 |
In Its Element
A second look at the SIM2 C3X projector—on
a much larger screen.
The very
best performers sometimes need the right setting to
shine. Imagine operatic mezzo-soprano Ceclia Bartoli
trying to sing a Metallica song—or Metallica’s James
Hetfield trying to croon a Mozart aria. You get the
idea.
After reviewing the SIM2 C3X projector in the
May/June 2006 issue of Home Entertainment, we
wondered if we might have a similar mismatch. The
C3X is the most compact three-chip DLP video
projector available, and at $19,990, one of the most
affordable. Unlike a single-chip DLP projector, a
three-chip projector does not have a color wheel
with alternating red, green, and blue elements. Each
chip is dedicated to a specific color. The main
advantages of the three-chip projector are that it
does not produce rainbow-colored fringing on moving
objects as a single-chip projector does; it can have
more accurate color and a wider color range, or
gamut; and it can produce greater light output
because there are three chips reflecting light from
the bulb instead of just one.
 Sound
Solutions’ Steve Morsch lends a sense of scale to
the 16-foot image, while our Photo Research PR-650
photospectrometer patiently awaits the appearance of
test patterns. (Click image to enlarge)
When we tried the C3X on the 72-inch-wide, 16:9
Stewart screen we use for our projector tests, we
were a bit underwhelmed. The picture was good, but
not dramatically better than what we have seen from
recent single-chip projectors. Yet the C3X is
practically flying off the store shelves: It is
currently the best-selling video projector priced
over $10,000. Obviously, many custom installers were
finding something to love about this projector—but
what?
After considering the C3X’s measured output—an
incredible 82 footlamberts, far more brightness than
needed for a 6-foot picture—Mike Wood, then
editor-in-chief of sister publication Curtco’s
Digital TV & Sound, and I decided to find out
what it looked like on a much larger screen. Stewart
Filmscreen was kind enough to loan us a
16-foot-diagonal 16:9 screen for our experiment. And
Culver City, Calif., custom installation firm Sound
Solutions was generous enough to provide a space
large enough to accommodate the screen: the
warehouse where the company’s installers load and
test equipment racks for installations. (Our thanks
to Sound Solutions’ David Epstein, Steve Morsch, and
Mark Elson for providing the space, helping us set
up the screen and equipment, and covering the
warehouse’s rooftop ventilators to keep the light
out.)
With the huge screen assembled, we placed the C3X
atop a wheeled cart and powered it up. We zoomed the
lens to fill the screen, focused the image, and let
the projector warm up for a while.
When we cued up The
Fifth Element DVD, we were rewarded with a picture
that looked every bit as good as what we saw on our
small screen—except this picture was almost as large
as what you’d see at some art-house commercial
theaters. To our surprise, the picture brightness
still seemed more than adequate, and the black level
looked just as deep as it did on our 6-foot screen.
Any single-chip projector would have looked
uncomfortably dim on such a large screen.
The projector’s internal scaler easily held up to
the challenge of the larger picture: Although we did
notice a few unnatural video artifacts during our
original test, none were readily visible even on the
extra-large screen. And the picture looked
impressively sharp even though we were playing only
regular DVDs, not high-definition sources. High-def
video played from a JVC D-VHS digital VCR (the new
HD-DVD and Blu-ray high-def DVDs were not yet
available) looked even sharper, as we expected. Even
Sound Solutions’ veteran installers—whose work
includes several capacious “personal screening
rooms” with screens as large as the one we used—were
impressed with the C3X’s performance.
As it turns out, using the C3X on a 6-foot screen
was like using an Indy car to run to the 7-Eleven.
Neither one would blow you away in a normal domestic
situation, but in the right setting, both reach
truly incredible levels of performance. |
Photography by
Brent Butterworth
