RECOMMENDED SETTINGS

Start off with the Cinema picture mode. Once that mode is selected and further picture adjustments are made, the picture mode will change to a user mode, and then settings can be saved to that mode. The Frame Rate Conversion function provides film judder smoothing when set to the True Video mode, but some viewers may find the resulting motion quality to be to “video-y”. The function works very well at smoothing out film judder with no visible smoothing artifacts.

• Color: -10
• Tint: 0
• Sharpness: 0 (has no effect with HD sources)
• Picture Mode: Cinema
• Color Temperature: 6500°
• Gamma: Cinema (2.15 result)
• Setup: 0 IRE
• Cinema Filter: Movie
• Frame Rate Conversion: User preference
• Detail Enhancer: Off
• 1:1 (pixel-for-pixel) Mode: Overscan 100%
• Color Space: Auto
• Color Management: Off

PERFORMANCE

3D Blu-ray Evaluation: IMAX Galapagos

3D Effect
The 3D depth effect is very good indeed, and no flicker or ghosting side effects were noted.

Color
With both 2D and 3D material on Blu-ray, the color saturation at the default level is on the high side. Once trimmed back with the Color control, the oversaturation goes away and the resulting image is impressively colorful, but not overly so.

Blacks
At the lower lamp setting, there’s still plenty of light output, and deep blacks are very good. The Cinema Filter function aids here as it provides the optimum balance of overall brightness and deep black image quality.

Shadow Detail
When the Gamma control is set to Cinema, the Mitsubishi returns a near ideal 2.15 gamma result which helps provide excellent shadow detail. Underwater images in the murky depths off the island’s coast are suitably dim and it’s easy to see all of the darker details.

Artifacts/Noise
None noted.

Broadcast HDTV Evaluation: The Today Show (NBC)

Detail
The Mitsubishi puts out a suitably crisp image, with excellent screen uniformity and no color fringing at the screen edges.

Color
The Cinema mode provides the best overall color quality, especially with the Cinema Filter engaged. When the Cinema Filter is bypassed, the brightness increases and so does the overall color saturation. In either mode, the Color control needs to be turned down somewhat, which helps improve the flesh tone quality.

Blacks
A consumer products segment has the presenter describing an array of back-to-school items, and a close-up of a multi-function printer that has a black gloss cabinet is perfectly rendered.

Shadow Detail
The camera zooms in on some black backpacks, and the fine details of the fabric weaves are easily seen.

Artifacts/Noise
None noted.

BOTTOM LINE

Overall, the Mitsubishi delivers very good performance, although the color gamut accuracy isn’t very good (green and yellow are way beyond the limits of the HDTV color gamut standard). The 230W lamp’s output should be sufficient for most home theater setups, and the quality of the optics is excellent. While the 3D performance is very good indeed, there’s no 2D-to-3D upconversion function, an omission that might be of concern to hard-core 3D fans who want to watch everything in 3D. The optional 3D IR synchronization blaster kit includes the necessary short and long length connection cables, which allows the blaster to be mounted on the projector’s front panel or to be positioned elsewhere for better viewing audience coverage, which is a plus.

SPECS & PRICING

MITSUBHISHI HC9000D 3D SXRD (LCoS) Projector
Practical Screen Size Upper Limit (10 Foot-Lamberts, 1.0 gain 16:9 screen): 166” diagonal
Pixel resolution: 1920x1080
1:1 Mode: Yes
Has Mode 1 Scaling (vertical stretch for external anamorphic lens compatibility)?: Yes
Has Mode 2 Scaling (horizontal squeeze for fixed external anamorphic lens compatibility)?: Yes
Video inputs: 3 HDMI, 1 component, 1 S-video, 1 composite, 1 RGB PC
Other connections: 1 RS-232C serial port, 2 12V trigger outputs, 1 3D IR emitter output
Dimensions (W x H x D): 19” x 8.5” x 20.9”
Weight: 32 lbs.
Warranty: 2 years parts & labor (1 year lamp)
Price: $6999; IR blaster kit with two cables $189; active shutter rechargeable 3D glasses $139