Mitsubishi 1500 Black Levels? - Page 2

Jumbo,
I'll be fine. I figure out a way to fit it in there.

I currently have a strip of foam strip on the inside of the lens lip since I was having an ever so slight leak of light off to my left. This not only took care of the leakage, it also protects the lens a little better for me.

I'll fit the 62mm in there no problem.

Let me know how the square filter works out.

Also, I have an HD1000u, but everything I have read states it being virtually identical to the 1500.

curiosity bump

My filter should be here tomorrow. Hepefully Billbofet gets his and we'll both be able to post updates.

Hey. Did you guys your filters? Did you play with them yet???

I was expecting my filter to get here last monday. I guess, it takes over a week for USPS to ship a package from NYC to CT (4 hours away). Totally absurd.

I will post results and images the same night I get my filter. Sorry guys.

P.S. On a side note, I was able to achieve a pretty decent shadow detail without the filter (yet) using the Avia disc. If the filter makes the grey blacks, blacker, I will be really satisfied considering the clearance price of this projector!!

It's not really the same result. In a room with light colored walls a gray screen will improve ansi contrast while an ND filter will reduce it already from what it's being reduced using a white screen in a room with light colored walls.

Not to mention, a gray screen will give much better ambient light results.

Just my two cents.

MTyson, I'm not going to dispute your statement and even argue that a filter is better than a screen,
but I will ask why you think the filter will reduce contrast?

Since the filter reduces light output uniformly, shouldn't it make both the blacks and whites darker equally? In other words, shift the "spectrum" while keeping the difference between the max and min light values the same?

By the way, I'm only taking into account the light that reaches the screen. Not concerned about the surroundings, ambient lightning etc.

I received my filter last week. I took some before pics and I'm finding it may be difficult to show a difference for before and after since I don't have the best camera.

What I'm thinking of doing is taking a shot with the filter covering half the screen so you can see the difference.

It actually does make a difference and it's not as dark as I had expected it to be. I'll do my best to get these pictures posted as soon as I can. I just had tilework done in the basement, so I took the pj down to avoid the dust.

Billbofet, did your filter fit around the lens?

You said, the picture doesn't look as you expected it but it doesn't look dull or wash out does it? Simply darker?

By the way, my filter isn't even here yet. That's what I get for choosing free-shipping 7-10 business days

The filter does not fit, but I have a strip of rubberized weatherstripping around the lens and that will hold it in place once I put it in permanently. It's not a snug fit by any means, but it will suffice.

The picture does not look dull or washed out at all. In fact, I was kind of shocked by how slight the difference really is. It makes the blacks definately darker, but not inky, inky black. Overall, it drops the brightness, but really doesn't impact picture sharpness. I noticed a very small drop in really dark scenes, but this is prior to calibrating after having the filter on.

Overall, I think it will improve my blacks, but not dramatically. It seems to definately be worth the price and effort getting it.

I'll try to take some pictures either tonight or tomorrow night. It's very difficult to explain I just hope my pics do it justice.

Billbofet,

Thanks for your posts and waiting for pics.

To be blunt about it I think that people are expecting a little too much from the 1500 for black level performance. The mits just does not perform that well in this area. After all for under a thousand bucks what level of performance is expected? I have seen the image this projector throws many times and while it is 'acceptable' the reality is that while a 'filter' will help it will also make the 'whites' darker and takes the 'pop' out of the image.

Image is all a 'personal' perspective and I think the mits 1500 for the price is good enough as it is.

If you need inky blacks then look at an RS1-2, marantz 15S2 or a sharp 20000. You get what you pay for.

I think we all understand the limitations of this projector.

I'm shooting a 85" image from 10-11ft. At this distance, this PJ can put out easily 40ft-L.

I don't care about inky blacks but this is way more light than I'll ever need in a white wall room. If a $20 filter can tone this down, and also decrease the light that spills out into the room, than why not?

where do you get this filter we all speak of?

you can get this filter anywhere, search amazon for example or you local camera store.

it's called a 'neutral density' filter and there's more than one variation but you want the 'nd2'. they come in all kinds of shapes - squares or round. doesn't matter which one you get, just as long as you get it to stay in front of the lens when using the projector. if you want a round one, it must be bigger than 67mm.

Ok, so I finally received my filter.

As Billbofet mentioned before, when I first put the filter to the lens, the difference was less than I expected. I didn't really know what to expect.

But then, I started noticing the little differences. the blacks do get a bit darker which is good but the bigger shocker for me was how the image become more defined, and the contrast popped.

HC1500 is a damn bright projector and I never realized how washed out the image is w/o the filter. My blacks used to bleed light and lose detail but they look better now. They are darker than my Samsung LCD.

I like the new look and I watched w/o calibrating yet, with some ambient light and on a wall so I can't wait for total darkness with a screen. I know it'll look even better.

So does this mean a 67mm filter will fit?

Or it needs to be bigger then 67mm?

News???Pics???

wow, this is good news indeed. I will give this a shot. Thanks for the efforts!

I will try to post some pics in the upcoming days if no else can - not because I don't want to but because I need to get a handle on my Sony SRL first and I need to hang my screen back up.

Although, I don't think the results will show a clear black and white difference and some people will be disappointed.

Everyone here has a different setup. So remember, you're experimenting at your own risk.

I want to echo what jumbo is saying. I am still trying to find the time to take some nice pics, but it's going to be really hard to show the result. It's almost so subtle it won't be picked up by my digital camera, but I notice it for sure.

I've had a crazy couple weeks, but I'll try my best to get the pics taken.

what's good about using a filter is once your bulb gets old and dims, you pop the filter off, super bright