Posted on September 26, 2007 By Art Feierman
The HC6000 is the first of the new 1080p projectors to arrive, post CEDIA. Last year, the HC5000 was also the first. In the case of the HC6000, it means that I won’t be able to compare it against the other new models that will be arriving over the next 6 or 8 weeks, which is both sad, and unfortunate. At least this time, I can relate the HC6000 to the last batch of 1080p projectors, like the Panasonic PT-AE1000U, the Epson Home Cinema 1080, the Optoma HD81, and of course the Mitsubishi HC5000 and HC4900.The Epson and Panasonic will shortly be replaced by those two companies’ “2nd generation” projectors, which we will assume also are improved over “last year’s” projectors.
Now for the good news. The HC6000 produces better, darker blacks, than the older HC5000. In fact a key statement in this review might be:
The HC6000’s black levels and shadow detail performance is significantly improved over the HC5000, and definitely seems comparable to today’s DLP projectors!
That’s a significant statement, and from extensively watching this pre-production sample (this was the projector shown at CEDIA, I’m told), I was extremely impressed with performance in these areas. I often went back and forth (some delay, watching the same content on the HC6000 and my JVC, all on my Firehawk screen. As many know, the JVC’s black levels are widely regarded as the best of 1080p projectors currently shipping. Going back and forth, I never felt the HC6000 was significantly inferior in this regard. A pleasant surprise!
Unfortunately I had use of the this HC6000 for less than a week before I had to ship it to the next reviewer. One more day, and I could have set it up side by side, with the new InFocus IN82 (1080p), that arrived minutes before the HC6000 shipped out. I already have requested a production unit for a quick update, once they are shipping.
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