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Here’s the C3X 1080 – in all of its almost unbelievable glory….
The first big part of the C3X 1080’s answer is the fact that it’s a three-chip DLP model with a Full HD resolution. This matters, in case you’re not particularly familiar with DLP technology, because the use of three separate DLP chipsets – one each for red, green and blue duties – removes the need for the colour wheel arrangement found in single-chip projectors. And since there’s no colour wheel, there’s also no possibility of the picture being affected by the rainbow effect problem (stripes of pure red, green and blue flitting around over the picture) that afflicts all single-chip DLP projectors to some extent. Nor will there be any sign of the dotty noise that can trouble single-chip projectors when trying to show skin tones passing across the screen.
In other words, three-chip DLP projectors, while expensive to make – especially in a Full HD configuration – deliver all the traditional strengths of DLP technology, including fast response times, deeper black levels and richer colour palettes, without any of the usual weaknesses. So it’s just as well that the C3X has plenty more high-end treats up its sleeves.
Probably the single most important of these is the projector’s truly extreme colour management system. Even just working through the options built into the projector’s onscreen menus reveals a staggering amount of flexibility, with six primary presets including Native, HDTV, EBU, SMPTE-C, Auto, and the slightly mysterious-sounding LCC-1. More on this presently. Joining these presets is an extensive list of white point presets too, including standard, high, medium, low, Native, D75, D65, D50, and C options. Plus there’s a User option enabling you to adjust the white point to suit yourself using a simple double-axis graphical interface.
But even this is barely the tip of the colour management iceberg. For the LCC-1 preset slot I mentioned earlier can be used for storing settings calibrated to absolute precision via a combination of a colour meter and remarkably sophisticated software package.
When I said ‘absolute precision’ back there, I meant it. For during a two-hour process, the SIM2 representative who installed my test C3X 1080 was able to tweak the tones of the primary and secondary colours to a point so close to perfection – as defined by the independent, ‘objective’ colour meter and PC software – that any differences were negligible.
It really is very important that I convey fully what this means. For what many people fail to realize is that although a projector of the C3X 1080’s stature naturally ships with its colorsWhen I said ‘absolute precision’ back there, I meant it. For during a two-hour process, the SIM2 representative who installed my test C3X 1080 was able to tweak the tones of the primary and secondary colours to a point so close to perfection – as defined by the independent, ‘objective’ colour meter and PC software – that any differences were negligible.
It really is very important that I convey fully what this means. For what many people fail to realise is that although a projector of the C3X 1080’s stature naturally ships with its colours pre-calibrated to be as accurate as
possible, the actual final tone of the colours you see at home is affected by the environment you’re using your projector in. Factors like the type of screen fabric you’ve got and the amount and type of reflections cast around your room when the projector is working can have a really quite profound impact on the final colour tones you see.
As a result, the only way to ensure that you ultimately get accurate colour tones from even the most expensive projector is to tweak the settings via a colour management system once the projector is installed in its final position in your home. And from having looked on in awe for the full two hours of the C3X 1080 colour calibration process, I can assure you that I’ve never seen another colour calibration system as effective and subtle as that supported by this SIM2 model. Its attention to detail is almost obsessive compulsive in its precision, in fact – and in a high-end home cinema context, that’s about as high a compliment as I can pay!
Pre-calibrated to be as accurate as possible, the actual final tone of the colours you see at home is affected by the environment you’re using your projector in. Factors like the type of screen fabric you’ve got and the amount and type of reflections cast around your room when the projector is working can have a really quite profound impact on the final colour tones you see.
As a result, the only way to ensure that you ultimately get accurate colour tones from even the most expensive projector is to tweak the settings via a colour management system once the projector is installed in its final position in your home. And from having looked on in awe for the full two hours of the C3X 1080 colour calibration process, I can assure you that I’ve never seen another colour calibration system as effective and subtle as that supported by this SIM2 model. Its attention to detail is almost obsessive compulsive in its precision, in fact – and in a high-end home cinema context, that’s about as high a compliment as I can pay!
We’re nowhere near the end of the C3X 1080’s charms yet, either. For instance, it can deliver a strikingly high typical contrast ratio of 10,000:1 or more, given extra snap by the projector’s exceptional brightness – a brightness that owes much of its quality to SIM2’s AlphaPath Light Engine technology.
Also impressive is the projector’s 10-bit video processing, complete with high-definition scaling and de-interlacing capabilities, and the ability to deliver more than one billion colours on-screen. Allegedly. I have to admit that I didn’t actually count all the potential shades myself!
The C3X 1080’s extreme attention to detail is evident in other aspects of its setup procedure, too. For instance, there are no less than three different lens options: the T1 short throw (1.3-1.7:1), the T2 long-throw standard (1.7-2.6:1), and the T3 long-throw (2.6-3.5:1).
The C3X 1080’s Full HD nature and three-chip stability, meanwhile, enables it to reproduce HD details with outstanding accuracy and not a trace of video noise. Add this almost celluloid-like sharpness to the other talents I’ve noted, and you’ve got yourself a picture so cinematic and engrossing that I honestly believe you’ll never feel the need to actually go out to see a film again.
TechRadar‘s verdict
“A fantastic projector that offers true cinephile performance from the comfort of your living room. We will be saving for one for some time”
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