HC5000 Review

[Keith Hurst]

Here you go peeps...

http://www.projectorcentral.com/mitsubishi_hc5000.htm

KH

[the_oldhams]

Does not say much about image quality/contrast etc. - too much waffle about lens shift etc. Waiting for the one from projectorrevieews.com - they are also meant to review AE-1000 soon as well

[Anim]

They have gone LCD now i see, thats interesting. Scaler/de-interlacer sounds nice too and with upconverting all our normal stuff that should extend SD shelf life a little more. Its these kinds of advancements and value for money that make the projector scene a very exciting industry for punters like us.

Anim

[Keith Hurst]

Yes exciting is not the word.... The PJ market has been blown wide open this year with some of the releases that are coming out, and the prices they are coming out at !!!!

KH

[Zag]

Originally Posted by the_oldhams

Does not say much about image quality/contrast etc. - too much waffle about lens shift etc. Waiting for the one from projectorrevieews.com - they are also meant to review AE-1000 soon as well

I couldn't agee with you more. That review my PJcentral was diabolical. It doesn't tell me anything really. Also how can PJcentral also give a 5 star peformance rating to the AX100 and the Z5. Does it mean they are just as good as the HC5000 for a lot less money???

I want to know how good the ANSI contrast and black level is with these new D6 C2 fine panels in comparison with DLP and SXRD.

I trusted PJcentral once in the past I bought a PJ based on one of their reviews. Never again will I make that mistake. I think they're reviews are almost useless to be honest. There are much better sites out there.

[keep_it_legal]

Try the one at www.projectorreviews.com then.

Although they do seem to give every new projector their 'Hot product award'

[Zag]

I would have but PJcentral beat PJreviews to it.

A much better review. Direct link below.

http://www.projectorreviews.com/Manu...00BL/index.asp

[warbie]

Sounds good.

I'm a litle worried these 1080p projectors are going to cost an arm and a leg in the uk. The Pearl seems to be one of the cheaper options and it's 3.5k!

[Zag]

For most people, according to Art's review, will be better off with 720P projectors anyway.

The benefits of 1080P only really come apparent at lower sitting distance to screen width ratios.

What does that then say about 1080P Plasmas and LCD TV's???

Anyway back to the HC5000. Sounds like a great machine in terms of colour, sharpness, processing and contrast, just very concerned how close in price it will be to the Pearl.

[VirusKiller]

Originally Posted by Zag

What does that then say about 1080P Plasmas and LCD TV's???

Quite. 50" is the minimum size. Complete waste on a 42" or smaller display IMHO. Our peers in the US have enjoyed HDTV for many years and they typically use 60" (4:3 diagonal) screens.

Anyway back to the HC5000. Sounds like a great machine in terms of colour, sharpness, processing and contrast, just very concerned how close in price it will be to the Pearl.

I agree on all counts. Pearl is now available for £3250 from a trusted dealer. I think that the 1080p LCDs will have to have at least £750 clear air between them given the quality of the Pearl and its much higher calibrated lumens.

[morkys]

Unless the 1080p projectors have much improved contrast and black levels, they aren't very attractive purchases regardless of the rez. Sure 1080p from clean 1080p sources will look very good, but unless the contrast and black levels is a significant jump up from the current crop of 720p LCD's like the Sanyo Z4/Z5, Panny AE900/AX100, Hitachi TX200 (HDP-J52) and the Sony HS51A (HS60) then there isn't much there to bite on. I must see way better contrast and blacks in the next projector I buy. I like my TX200, so upgrading has to provide significant improvements in order for me to justify the costs, and in this case, the difference in quality of blacks/contrast must be looked at in terms of what it costs me. The 1080p C2Fine lcd projectors like the Mits HC5000 must compare very favourabley to the 720p units AND not cost too much more, otherwise, it isn't worth it. Again, as far as resolution goes, its nice to have higher rez and more detail, but my priority is contrast/blacks first, higer rez second.

[Oakleyspatz]

Originally Posted by morkys

Unless the 1080p projectors have much improved contrast and black levels, they aren't very attractive purchases regardless of the rez. Sure 1080p from clean 1080p sources will look very good, but unless the contrast and black levels is a significant jump up from the current crop of 720p LCD's like the Sanyo Z4/Z5, Panny AE900/AX100, Hitachi TX200 (HDP-J52) and the Sony HS51A (HS60) then there isn't much there to bite on. Again, as far as resolution goes, its nice to have higher rez and more detail, but my priority is contrast/blacks first, higer rez second.

Then surely DLP should be the way to go for you then? Better blacks/contrast than LCD or are rainbows a problem?

[morkys]

Rainbows have been bothersome for me most of the times I haved checked out dlp. I usually get Head-aches too, which is more of my concern. Something about dlp just looks soft and weird most times. I will check them out again, but motion-blur and dithering are also not my fave video artifacts.

[AML]

I wanted to ask about 3 new 1080p Pj's.

First the Mitsubishi in this thread followed by the Pany AE 1000 and the new Epson TW 1000.

The Epson has HDMI 1.3 while the mitsubishi is still 1.2. Does anyone know what the pany is?

Im leaning towards pany coz of the 14bit processor http://panasonic.jp/projector/ae1000/imaging.html

But i like the HDMI 1.3 in the Epson.

The Mitsubishi also has many good points.

Price wise, in Japan they are all the same 350.000 yen (about $3500 US)

[Zag]

Originally Posted by morkys

Again, as far as resolution goes, its nice to have higher rez and more detail, but my priority is contrast/blacks first, higer rez second.

I agree. I was hoping this year to see a 3 chip 720P DLP machine for around the price of the Pearl to be honest but obviously it's too expensive and too risky to bother making with the advent of 1080.

In terms of contrast though I don't think the HC5000 will offer much of an improvement over my current HS60, and to be frank I doubt even the Pearl with offer a night and day improvement over it.

For me though the most important improvement I want to see in these new LCD projectors is the elimination of picture artifacts most specifically vertical banding. I have slight VB on my PJ and I find it spoils an otherwise very good picture.

If I wasn't prone to the RBE I'd go for an Optoma H81 by virtue of its contrast improvements over the Pearl.

My top runner for a PJ upgrade is still the Pearl closely followed by the HC5000.

I, like many other people are eagely awaiting the 1st reliable shootout between them.