Projector Reviews

Multiple picture presets are available on the HU710PW, including the Filmmaker Mode that I used for my pre-calibration measurements (see Test Bench). Of these, Expert (Dark Space, Night) proved to be reasonably accurate, so I used that one as the jumping off point for HD/standard dynamic range picture adjustments. Like LG's other projectors (and TVs), the HU710PW has 2-, 10-, and 22-point white balance adjustments along with full color management system controls. These proved very effective for dialing in a near-perfect HD/SDR image, although the same controls didn't allow for the same level of perfection with Ultra HD/HDR adjustments that I made in Cinema Home mode. I should add that the HU710PW features LG's new Game Optimizer menu, although I didn't use that in the course of my reviewing.

Maximum light output in calibrated Cinema Home mode was 86.3 nits. Other presets settings resulted in higher overall brightness, especially with HDR, but the color accuracy tradeoff they presented wasn't worth it. There are numerous options in the Advanced Settings submenu of the Picture menu that can be played with to optimize picture contrast and black level, many of them with seemingly similar functions. I ended up changing these frequently depending on the content I was watching, but for most viewing stuck with 2.4 Gamma, Auto Black Level, Medium Iris, Medium Auto Dynamic Contrast, and Low Adaptive Contrast. This combination didn't provide the maximum contrast ratio, which was measured at a very impressive (for a 4K DLP model) 5,800:1, but I was pleased for the most part with the projector's black depth and detail.

HD/Standard Dynamic Range Performance
Before I dove into critical viewing with the HU710PW, I spent a fair amount of time casually watching TV shows and movies with it and found myself mainly impressed. One caveat here is that the projector's somewhat modest light output makes dark room viewing a must to get the best performance, so I always made a point of fully dimming the lights.

Starting out with Blu-ray disc, I watched the cave scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey (a movie I never seemed to get tired of looking at). A fair amount of detail could be seen in dark fur of the pre-Hominid creatures huddled in the darkness, but the background had more of a dark gray tone than a true black one. A subsequent scene where a space station rotates against star-strewn blackness had stronger visual impact, with the contrast between the pinpoints of light and the dark, empty background giving the image a good sense of depth.

Moving on to something more contemporary, I watched an episode of Tokyo Vice on HBO Max. The skin tones of the actors in the newsroom scenes revealed a good range of hues, and the picture had a crisp and noise-free appearance. Nighttime scenes in the city had a punchy quality, with the dark backgrounds creating good contrast with the rich, lurid colors of neon lights and shop signs. Interior scenes in bars and nightclubs also showed solid contrast, with good detail visible in the shadowy backgrounds.

Ultra HD/High Dynamic Range Performance
Watching No Time to Die was one of my better cinema-going experiences in 2021, and I was eager to see how the latest episode in the James Bond saga would look on the big screen on Ultra HD Blu-ray. The HU710PW did not disappoint: Early flashback scenes of a wintry landscape followed by a jump-forward to present-day sunny Italy were conveyed with a high level of detail and their dramatically different environmental lighting schemes intact. When things shifted to Cuba, where Bond (Daniel Craig) intrudes on a Spectre gathering, the interior space where the action unfolds displayed an impressive level of shadow detail. Both Bond's tuxedo and the dress worn by his associate Paloma (Ana de Armas) also appeared a deep, solid shade of black.

It would take several paragraphs for me to fully explain the Apple TV+ series Severance, so I'll just state for now that the story (well, half of it) takes place in an eerie, maze-like office environment. The LG perfectly captured the greenish glow of the fluorescent lights and the slightly alien-looking skin tones of the workers occupying the space. High Dynamic Range helps to push the intensity of the Severance office's omnipresent overhead lights, and the LG's HDR processing rendered these highlights in a subtle, yet detailed manner, while also capably fleshing out shadows in the dark, wintry scenes that take place in the outside ("outy") world.

Matt Reeves' The Batman popped up on HBO Max in 4K/Dolby Vision just in time for me to utilize it in this review, and I was happy it did—the movie's deep, shadowy production design proved something of a torture test for the HU710PW. Batman's (Robert Pattinson) black gear came through with a good level of detail against the uniformly charcoal-black backgrounds of the Gotham streets, subways, and nightclubs, and highlights like street lamps and signs had even greater visual impact than they did in the night scenes from Tokyo Vice. It took a fair amount of time mucking with the projector's Brigtness and Brightness Optimizer settings—both unfortunately buried deep in the projector's menu structure—to tune The Batman's picture to my satisfaction, but the work ultimately paid off.

Conclusion
For $2,499 (and potentially less), LG's HU710PW has several notable things going for it, including a laser/LED light source that doesn't require replacement, effective dynamic HDR tone-mapping, and extensive picture calibration adjustments. And then there's its smart TV interface and built-in Wi-Fi streaming of desirable apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, along with an HDMI eARC connection to route audio to an outboard sound system. The HU710PW isn't the brightest projector option—unless you're planning on vieiwing in a carefully light-controlled room, I'd look elsewhere. But if you do have the ability to black out the windows and dim the lights, you will undoubtedly be pleased with the performance—and value—that LG's latest projector delivers.

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