Digital Trends

The update to the HC5000 will offer a better contrast ratio, better black to light transitions, and will cost nearly $500 less.

Let the home theater enthusiast drooling begin. Mitsubishi kicked off their product unveilings at this year’s CEDIA consumer electronics expo with the next version of their HC5000 hi-def 1080p projector, aptly named the HC6000.

Improvements include a contrast ratio that has been raised from 10,000:1 to an impressive 13,000:1, and a refined auto iris function that speeds changes from black to light. Mitsubishi claims these improvements will smooth transitions in dark scenes and sharpen detail in dark areas, such as in spaceship scenes and classic film noir.

Using Reon-VX’s Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processor, the projector can deinterlace 1080i video to 1080p format, and remove jagged edges with a multidirectional diagonal filter. Mitsubishi also says it can vastly improve standard-definition material with per-pixel detail enhancement, advanced scaling and noise reduction technology that removes compression artifacts.

The projector’s bulb throws 1000 ANSI lumens of light, and should last 5,000 hours in its low mode. Changing the bulb when it finally dies should be easier with a special lamp housing that allows consumers to swap bulbs without having to disassembled the entire projector.

The HC6000 will go on sale in October with a suggested retail price of $4,000, nearly $500 less than the previous generation HC5000 that debuted at $4,495.