*Unofficial* Mitsubishi HC3800 Thread - Page 9

IIRC, it is also Mitsubishi, HC-3100...

Here are some more screen shots from a press conference Mitsubishi held in Japan for the HC3800 a few weeks ago. The blacks look really good to me based on those pictures.

http://blog.avac.co.jp/akihabara/2009/09/post-53c8.html

Thanks for the link.

Though it looks like some black crush going on there.

Then again, they look like poor screen shots (guy from the audience I guess?).

So hard to tell...

Here is Art's Official Review on the HC3800.

Based on this review - This PJ is a winner and might be my first PJ choice. The picture quality excels in skin tones, color, brightness and shadow detail, even for a pj without dynamic iris Art's comments show great black levels for no iris. I have also heard similar experiences from our key AVS members that were at Cedia that there is a nice 3d film like "wow" factor associated with this PJ.

What I also am glad to hear about Arts review is the size screen one can achieve with this PJ and the fact that the picture quality makes up for the missing bells and whistles that are not on this unit such as lens shift, dynamic iris, fi etc. However he describes the PQ as higher than price suggests and film like - DLP.

Here is the review

http://www.projectorreviews.com/mits...3800/index.php

These are my final two PJ choices for my first PJ/ Sony HW 15 or this Mitsubishi.

Great Review and looks like a hot seller right out of the box.

Dave

Would be nice if Art had posted pics showing the contrast differences between the HC3800 and the Benq W6000 without the DI on.

Looks like all the comparison shots are with the DI engaged on the W6000. I'm willing to bet that the HC3800 maybe not be all that different from the W6000 contrast if the DI was off. And being that the W6000 he reviewed had a rather annoying DI operation, it would seem fair that he should post a contrast/blacks shot of the W6000 with the DI off. Art even mentioned the the W6000 DI had to cover a large range to get decent blacks, indicating low native contrast capability.

Very True Fleaman - That would have been a great comparison too. However one needs to see these two side by side. I would love to Audition this HC3800 and the Sony VPL-HW15 in the same room setting to see if I could settle for the HC3800 in a dark room environment.

None the less - This looks like a promising PJ.

The review was excellent. And a 1 year bulb warranty, unlimited hours. That's GREAT!! This will probably be my upgrade from my HD1000.

The bulb although not cheap is pretty reasonable compared to other units. I think Art mentioned approx $299 for a new bulb. The 1 year warranty with the bulb is great.

For those Mitsubishi users, how do you find the Mitsubishi Warranty? When your PJ breaks, do they send a replacement straight away like the Epsons? Whats the service like?

Like to get your input.

I think Art liked this PJ a lot, especially right out of the box. It can only get better

Dave

You and I both Jim. Whichever one of us gets it first will have to demo for the other.

This seems to be an absolute perfect fit for what I want in my next pj.

Add me to the list of current Mitsubishi owners(HC1500) that will be getting this one. Though I won't be coming to WI with you and Jim, but you guys are welcome to come to CT if I get it first.

"With 14 inches of offset above the screen, some going with a much larger than 100 inch diagonal screens my have a problem if they have a room with average (8 foot) or lower ceilings (such as a typical basement theater). As an example, for a 120" diagonal screen, assuming an 8 foot ceiling, and a projector mounted very close to the ceiling (figure center of lens, 10 inches below the ceiling), the bottom of the screen surface would be about 25 inches off the floor, which is fine for a single row of seating, but may be a problem if you have a back row that's not elevated."

Not to question Art, but is the math correct on that. I thought this Proj had a 29% offset?

10in from ceiling to center of lens + 17in (29% offset of 59in screen) + 59in screen = 86in which results in 10in to floor with an 8ft ceiling, not 25in like he states in the review.... am I missing something with the calculation? Maybe he gave the calculations for a 100in screen?

Hi, this is my first post in these forums. I have already learned a lot just from lurking and reading, thanks to all of you for sharing your experience!

My situation:
I am trying to decide between the Optoma HD20 and the Mitsubishi HC3800. After reading the reviews I would clearly prefer the HC3800, but it has a huge 29% offset compared to the HD20's 15%. I have a 135" screen and 8' ceiling which is perfectly fine with the HD20, but with the HC3800 the bottom of the screen would have to touch the floor, or I would have to use keystone.

My question:
How bad is using keystone? I would obviously lose 1:1 pixel mapping and some resolution in the top part of the image, but I would gain better black level, brightness, contrast, sharpness, lamp life and warranty compared to the HD20.

What would you prefer?
Thanks for your thoughts and feedback!

I am posting this message in both the HD20 and HC3800 threads.

I currently use keystone on my Mits HD1000U - I think 4 or 5 clicks and I notice absolutely no degradation of image quality. I think the evils of keystoning are vastly over exagerated, or maybe some pj's are better at it than others. I would take all the benefits of the Mits you mentioned over having to do a little bit of keystoning.

Another solution is to angle the screen a little. In your case, if you can angle the top of the screen out (away from the wall), then you can tilt the PJ up a little, w/o using any keystone.

Not a math major here, so I wouldn't know the formula to calculate the amount of angle needed, but if you already have a PJ set up, you can play around with it for an idea.

Quick Question:

The 29% offset is that a concrete spec from Mitsubishi?

I think I might have an advantage.

Typically they suggest not putting this PJ on your back wall, because your front wall height and back wall height is the same due to the ceiling height - Thus in a basement you are restricted with the 8 foot.

Well my room is weird

Although the Ceiling is the same height, the ceiling is 10 foot. The front wall height is only at 7'8 and then slants with a semi ceiling towards the 10 foot - The back wall goes up all the way straight 10 feet directly to the celing.

So if I understand it, I should have no problems with mounting this PJ on my back wall as I can go up pretty high on the back wall.

Does this sound correct?

Yes, but make sure you're within the zoom range of your desired screen size...

Thanks Fleaman -


When you say stay within the zoom range. If I had the Mitsubishi HC3800 PJ on the back wall and I had the zoom set to minimum and just working off throw distance, and the screen size almost fits, is there a rule as to how the zoom should be set?

Do you want the zoom range to be half way in between or would a minimum zoom work and then just rely on the throw distance if my screen size is what I want.

Basically I am asking - What is the optimal set up with regards to zoom for best Picture Quality? minimum or half way zoomed?

Thanks

Dave

I'm in the exact same boat. I can't justify the HD20 because I know I will want better blacks. The offset on the HC3800 is killing me. In my room the bottom of a 110" screen would be about 10" from the floor. Its not the end of the world because I am going AT and can mount the center channel behind the screen. Still, the image seems too low and I don't want to go any smaller.

People seem pretty dead set against keystone, but I don't know how bad it really is.

Right now I am leaning towards an LCD (maybe Epson 8100) or stretching my budget up to ~$1800 to get the BenQ W5000 which has vertical lens shift. I feel that I would prefer DLP, but I don't have any experience with either.

So, here are my choices:

DLP:
Mits 3800, with a kind of low screen $1400
Mits 3800 with keystone correction $1400
BenQ W5000 $1800

LCD:
Viewsonic Pro8100 $1200
Epson 8100 $1400

Argh... I can't decide.

Edit: Full bat cave, 80% hi def movies, 10% HD sports, 10% pc gaming

Hmm, this is interesting. I did some quick calcs and I think I would need about 3 degrees of tilt to raise the screen 10". That would mean the top of the screen would only need to be about 3" from the wall. That doesn't sound too bad. Has anyone ever done this?

No, I just meant to make sure you can get the screen size needed within the zoom range of the PJ. Usually when people mount a PJ on the back wall, it is pretty far away from the screen and most of the DLP PJ's these days have a pretty short throw with a limited zoom, yet the HC3800 has a larger zoom range.

As for the quality of the image regarding zoom range points> Yes, there can be differences, but it varies from PJ to PJ and is dependent on so many factors (optic range, quality, etc,). I think the basic rule is that, if you can, try to place the PJ in the middle of the zoom range, that should get the light beam to shoot through the middle(ish) of the lens, which usually has less issues with uniformity and chromatic aberration. But again, this can be very minor to unnoticeable, to noticeable, dependent on the PJ.

Bottom line is that in practically most cases, you shouldn't worry about it, especially if your only alternative is keystone, or having to mount the PJ in the middle of the room. Usually you would have to walk right up to the screen to see CA differences at the extremes of a zoom range (usually that is).

I would go with the HC3800 and use keystone. That's what I do now with my HD1000, and what I'll do when I upgrade to the HC3800.

Yeah, I am starting to feel better about it. I am thinking I will try keystone and if I find that it degrades the image too much I will still be able to try the tilt method. I am psyched!

I use the tilt method with my Mitsubishi HC1500 with no side effects. Let me know if you'd like pics of the projector(mounted of course) and screen with an image displayed.

I would

Here you go, the HC1500 is tilted up just enough not the mess with the picture. I'm not sure of the degrees, but it raises the image about 5 or 6 inches by tilting without using keystone.

The best ones to look at for bowing will be the one with the monsters playing cards and the female sports commentator. Both of these have lines to check for bowing. The monsters playing cards has a blue pause line from the BD and the one with the female sports commentator has a sports ticker at the bottom.

If there was bowing it would show in the blue pause line because the projector is tilted upward which should bow the center of the blue line upward, but it doesn't. Same goes for the sports ticker.

Has anyone been able to confirm that Best Buy will be carrying this model, they have the 6800 in stock already so I am hopeful that the 3800 will also be a stocking item due to the entry level price. Just hoping to see one in action .

Jason

Very nice, thanks Legairre

Anytime Marc, glad to help.

The data sheet for the projector is posted now. There is a chart showing screen size/offset/distance from screen, etc...

http://www.mitsubishi-presentations....rs/HC3800.html

Thanks - Good info.

Can anyone tell me where you see the offset is at 29%

I cannot see it in the specs.

Thanks