Mitsubishi DLP projector short on light

Hi, there. David Katzmaier from CNET and this is Mitsubishi's HC7900DW DLP Projector. It's one of the least expensive 3D projectors in Mitsubishi's lineup. We compare this projector with a couple of the other 3D compatible units out there and while it was a little bit more expensive, it really didn't deliver that much more of an impact and picture quality. We'll get to that in a little bit but let's start off with this projector's look. The overall look is a little bit [unk] to my eye. It's a little bit larger and heavier than some of the other entry-level projectors out there. Mitsubishi doesn't do much for the styling aside from a couple of chrome accents and this all white coloring. Set of features are minimal on this projector. The highlight is a lens shift. You can flip up the little LED here and find a dial that adjust the lens up and down without messing with the geometry that is a nice, extra and a projector at this level, although, there are a couple of others that share it. On the top side for the back, there's a standard ray of controls and of course this projector also includes a remote. Not a big fan of the remote, it actually doesn't even say Mitsubishi on and it looks like a very generic model with a hazard button arrangement, a couple of cryptic labels but I told you probably won't have to use it much on a projector. On the back there's an amp [unk] of inputs including two HDMI, one component video and also a PC input that can also accept component video. So, it does have a couple of more inputs than some of the other basic projectors on the market. Mitsubishi also includes a couple more adjustments than some entry-level projectors. There's a fuller ray of video processing adjustments that allow you to tweak the smoothing or soap opera effect from zero to [unk] and it actually has quite a few levels of radiation that I really appreciated. There's also a plenty controls for color and gamma including a multipoint gamma control and a full color management system. So, I told you, you can tweak this projector 6 ways from Sunday. The picture quality of Mitsubishi is pretty good as long as you keep the lights off. In a dark room, it competed well with other projectors in its price range and it delivered pretty good black levels and very accurate color. The problem is light output. When we turn off the lights, it really couldn't get nearly as bright as some of those other projectors and a result, the picture lack a lot of impact in those really high brightness picture modes. Picture look quite a bit more washed out and of course, the Mitshubishi, as a result is not nearly as versatile as some of the other projector we tested. Let's not say that any projector looks great with the lights up but if you need to watch with a little bit of ambient light, I choose a different projector than this Mitsubishi. Unlike some of its 3D competitors, Mitsubishi doesn't include the 3D option in the box, you'll need to buy a separate emitter as well as separate 3D glasses. Mitsubishi also doesn't sell 3D glasses itself, although these expand glasses that came with our review sample are available online for around 40 bucks. And that's the look at Mitsubishi's HC7900DW DLP 3D projector. I'm David Katzmaier with CNET.