Mitsubishi’s HC7000 is a home theatre projector that melds fantastic specifications with contemporary styling. If you’re using it in a traditional home theatre room you won’t be disappointed, but its performance in a well-lit room doesn’t impress.

The model we tested was a very dark purple colour that looked fantastic compared to the generic-looking white Sharp XR-32S it was sitting next to. The casing has soft curves and indentations that are reminiscent of a car's bonnet.

The projector is designed for home-theatre enthusiasts, so a repertoire of high-definition connectors is naturally included. Two HDMI connectors cover digital connectivity while a VGA socket, component and composite jacks take care of everything analog.

The HC7000 has the best contrast we have seen on an LD projector. This is largely thanks to an improved auto-iris system that delivers a quoted dynamic contrast ratio of 72000:1. These dynamic changes took milliseconds — a fantastic improvement from the less-than-impressive efforts of older models. This is the first projector we have tested where we preferred the dynamic contrast ratio adjustment activated, so this is certainly a ground-breaking achievement.

Black levels in dark scenes are simply breathtaking. Like Samsung’s Series 9 (LA46A950), the projector seems as if it is turned off when a completely black image is displayed.

When using its default settings, the HC7000’s colour was nigh-on perfect. A vibrant and film-like picture was displayed with no bias to red, green or blue; colours were vibrant without losing accuracy. A few easy tweaks further improved the colour to brilliant levels. If you want great colour quality, the HC7000 will not disappoint.

Sharpness was equally impressive. From the centre of the projected image to the outer corners, sharpness was consistent and the test pattern showed almost-perfect distinction on thin lines and contrasting segments.

Brightness is not as exemplary as the model’s sharpness — on dedicated home theatre projectors brightness is always sacrificed in favour of contrast and colour accuracy — but for a dedicated theatre room it’s more than acceptable. Contrast and black levels suffer dramatically when external light sources are introduced, so this projector isn’t a good choice for a bright room.

Just like the Viewsonic Precision Pro8100 that it is directly competing with, the HC7000 offers a low-light mode that drops lamp brightness by approximately one fifth. Focus and zoom are electronically controlled and can be adjusted in minute increments via remote, which is fantastic for up-close tweaking.

If you are looking for a home theatre projector that gives you a fantastic image in your dedicated entertainment room, the HC7000 will suit you perfectly.