By Nic Tatham, CNET.com.au
31/12/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/projectors/0,39037571,44428368p,00.htm

1080p front projection is now an affordable home theater option and by far the best way to get a really big high-definition picture. Debate has long raged over whether DLP or LCD is best, but the goalposts have definitely shifted closer between these two different projection technologies. The old argument was that DLP provided better contrast and blacks, while colors and details were LCD's forté. Mitsubishi, for one, is out to prove that its latest LCD projectors can do blacks as well as any DLP.

Design

The keys to this projector's image quality are a new "diamond" dynamic lens iris and use of the Epson C2Fine inorganic LCD panels. Image processing is handled by a Reon-VX chipset which also incorporates HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) technology.

These are all incorporated into a fairly large chassis which we initially thought might be quite tough to accommodate. In reality positioning the HC6500 proved quite flexible, thanks in part to motorized 1.6x zoom, focus and horizontal/vertical lens shift. The HC6500's large black case is sleek and all the controls are neatly located under a lift-up flap.

Compared with previous Mitsubishi models, the remote control remains a goody, simply laid-outward with backlit buttons making their use in low light possible. Mitsubishi also claims the quietest operation in its class with noise output of just 17dB (in low mode), thanks to a new fan-cooling system.

Features

It's good to discover the HC6500 has two HDMI 1.3a inputs, plus there are the usual composite, S-video and component video inputs. There's also a single 15-pin computer input which doubles a second component-video connection. A serial port (RS-232) is also provided for command and control functions and there's a 12-volt trigger for motorized screen control.

The onscreen menu system is very similar to that used by a couple of previous Mitsubishi models, but this time it includes iris control functions. It's easy enough to navigate and provides three user memory settings, which is a typical number, but more wouldn't go amiss if you have multiple sources and watch at all times of the day and night. The projector comes set to factory defaults, but with a projector such as this, you need to get into the setup nitty-gritty to fine-tune the best possible image.

The HC6500's specs make impressive reading with a stated contrast ratio of 15,000:1 and a maximum brightness of 1,200 lumens. Take them with a pinch of salt as these figures, especially the brightness, depend on many things such as ambient room light, as well as color temperature and the brightness mode settings. The proof, as always, is in the pudding.

Performance

Sure enough, the HC6500 looks very film-like straight out-of-the-box, but we felt the image could look better after calibration, which it did. Using a Blu-ray copy of HD Essentials, it's well worth spending some time to adjust the various picture settings and modes to suit the viewing environment. Generally speaking we found the best results with the color temperature at medium, dropping the contrast slightly, while increasing brightness by a similar amount. We left the lamp mode in Standard, plus left the Auto Iris control off. This is just the tip of the adjustment iceberg, and if you're not sure what you're doing, it would pay to have a professional calibrate the projector for you.

Once we were happy with the image being projected onto a 96-inch LP Morgan screen, it was on with the viewing. As promised, blacks were significantly more impressive than before and if we were none the wiser; we could have been watching a decent DLP in action. Loaded up with a favorite black depth and shadow detail test, the excellent Blu-ray transfer of The Fifth Element, any of the deep space scenes showed that the HC6500 delivered a nice, solid-looking image. The contrast levels were high and there's a nice visible distinction between brighter and darker areas--blacks appeared just that with no hint of grayness and low level detail was well-resolved. We've seen blacker, but admittedly from more expensive projectors, and there's no question the HC6500 makes the grade here, especially for an LCD.

Colors and skin tones are perhaps this projector's forté. Facial closeups such as Will Smith's in I am Legend showed impressive saturation of color and a very natural-looking hue. Faithful is an apt description of how this projector presents different skin tones in different movie lighting conditions. Detail retrieval is high on its "let's impress" list also. Without any noticeable over-pixilation, the HC6500 delivered fine details as sharp as tack, but never overly so. The pixels were not overcooked, which meant the image appeared nicely smooth from a distance.

Colors looked bold and strong with clean and tight edge definition and there's no sign of any image smearing due to that well-resolved sharpness. Let's not forget the amount of light it chucks out either, and even in a fairly bright room you can still see what's going on. Of course, the darker the better, but the Mitsubishi can handle and overcome a fair amount of ambient room light. It's also one of the quietest operators we've ever come across. You have to listen really hard without any other room noise to audibly tell it's warmed up and running.

Conclusion

A lovely full-HD projector, the HC6500 proves an excellent all-round performer for the money. Blacks impress and you'd have to spend much more to better them, plus for a natural and vivid picture quality, this Mitsubishi's one of the best performers in its class.