3D Projector Reviews

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio: 45,100:1

All of the measurements were taken with the projector in the User 1 preset with the lamp in Low mode. The gamma correction preset was selected as Standard. All of the calibration was done with the lens aperture at 0, but the contrast ratio measurements were done in a variety of different modes for the iris, as noted. The lamp had 10 hours on it during the calibration. All viewing and measurements were done on a 120-inch (diagonal) Stewart StudioTek 130 screen (1.3 gain).

The full on/off contrast was measured with a Minolta T-10 meter 9 inches away from the lens face. I tested various configurations in both Normal and ECO lamp mode with the iris in its Normal and Off mode.

The DLA-X30 achieved its highest contrast ratios with the lens aperture (iris) in the closed position, but this may not provide enough brightness for the end user, depending on viewing conditions or the size of the screen. All of the measurements were done at mid-throw, so contrast levels will vary depending on the distance of the projector to the screen. Because the DLA-X30 uses a manual iris, you can dial in the overall brightness you desire using the lens aperture. Because the lowest contrast measurement I obtained was over 20,000:1, onscreen black levels should be exceptional regardless of what you end up using.

The RGB tables were captured from our calibration workflow in CalMAN Version 4.5. As you can see from the results, with the projector in the 6500 preset for color temperature, the out-of-box RGB tracking was only slightly off, with an overall Delta E average of 3. (Delta E is a figure of merit that indicates how closely the result is to the ideal white point of D65. Below 3 is generally considered visibly indistinguishable from a perfect result.) Using the RGB adjustment settings in the User 1 setting, I was able to get the RGB balance much lower, with an average Delta E of 0.7, which is excellent.

With the color preset set to Standard in the user menus, the color gamut was close to the BT.709 (Rec. 709) HD color gamut but exhibited some hue errors from most of the secondaries and some oversaturation from most of the colors. Because the DLA-X30 does not have a CMS, I tried to dial in the colors a bit using the projector’s color control and measuring the luminance values of red. This method is employed by some THX calibrators and has done a good job with other displays I’ve calibrated. I was still not able to dial in a perfect color gamut, but I managed to get an overall Delta E of 2.9, with only the Red and Blue primaries exceeding a Delta E of 3.

Gamma tracking with the preset gamma setting to Normal averaged a 2.27 gamma curve. (There is no reference gamma curve because gamma is a function of the brightness of white at each IRE compared to 100 IRE, and the appropriate gamma curve depends on the room you’re viewing in and the contrast capabilities of your projector). –KRD