AF115 Projector Highlights
- Very bright "best" mode for movie watching - over 900 lumens
- Bright "brightest" mode - one of the very brightest
- Very good post calibration color accuracy
- Skin tones and overall color are exceptionally natural
- Sharp image
- Very good placement flexibility
- Dynamic or manual iris modes, provide good, not exceptional black level performance
- CFI and other dynamic features
- Very good price performance, though we favor the CF181D for the extra dollars
LG AF115 Projector Overview
The LG AF115 projector came to me a couple of months ago. It follows our review of the similar, but slightly higher performance LG CF181D, which impressed us!
The LG AF115 projector, is a 3 panel LCoS projector. That puts it in the same company as the more expensive LG CF181D, and other more expensive LCoS projectors including the JVC DLA-RS15, the Sony VPL-HW15, as well as more expensive still JVCs and Sonys. Of course, there's plenty of other competition for the LG projector, including the less expensive Panasonic PT-AE4000, and, of course, the Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, as well as an assortment of Mitsubishi's, Optoma's, BenQ's and others.
The AF115 is a medium-largish 1080p projector. It sells in the low-$2000 range in the US, and like the other LG projector, is bright. No, it's not as bright as the CF181D, or even that close to it, but it is still brighter than most other home theater projectors.
The AF115 has a number of dynamic features. There are three settings for the Dynamic iris, (more on that below), and creative frame interpolation.
Despite any issues about some of these features, the AF115 has a really good combination of strengths, and no major weaknesses.
AF115 Projector - Special Features
Creative Frame Interpolation: TruMotion
Sadly, the LG projector does not have one of the better CFI systems. There is a jerkiness that occurs when watching movies, which is basically unacceptable. I'm not sure if the LG is a little better in this regard than the Epson Home Cinema 650UB's CFI issues when it came out a little over a year ago.
However, the problem with the Epson was severe enough that they managed to upgrade the performance significantly just weeks after first shipment, with an upgrade path for original owners.
The LG jerkiness is very reminiscent of that. I would not recommend using CFI with movies, even if you might like the effect with some other projectors. The LG's CFI is what I consider intrusive. You will notice it from time to time, and it's not the job of a projector to rudely intrude on your viewing pleasure.
For sports, I left it on. Again, not one of the better CFI's but I've watched dozens of hours of the Olympics, with it mostly on, and have generally been satisfied. The issues with HDTV signal are not as great as with 24 fps movies.
So, adequate for sports, probably skip for most other things.
I should note that the LG offers a menu option of TruMotion Demo, in addition to the various settings, under TruMotion. If you engage TruMotion Demo, the left side of the screen uses CFI while the right side does not, so you can compare the effect. This is a feature found on several other projectors including the Epson UB's. It's a nice touch for those who "like to play".
Color Management System (CMS)
The LG is fully equipped, with a CMS system to adjust the individual primary and secondary colors. It provides, however, only a single control for each of those colors. For grayscale balance, the LG has separate R, G, and B controls for brightness and contrast. We mostly worked with Cinema and the two programmable Expert 1 and 2 modes. Those three offer slightly different controls than all the other modes (operative word, is slightly) with more controls available, including CMS for Cinema and Expert modes. You won't find the same ability to adjust the colors if working with Vivid, Sports or other presets.
