Projector Reviews

All evaluation and measurements were made on a 92-inch diagonal, 1.1-gain Stewart Filmscreen Cima Neve 16:9 screen.

Pre-Calibration

Post-Calibration

Pre-calibration measurements were made in the Cinema preset at the default settings. Post-calibration measurements were made with the Expert1 preset active. With the PF85U’s Minimum Energy Saving mode selected, its black level measured 0.015 ft-L and peak white 12.7 for a contrast ratio of 846:1. With Medium Energy Saving mode selected, black level measured 0.012 ft-L and peak white 10.18 ft-L for a contrast ratio of 848:1. With Maximum Energy Saving mode selected, black level measured 0.008 ft-L and peak white 7.07 ft-L for a contrast ratio of 884:1. Maximum light output of 19.2 ft-L was achieved with the LG in Vivid mode and Minimum Energy Saving selected.

The Delta E of the LG’s pre-cal grayscale averaged out to 7.0; calibration improved that to a 4.2 average, with a high of 7.9 at 20 percent brightness. (Delta E is a figure of merit that indicates how closely a display adheres to the Rec. 709 HD color standard. Experts generally agree that levels below 3 are visibly indistinguishable from perfect color tracking.)

The Delta E of the LG’s color points at the Expert1 mode’s default settings averaged a not so great 9.7. Calibration improved that a bit to 6.7.

With Energy Saving set to Minimum, gamma in Cinema mode measured 1.9, remaining close to that mark throughout the full brightness range. Post-calibration in Professional1 mode, gamma measured an equally steady 2.1.

Oddly, the LG showed no boost in motion resolution on test patterns designed to evaluate that performance parameter with any of its TruMotion presets selected. Each preset added a significant amount of Soap Opera Effect to images, however.

The LG passed all of our standard- and high-def video processing tests with the one exception of HD chroma multiburst. This is a common failure and largely inconsequential. —A.G.