OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: MITSUBISHI HD1000 PROJECTOR (1 Viewer)

[Brian Perry]

I just bought an HD1000 and I am blown away by the picture. Of course, it's my first FP, so the sheer image size has a lot to do with it. I am using a Carada Brilliant White 100" screen. When I initially set it up I was using my laptop and the images weren't so great, but then I hooked it up to my ancient Sony DVP-S7000 DVD player and I was amazed at how smooth DVDs such as Star Wars 3, Ice Age, and Tarzan looked. I wasn't expecting much from DVD 480i, but it looked tremendous. I can't wait until my Comcast HD is installed next week.

My question now is how to connect all my video sources to get the best picture. I will have a standard DVD player, Comcast HDTV, and perhaps a Blu Ray player eventually. I would prefer to run one cable to the HD1000, since the cable run is 40' from my equipment rack (due to the fact the cable has to be routed to the basement and through a wall, etc.). Therefore, I've been looking at used video processors such as the KDS Leeza or Lumagen HDP. The processor would be used not only as a switcher, but also as a scaler that would output everything at 720p, which is the native rate of the HD1000. Does anyone know if the scaler in the HD1000 is decent or would the aforementioned processors be much better? I'd hate to shell out big money ($1k or more) for a processor and then find out it didn't yield any improvement over the projector's scaler. If the processors would be comparable, which switcher would you recommend that would degrade the signal the least? I've thought about upgrading my audio processor (Lexicon DC-1) to one that does component switching (MC-1), but wanted to see if a separate video processor was the better choice.

Thanks.

 

[HiHoStevo]

Hello Ben, and thanks for the review. Since you posted have you or steve come across the codes to access the service menu on this unit?

I am looking for a projector to use in a vacation home "Greatroom" environment where there would be some ambient light issues. I had been looking at the InFocus IN76 or Optoma HD72, but after reading other reviews it seems like either this Mitsubishi or the Panasonic AX100 would be the better fit.

In reading user experiences, it seems a lot of folks are having "issues" with the Panasonic, and as I already have a DLP projector in my home I tend to lean towards the DLP side of the equation... [perhaps just because I am lazy/forgetful and don't want to mess with filter cleaning ].

I see that Mitsubishi also has an HC1100 in which they have changed the color wheel segments to make the colors more accurate. I am not sure if this 1100 model is a follow-on product to the HD1000 or simply a European/rest-of-the-world version that we will not be getting here in the US. The cine4home review of this projector also discussed the 3100 which is a follow on to the 3000, but for some reason it is not available in the USA either.

 

[Jim Mcc]

The HC1100 is not sold in the USA. It has no white segment in the color wheel, so it's not as bright. I love my HD1000, I got it about a week ago.

 

[RogerCL]

Great review, Ben! The HD1000 is on top of my list for my first beamer.

HD1000 is fairly bright with 1500 ANSI Lumen.

Why don´t you use a high contrast grey projection screen instead of brilliant white? Would a grey projection screen be better in normal white living rooms with a HD1000?

Roger

 

[Ben_Williams]

I have to go with the expert opinion of the folks at Carada on this one. We discussed screen type for quite a while before deciding on the Brilliant White screen. I would recommend giving them a call to see what they recommend for your particular environment. My living room isn't white at all - - the walls are more of a medium taupe color, so I don't get as much light bounce as I would with stark white walls.

Good luck!

Oh yeah... the HD1000 is VERY bright! But once you calibrate it properly, that brigtness will reduce significantly. I estimate that once calibrated, we were dealing with about 600 lumens as opposed to the 1500 that it is capable of in torch mode. That fact alone is reason enough to go with a Brilliant White screen as it offers significant gain to help boost the brightness once calibrated.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I just pulled the trigger on the HD1000 from Projector People(very nice folks), and I already have a Fed-Ex tracking number. This is my first fp, I can't wait to put it through the paces.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Larry, you're going to love it. I've had mine about 1 month now. HD on the HD1000 is a thing of beauty. And standard DVD's look better also.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Mine is due to arrive on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to it!

 

[Ben_Williams]

Congrats, Larry!

 

[Tim Glover]

Hey Ben,

I know you're one of the official Blu-ray reviewers so I have a question for you. Do you know how your Panasonic PJ and this one here (1000u) scales the the hi-def signal whether from HD DVD or Blu-ray?

For now, I've gone the HD DVD route but am very glad to see your reviews when you glow about the transfers on BD. That tells me the new 720p Panasonic is really doing a great job. I think that's rather good news.

With hopes of possibly landing one of these soon, here's hoping the Mits does this equally well?

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Tim,
I'm not Ben, but I can tell you my experience. I use both HD DVD and BD on the HD1000U. The projector does a fabulous job scaling the 1080i signal to 720p. It looks better and cleaner than my 1080i rear projection set. The titles I've watched so far in High Def on the HD1000U are SUPERMAN, THE DEPARTED, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, and MIAMI VICE, and they all looked really sharp and filmlike.



Thanks, Ben!

 

[Chris S]

I would second everything that Larry just said. I picked one up in late January and it really is great! The unit will scale both 1080i and 1080p very well down to 720p. I think I have around 30+ hours on the unit and haven't seen any picture artifacts from the scaler. Mits has done a very nice job.

To put things into perspective, I upgraded from the Infocus 4805 so I wasn't really expected to see much difference in the color depth and I don't. Both units have a 10-bit processor so that makes sense. However, the added detail from the 720p image makes the upgrade (IMHO) worth every penny, especially since I've upgraded to HD-DVD/BluRay.

 

[Tim Glover]

Thanks Larry & Chris!

Looks like you both got GREAT rigs.

 

[Ben_Williams]

Tim, Larry and Chris are absolutely right... the Mits has a great scaler - - unbeatable at this price. It's hard to find any real negatives at this price point. As far as I'm concerned, this projector is the perfect introduction to good quality front projection! Blu-Ray and HD DVD look spectacular on it!

 

[Tim Glover]

Thanks Ben...I know the Panny has also recieved stellar reviews (is probably the best 720p PJ out there)....I just want to get something that is really good and not break the bank. BECAUSE I WANT A 1080p PJ SOON!

 

[Jim Mcc]

The Pan. AX100 is the best projector out there? I doubt it. The most versatile 720p projector? Yes. If you want to spend about $1000 more for the Pan. over the HD1000, go right ahead.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Me too, but the Mitsu is so nice that I really don't see myself upgrading for awhile. Maybe when 1080p breaks the thousand dollar barrier...

 

[Tim Glover]

Slow down there Jim...ease up....I said it might just be the best 720 PJ out there and I agree that I DON'T want to spend $1000 more for a PJ right now with 1080p not far from being in my price range. Besides, after the rebate it's about 500 more...still too much for me. I don't think that was too hard to understand.

 

[Chris S]

That's what I'm waiting on and the main reason that I went with the HD1000U. I didn't want to spend a lot of money just to replace the unit in (hopefully) only a couple years. I think this is the best compromise for those looking to upgrade a 480p projector but don't want to spend the $2.5K+ to acquire a 1080p unit. Although I'm sure once 1080p hits close to the $1K mark we'll start seeing three chip DLP units that support the color depth promised by HDMI 1.3 (xvYCC) and then it'll be a whole other set of problems...

 

[Tim Glover]

Exactly!