Movies in HD- and Standard DVD

It goes without saying that when you pair an actual 1080i or 1080p signal with the Mitsubishi HC5000 you get the sort of visual nirvana not experienced by many in this hobby. I highly recommend you make this pairing as often and frequently as you are able. We ran a Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player (courtesy of ProjectorPeople.com) in 1080p mode to the HC5000 and were blown away by the results. But that, of course, is to be expected. More than this, though, we were amazed at the clarity and detail found in standard definition discs - which we ran in 480i mode from our Denon DVD-3930CI (so as to evaluate the projector's total performance, not the DVD player's).

One thing I couldn't help but notice early on was the automatic Iris system. It's extremely slow and very noticeable in all modes (use Auto 1 for the least intrusive setting). As a scene shifts from very bright to very dark there will be a second or two delay and you will see the picture darken overall as the iris closes down. There is also no way to simply crank it down and lower overall light output without enabling the auto-adjustments or setting it to "Open" which brightens the overall image and destroys black levels. This is a feature in desperate need of being "lost". To not offer a fixed option for the Iris is a shame and is about the only thing keeping this projector from being a top-ranked contender. Somewhere I imagine there is an employee at Mitsubishi who is saying "see I told you so!"

HD DVD - Batman Begins
This movie was dark… and detailed… and absolutely reference quality. I loved the plot, but I loved watching the natural torture tests shown on-screen even more. Whether it was pin-striped shirts, or city skylines that would make any jaggie-reduction scream in terror, Batman Begins is a movie that you can test nearly all aspects of a projector's video processing system with. I also like the fact that you can enjoy your time while doing it. There are test scenes that are absolutely horrendous to sit through - this movie makes it fun and easy. I cautiously watched through the darkest scenes (nearly the whole movie in fact) and tried to pick out loss of detail, crushed blacks or banding, but found none. Everything came through impeccably and with the sort of naturalness that gave the images rendered by the HC5000 a clarity and depth I don't see all the time.

I could post about 10 more shots of the film, but I'll cover that in my HD DVD review of the movie which will be published shortly after this review.

HD DVD - We Were Soldiers
I can't believe I missed this movie on initial release, but somehow I did. Mel Gibson and Randall Wallace (Braveheart) teamed up to bring another epic title to the screen - and pulled it off with gusto. This movie had a lot of detail mixed with extremely fast-paced action. Due to the quality of the film, motion adaptive noise reduction played a major roll here and the Mitsubishi didn't drop the ball. The interesting picture also juxtaposed colorful breakaway sequences of the family life the soldiers left behind and broke up the more earthy color sequences that dominated the Vietnam battlefield. I loved looking around the scenes as they went by, checking out the details in the earth and rocks as well as the equipment, outfits and helicopters. It's a great movie, and though I would hardly call it reference quality, it made for an excellent test-bed of the HC5000's capabilities.

DVD - Tristan & Isolde
My wife picked out this movie and I was hesitant at the title until I read a bit more about it. When it played out on screen I was amazed at how good a movie could be that essentially blended the stories of Romeo and Juliet with that of Guinevere and Lancelot (I highly recommend you read The Once and Future King by T.H. White). In short, the story is excellent and the cast was brilliant. As for the picture, it was pretty good - especially with regards to close-ups of faces and garments (which were all hand-made to exquisite detail on-set). Because this movie had a lower budget, the photography was a bit bland in terms of color, so this wasn't a great film for stretching the depth of saturation the HC5000 is capable of delivering. For detail and black level, however, Tristan and Isolde was a great piece of test material. James Franco is definitely on the upswing of his career.

Xbox 360 at 1080i: Various Games

Between movies and my Xbox 360, I can say that I really enjoyed using the HC5000 projector. Games in particular (the Audioholics crew gets together every Wednesday night for some online playing) looked fantastic on this display and sitting just over 11 feet away from a 100-inch screen while playing Halo2, driving a $200,000+ Ferrari or picking off rogue South American dissidents is something not to be missed.

Conclusion

I was skeptical when I began this review. I am admittedly not a fan of Mitsubishi's other projectors, mostly due to the fact that they exhibit more rainbow effect (in my experience) than other models. The HC5000 3LCD projector is an amazing product. The C2Fine technology (thanks, Epson) renders an incredible picture and does indeed produce some excellent black levels. The automatic Iris system is the only major downfall of this projector that I witnessed. It is slow and noticeable when watching movies; you'll think a cloud suddenly rolled in as you switch from a bright scene to a dark scene since the change isn't instantaneous. With the current crop of video processing technology and pixel-level interpolation, I am surprised the system isn't faster at picking up and responding to averaged luminance changes - and dumbfounded that they didn't offer an option to effectively disable the iris system without blowing out black levels in the process.

Picture quality and video processing were way above par. This is not necessarily a budget projector, but considering the advanced features and "convenience package" Mitsubishi throws in with motorized lens shift, focus and zoom - not to mention the sleek lines and beautiful housing - you do indeed have a value product. One must also consider the calibration results - if this is consistent across all models, then the HC5000 gets my complete thumbs up as a "must-see" product and one of the nicest pictures I've witnessed this year. In a sea of new 1080p projectors being released this year, Mitsubishi has a distinctive product that sets it apart as a leader. If you're shopping for a 1080p model you owe it to yourself to check it out. If you're a custom installer this unit should be on your very short list as it's certain to make your customers ecstatic.

Mitsubishi HC5000 LCD Projector

MSRP: $4,495

Get a Great Price Now from ProjectorPeople.com

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America
9351 Jeronimo Road
Irvine, Calif., 92618

http://www.mitsubishi-presentations.com

About Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America Presentation Products Division
Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America's Presentation Products Division markets an extensive line of professional presentation, front-projection home entertainment, and rear-projection video wall cube display systems and digital signage monitors that are designed with DLP® or LCD technology, and is known for its award-winning, high-quality, accurate color reproduction technology. Products are sold through authorized distributors, resellers, retailers and system integrators throughout the United States and Mexico. Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America is located at 9351 Jeronimo Road, Irvine, Calif., 92618. For more information, please call 888-307-0312 or visit http://www.mitsubishi-presentations.com.