Mitsubishi HC8000D Special Features Part 2

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Art Feierman

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1.5:1 Zoom Lens

The manual 1.5:1 lens provides very good placement range, more than is typically found in less expensive DLP projectors, and at the shorter range of the LCoS and LCD projectors which mostly have 1.5:1 up to 2.1:1.

Part of the superior contrast of the HC8000D compared to the HC7900, relates to the lens. The HC8000D's lens is officially less bright - and therefore higher contrast we assume. They rate it F 3.0-3.5 vs. F 2.4-2.8. Both have the same focal length (same sized image from same distance...)

The HC8000 offers image correction capable of handling digitally a wide range of setups. We recommend sticking to lens shift, but this will do in a pinch, for horizontal correction. (There's no horizontal lens shift on this projector.) With Mitsubishi's focus on using this projector in a wide range of rooms, it is even capable of correcting for some pretty off center / off angle work.

HC8000D Projector - 3D Performance

The Mitsubishi HC8000D is fully 3D capable. As mentioned above, optional are the 3D glasses and the Emitter (which plugs into the rear of the projector). I watched 3D with Mitsubishi's new 3D glasses. They are reasonably light for active shutter glasses. These are "custom" for this projector (and probably its successors). Alternately, the HC8000D can use "universal" 3D glasses, including those from 3rd party brands like xPand. Mitsubishi touts their "custom" glasses, however as being noticeably brighter. As I did not have the xPand glasses still here from the HC7900DW review, I can't precisely comment, but, in comparing notes, I have to agree. I expect that these may be 20-30% brighter, based on what I considered reasonable for watching on a 100" screen on each model.

Due the variation with 3D glasses and how they work, taking straight measurements of 3D brightness doesn't give you an accurate picture of how bright the image will be. The Mitsubishi HC8000D in this case, measured in the 800-lumen range in 3D mode, but it seemed more like 1000 lumens. Which is to say, not that much for 3D.

In a theater environment, 100" is about as big as the Mitsubishi HC8000D projector should tackle with a normal screen, with Mitsubishi's proprietary 3D glasses. Knock off 10" of diagonal, give or take, if you will be using the universals. That's just an educated guess. When I tried to push it to fill my 124" I was hopelessly disappointed due to its inability to be even marginally "bright enough". 100" diagonal in 3D proved to be about as large as you want to go. I've definitely got a couple of friends who I doubt would watch most 3D content even at the 100" size in my theater. But, again, Mitsubishi builds projectors for small to medium sized screens. Over the years, they've rarely matched the competition in brightness, favoring other strengths. Don't get me wrong, I may want more lumens for 3D, but this is still a really fine 2D projector.

With really high gain screens, of course you can go a lot larger, but the trade-offs can be distracting to some of us (hotspotting, and edge roll-off,) plus a narrow viewing cone (few "good seats"). They are not my taste, altough they do have a following.

I definitely will say that this Mitsubishi HC8000D produces a very clean 3D image. It's got the usual image noise that we expect in 2D and 3D off of DLP projectors, which to me means a touch more visible than most other technologies. The thing is, in 3D there is essentially no cross talk. It's just clean looking. Very impressive watching 3D With other projectors such as the Epson or the Panasonic, both of which are significantly brighter in 3D, it was not unusual for me to fill a 124 inch 2.35:1 screen, although at that size, they too were definitely not bright.

Bottom line on 3D performance for the Mitsubishi HC8000D is simply this: You will find the image quality to be rather excellent. The trade off, of course, is that if you're trying to fill a larger screen, the HC8000D simply doesn't have the muscle in 3D. But then, we're saying this is a projector better suited for smaller to medium sized room and screens.