Projector Reviews

Contrast Ratio:
Full-On/Full-Off —12,790:1
ANSI—227:1

Measured Resolution:
480: 480 (per picture height)
720p: 720 (pph)
1080i: 1,080 (pph)

1-Pixel On/1-Pixel Off
HDMI Vert/Horiz: Y/Y
Comp Vert/Horiz: Y/Y

Black Hold: Excellent
Color Decoder: Excellent
(poor, average, good, excellent)

The top chart is the DLA-HD100's color primaries and secondaries (colored circles and white triangle), as seen on a CIE 1976 chromaticity diagram versus the SMTPE specified standards (colored diamonds and gray triangle). The converted x,y coordinates (for comparison to a CIE 1931 chart) are Red: x=0.672, y=0.309, Green: x=0.293, y=0.691, and Blue: x=0.142, y=0.054.

The bottom chart shows the DLA-HD100's gray-scale tracking, as in its color temperature (vertical axis) versus its brightness (horizontal axis). The left most point is an IRE of 20, a dark gray. The right-most point is an IRE of 100, a bright white. The dotted line represents the ideal target of D65, or 6504K. The gray scale as set by the factory, in the Low color-temperature mode and the Normal gamma mode, measures slightly warm across the range (blue trace). After making adjustments using the Photo Research PR-650, the gray scale measures even closer to D65 (red trace). Due to a quirk in the interaction between this projector and our Sencore VP403C over HDMI (possibly related to what Shane found in testing), a reduced-resolution gray-scale test needed to be used. The graphs are slightly less detailed than normal (though still accurate), but as such, any specific deviation calculations are suspect. It is doubtful in normal use that you would ever be able to duplicate this issue.

After calibration, and using a full-field 100-IRE white (12.79 foot-lamberts) and a full-field 0-IRE black (0.001 ft-L), the contrast ratio was 12,790:1. Using a 16-box checkerboard pattern (ANSI contrast), the contrast ratio was 227:1 (as measured on an 87-inch-wide, 1.0-gain Da-Lite Da-Mat screen). The best contrast ratio was achieved in the high lamp setting. This was also the brightest image. The black level in the normal lamp mode was also 0.001, although the overall light output was lower. Most likely, this means that the difference in the two black levels was beyond the three-decimal resolution of our LS-100.—GM