I bought this projector to replace a 6 year old Sharp 720p DLP projector. The primary reasons were the price, the $[...] rebate, and the excelent video processing chip (Reon-VX). The final straw that broke the camel's back was the fact the newer Blu-ray movies output 480P through the component video output (the Sharp didn't have HDMI).
Mine is hooked up using HDMI with Blu-ray and HD DVD players, projected to a 150" gray screen.
What can I say - the picture is excellent. The Sharp was incredible, and I would never have any complaints until I see in person what the 1080p projectors can do nowadays. It was immediately obvious this Mitsubishi has a sharper, more detailed, and better contrasted image. It has a slightly higher lumens output than the Sharp, and also better contrast.
Although the Sharp came very close to an average movie theater picture quality, this projector at the very least matches, and in many cases, exceed what one can see in an average theater. No complaints about the picture, but I am not some super-nitpicky videophile like some.
This projector has an electronic zoom/focus lens, so setting it up initially can be difficult. I made the mistake of hanging it up on the ceiling before making adjustments. The default zoom/focus levels made the picture extremely blurry, so I could not read the menu at all. It was also upside down for me, making things doubly difficult. I had to use the pictures of the menu in the manual in order to navigate around. Speaking of the manual -- it could use a lot of improvement (the section about the extra filter was buried in the back instead of the front, where there should be a series of steps detailing the initial setup). I just feel if it had a manual focus option, it would've cut my setup time by 75%.
To summarize, some things I wish this projector had:
- Manual zoom/focus option
- More brightness (lumens output). I have to to set the brightness to around 75% to see something to my liking.
- More intuitive menu structure
- Have more frequently used functions be on the remote vs. buried somewhere in the menus
- Better manual
I would've given this projector 4 stars, but given the incredible value (esp. with the rebate included), I think it deserves 5 stars.
Addendum: After poking around a little bit, it turns out there is another available rebate; this other one is $[...], but with a free lamp, which is most likely worth quite a bit more than $[...]. I chose the $[...]+lamp rebate instead... Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p LCD Home Theater Projector
I did a lot of research before buying this PJ, the deciding factors for me were the Hollywood FX upscaling chip and the noise levels that are the lowest in the industry.
The upscaling chip helps upscale any lower resolution image to 1080p and does it handsomely. We will not be watching blu-ray movies all the time and this was an important factor for me.
As far as the noise levels are concerned, I have heard projectors that emit a low (or sometimes even high!) pitched whine while running, and once you know about the noise it can become very distracting. This PJ on the other is practically noiseless, you cannot hear it while it is running even if you put your ear right next to it.
Picture quality is outstanding with none of the "flicker" normally associated with fast moving objects with LCD projectors. I watch action movies and have not seen any "flicker" at all.
It does need a reasonably light controlled room as it is not as bright as an Optoma HD71 for example, especially at the "low" lamp setting, but on the other hand the "low" lamp setting is supposed to give you 5000 hours of usage.
Buy it, you cannot go wrong.
After much research into DLP projectors, I decided on this one becuase of it's features, resolution, high contrast, and price (the rebate and free bulb helped me decide too!) This was purchased for a home theater. We saw it in a home theater store and the picture was AMAZING. We purchased a professional grade screen to use it with and acheived the same results... as long as the room is pitch black. The only problem is after around 1 hour and 15 minutes, the unit flashes temperature/overheating warnings and shuts down. I live in Colorado at an altitude of around 9400 feet. I read the manual and discovered that Mitsubishi does not suggest using it above 5000 feet. We seem to have over come the problem by installing 2 CPU cooling fans into the air filter shroud. It makes a little humming noise, but we can get through a movie without it overheating.
Pros: Price, contrast, clear picture, easy setup and menu
Cons: overheats if above 5000 ft, pictures gets washed out VERY quickly if there's ambient light in the room
I have a dedicated home theater and this projector is like looking out of 120" diag. picture window watching what is on the other side. Great price with $[...] rebate & a free replacement bulb. Came in less than a 46" to 52"LCD flat screen, but my screen is 10ft diag. It is amazing! True home theater.
I only deduct a star because the thing is so huge. It might be the case that that's why this product is less then similarly featured, more compact projectors.
But, beyond it's footprint, this is a great projector that's lived in two different funky loft apartments and its worked out great in both.
If size is not much of a consideration and you have a tight budget for your projector, I would add this one to your shortlist.
Our initial projector malfunctoned within a couple of weeks. Amazon replaced it & covered the cost of return postage. The replacement projector is working fine thus far. Amazon was wonderful to deal with for the return/replacement of this item.
I have a theater room that is about 25' in depth, I had my old projector mounted about 18 feet back on the ceiling. I bought the HC5500 to replace the older projector which was and is an excellent projector from Panasonic, however I wanted the 1080P res. provided by the newer projectors. I found this projector to be excellent in all areas, however I found that I had to move the mount about 5-6 feet closer to my screen to make it work, which was not easy as the wiring is all in the ceiling.
While the details of how far the projector had to be from the screen for a given size is in the fine print and it is my fault for not being more thorough, I also kinda have to give Mitsubishi some blame for making that difficult to grasp and also for not allowing for a bit more travel in the zoom as this limits the flexibility quite a bit. So be careful in how you plan your theater with this projector. If you have a long room and want it in the rear, you will need a BIG screen. (for your reference, I have a 10' diagonal screen putting the projector about 12 feet back and it JUST fits and it is at end of zoom travel )
Other than that, the HC5500 is quiet and has a great picture and one can adjust everything via the remote. The Panasonic was more versatile but noisier and lower in res. and I and am thinking of getting a second mount and reinstalling it behind the Mitsubishi as a backup. I am sure the newer Panasonics are just fine, but this one was at about 2 grand in priced with a $500.00 rebate...hard to pass up.
As long as you check the charts carefully, you will find this to be an excellent projector. Now I am off to find a better screen, they ain't cheap...but if you wanna maximize your viewing pleasure, well...there goes the wallet.
Rick Gordon - Mitsubishi - 1080p - Home Theater - Hd Projector'
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