Hisense RGB Triple Laser 4K HDT UST Projector System

[Robert Zohn]

Hisense was kind to include our company in the first allocation of the new L9G triple laser UST projector.

We set the projector up in our showroom with their included 100" UST/ALR hard screen and I must say we were all very impressed with the performance of this new UST projection system. Excellent high peak luminance, 3,000 nits and deep rich blacks and color saturation.

We're including Hisense's L9G in our September 13, 2021 UST Projector Shootout Evaluation event.

Here's the link to Hisense's new webpage on the L9G.

Here's Hisense's L9G .pdf spec sheet link.

 

[Grayson Dere]

I can't wait to see the shootout results. The specs look great!

 

[Todd Anderson]

These UTS projectors are definitely neat. My biggest issue with them is the use of DLP and the rainbow effect. This L9G employs DLP, correct @Robert Zohn?

 

[Robert Zohn]

I don't expect the Hisense's L9G series will have any rainbow effect as this new premium model is a three laser light source with dedicated Red, Blue and Green lasers so no RGB spinning wheel.

It's the single laser UST projectors that need the RGB spinning wheel to generate the primary colors and unfortunately they also frequently generate the rainbow effect.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I don't expect the Hisense's L9G series will have any rainbow effect as this new premium model is a three laser light source with dedicated Red, Blue and Green lasers so no RGB spinning wheel.

It's the single laser UST projectors that need the RGB spinning wheel to generate the primary colors and unfortunately they also frequently generate the rainbow effect.

Interesting... so it's technically using a DLP chipset, but the lasers eliminate the color wheel?

 

[SRW1000]

Could you measure the sound from the projector? I like how LEDs are pretty much silent, but I think the fan noise of the UST would be bothersome, especially late at night when lower sound volumes are necessary.

 

[Todd Anderson]

That's a good point. I'm curious about operating sound levels as well.

 

[Robert Zohn]

JVC's D-ILA projector line does not use the DLP chip. JVC uses LCoS, which is very simular to how Sony generates light and color. So no DLP chip in JVC's D-ILA series or Sony projectors.

I'll pay attention to the ambient sound from the NZ7, NZ8 and NZ9 and report back.

 

[mechman]

DLPs in the past used the color wheel to produce the color, this model uses 3 (red, green and blue) lasers to produce the color. So no wheel is necessary.

This is a game changer in the projector market! 107% of BT.2020 is impressive. And I'd assume that it can do this without a lumen constricting filter.

Can't wait to see some real numbers behind this projector. If I were in the market for a new pj, I would be seriously considering this. I am having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around the idea of a .4 gain screen though.

 

[Todd Anderson]

DLPs in the past used the color wheel to produce the color, this model uses 3 (red, green and blue) lasers to produce the color. So no wheel is necessary.

This is a game changer in the projector market! 107% of BT.2020 is impressive. And I'd assume that it can do this without a lumen constricting filter.

Can't wait to see some real numbers behind this projector. If I were in the market for a new pj, I would be seriously considering this. I am having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around the idea of a .4 gain screen though.

It's a light rejecting screen... so low gain. At 3,000 lumens, I'd be curious to see the throw distance needed for a bright room.

 

[mechman]

It's a light rejecting screen... so low gain. At 3,000 lumens, I'd be curious to see the throw distance needed for a bright room.

Yeah I realized that. Just haven't seen one with such a low gain number. I've seen .7 and up gain ALR screens all over the place. Wonder what the thought process was pairing this with a .4 gain screen? My guess would be that it's not really a ALR screen. It's probably an ambient light absorbing screen - aka a dark gray screen.

I think the 1.2 gain screen is the true ALR screen as I understand it incorporates Fresnel and has a narrow viewing cone. The .4 has a very wide cone.

 

[Robert Zohn]

Correct again as usual mech on the 1.2 gain ALR screen. !'m not a big fan of Fresnel screens in general, but I was happily surprised to see the excellent performance in our showroom L9G with Hisense's included 1.4 gain hard screen designed for high ambient light viewing.

 

[Tim Dawson]

Interesting... so it's technically using a DLP chipset, but the lasers eliminate the color wheel?

*ANY* 3 chip DLP eliminates the color wheel and rainbowing - the light source does not matter! A single discharge lamp split into 3 beams with fixed r/g/b filters into 3 chips works just as well. (And 3 chip has been the standard for upper tier projectors for a *very* long time!)

 

[mechman]

FYI - this projector won the UST projector portion of Robert's awesome shootout. This was the first year they evaluated projectors.

 

[Robert Zohn]

Correct, we brought in Rob Sabin, editor in Chief of Projector Central to run our first UST Projector Shootout Evalueaiton event along with Jason Dustal, John Reformato, Stacey Spears and an exceptional panel of expert judges.

Here's two articles Rob Sabin authored and featured on Projector Central:

Hisense L9G Named Value Electronics 2021 King of UST Projectors

The new Hisense triple-laser L9G ultra short throw living room projector grabbed the top slot in a three-way competition against LG and Samsung to become the Value Electronics 2021 King of UST.

www.projectorcentral.com

First Value Electronics UST Projector Shoot-Out Set for Monday 9/13

Value Electronics, the independent retailer responsible for the annual King of TV shoot-outs of each year's best TVs, is set to run its first-ever face-off of premium UST living room projectors.

www.projectorcentral.com

 

[Robert Zohn]

Check out "Joe N Tell" YouTube review on Hisense's L9G Triple Laser 4K HDR UST Projection system!

 

[Todd Anderson]

Interesting to see these systems achieving such praise. It's a great thing, IMO. I'd love to see a motorized screen system that displays art, but then rolls out a white screen for projection viewing.

 

[ddude003]

Interesting to see these systems achieving such praise. It's a great thing, IMO. I'd love to see a motorized screen system that displays art, but then rolls out a white screen for projection viewing.

With projector lamp life greater than 20k hours, why not just "project" the art you want??? That is what I intend to do once I get my projector dialed in and find some 4k art I like...

 

[JStewart]

20k hours

20k hours to 1/2 brightness. I wonder if there’s a point before that when there’s not enough brightness for a good HDR picture. I log about 1000hrs year on my PJ. Usually about the time for a new bulb is time for an upgrade. So far anyway

 

[ddude003]

20k hours to 1/2 brightness. I wonder if there’s a point before that when there’s not enough brightness for a good HDR picture. I log about 1000hrs year on my PJ. Usually about the time for a new bulb is time for an upgrade. So far anyway

Is that true for laser "lamps" also?

 

[JStewart]

Is that true for laser "lamps" also?

It is for JVC laser projectors. I shouldn’t have assumed all laser projector tech is the same though.

 

[mechman]

There is never enough brightness for a good HDR picture from a projector. I don’t care how much money you toss at your pj. The Holy Grail at this point is an affordable micro-LED display or OLED in the 100+ inch range.

I would categorize the picture from a projector as ‘acceptable’ or ‘not acceptable’ when it comes to HDR.

 

[JStewart]

There is never enough brightness for a good HDR picture from a projector. I don’t care how much money you toss at your pj. The Holy Grail at this point is an affordable micro-LED display or OLED in the 100+ inch range.

I would categorize the picture from a projector as ‘acceptable’ or ‘not acceptable’ when it comes to HDR.

Not good enough with tone mapping?

Do OLEDs have enough light for a good HDR experience?

 

[mechman]

Not good enough with tone mapping?

Acceptable enough, yes. Is it good? IMO, not really. And I don’t care what bells and whistles people throw out there (including the HD Fury devices which I use), it is not good. Period. But it is acceptable.

Do OLEDs have enough light for a good HDR experience?

Yes. To put it in comparative terms I get roughly 70nits out of my Epson pj using HDR. My 2017 LG OLED gives me roughly 10 times that last time I checked. In an ideal world that number would be closer to 1000. But displays that get the 1000 nits or higher don’t have the floor or black level that my OLED has. Off the top of my head I cannot recall what I measured 0% black at on my Epson pj. But I do know that my OLED measured at 0. So in a very ideal world, you’d have a display that gets a black reading of 0 and a white reading of 10,000nits. That will never happen in a projector.

My advice is if you’re happy enough with what you have now, wait it out until the larger OLEDs come to the market. 2-3 years after they hit, they will be affordable. I’ve had the luxury of seeing various projector setups lately and while one does “X” really well, they don’t do “Y” so well. You can insert various terms in for Y and X there. Money will not get you an OLED picture with a projector.

 

[ddude003]

Although it may make some sense to compare TVs with Projectors from a subjective point of view... In my mind it makes no sense to compare direct light devices, read TVs, with reflected light devices, read Projectors and Screens... Like comparing Nits with Lumens... How does screen gain come into play in these comparisons? What if there was a screen with a gain of 3.426...