Projector Reviews

Real-World Performance
With Adaptive Contrast enabled, real-world content looked a bit over-hyped; turning it off looked more natural, so that's how I watched the following material.

Mission: Impossible III (Blu-ray)

• Played chapter 8 at 1080i to see how well the projector's processor deinterlaced the pan over the staircase; result was as good as I've ever seen, virtually no moire artifacts
• Superb shadow detail in catacombs
• Exquisite color—skin tones, red dress, orange car all looked beautiful
• Detail crisp and sharp

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Blu-ray)

• Black of space was pretty good, but not the best I've seen
• Excellent detail in LA cityscape, satellite photo of New York, Susan Storm's hair, planet exploding
• Exceptional color in skin tones, ocean, olive-green army uniforms
• Great shadow detail in Von Doom's lair

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Blu-ray)

• Black in title sequence was not great, more of a dark gray
• Excellent detail in Elizabeth's freckles, brick buildings, ship's rigging
• Superb color in skin tones, red British uniforms, green foliage
• Wonderful shadow detail in Port Royal at night, dungeon; however, black level in dark scenes not as deep as I would wish

Star Trek: Insurrection (DVD)

• Played at 480p via HDMI
• Detail in opening pan over village reasonably good
• Excellent color in skin tones, green foliage, blue sky
• Black of space okay, not great
• Very good shadow detail in duck blind

The Universe: The Day the Moon was Gone (HDTV, History Channel)

• Great color in skin tones, molten Earth and Moon
• Black of space so-so
• Excellent detail in computer graphics

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (HDTV, Travel Channel)

• Gorgeous color in blue ocean and sky, skin tones
• Exquisite detail in foliage, building textures

CBS Evening News (SDTV)

• Much softer image than HD feed of same show
• Good color in skin tones

Conclusion
All in all, the Digital Projection M-Vision Cine 230 is an exceptional DLP projector. Its colors are very close to the Rec.709 standard, and the detail it renders is exquisite, including shadow detail in low-light images. The only quibble I have with its image is the depth of black, at least on a screen of the size I was using. However, the peak-white level was also a bit higher than it needed to be, so a slightly larger screen would deepen the blacks somewhat while keeping peak white at a reasonable level, even in the lamp's Economy mode.

The projector's video processing is among the best I've seen, its optics are top-notch, and the user interface is simple and straightforward. Setting the zoom and lens shift is a bit tricky, but assuming you don't move your projector from room to room, you only have to do it once.

Best of all, you get this level of performance at a remarkably reasonable price, especially from a company otherwise known for much more expensive projectors. Perhaps that's the secret of its success—it embodies technology originally developed for high-end products that can now trickle down into more mainstream models. In any event, the M-Vision Cine 230 is an outstanding projector and an excellent value that is sure to please the videophile in anyone.

Ratings
Features: 4.5
Ergonomics: 4
Performance: 4
Value: 4.5