Mitsubishi HC3000U

The Short Form

$2,400 ($3,000 list) / 12.5 x 4 x 9.6 IN / 6.4 lbs / mitsubishi-presentations.com / 949-465-6000

Plus

•Good contrast •Numerous controls

Minus

•Inconsistent grayscale •Some softness

Key Features

•1,280 x 768-pixel DLP Projector •Inputs 1 HDMI; 2 component-video; 1 S-video; 1 composite-video; 1 RGB/VGA/component; 1 RS-232C control •PRICE $2,400 ($3,000 list) Full Lab Results

The utilitarian-looking Mitsubishi HC3000U is compact and encased in silver, and it's the only one of the eight tested models with its lens located in the middle of its chassis. The whole front face of the unit is vents - good news for installations that need to enclose the sides or back.

CONTRAST The Mitsubishi HC3000U has more controls that affect contrast than most, and after playing with all of them I was able to achieve a suitably inky level of black. I closed the iris, turned down the lamp power, twiddled with picture controls, and engaged BrilliantColor. Its boost in brightness enabled the Mitsubishi to turn in the third-best measured contrast ratio of the group - better than that of the LCDs but not quite as good as that of the best DLPs. Watching The Island, I got the characteristic and welcome "pop" of dark areas next to light ones during the virtual boxing match between Lincoln and Jordan.

COLOR The Mitsubishi HC3000U delivered the most inconsistent color of gray after calibration of any of the projectors, but calibration was more necessary here since it also had the bluest pre-calibration grayscale, even in its so-called "5900K" mode (which suggests a warm red image). Although the critical red, green, and blue primary colors (used to derive all others) were accurate, the uneven grayscale showed itself in many scenes by adding an undesirable cast to the picture - such as in Lincoln's bedroom, where the tones on the walls went from slightly pinkish to greenish compared with the Samsung as well as the Hitachi.

DETAIL Like most projectors here, the Mitsubishi HC3000U brought out all the detail in the DVD close-ups of faces, and I could clearly read text on the island's computer screens. HDTV, on the other hand, didn't have quite the same sharpness as on some other projectors; for example, the gray hair of a commentator on SportsCenter offered slightly less detail. The difference was exceedingly subtle, but test patterns did reveal that the Mitsubishi HC3000U couldn't quite pass every line of a 720p test pattern.