I hear the 10HT has worse than average black level. What does that mean, and how bad is it?
Black level, in this context, refers to the amount of light the projector is producing when the picture is supposed to be full black. LCDs cannot produce complete black, i.e. the complete absence of light, because even when the LCD panel is completely black, with every pixel at full “off” position, some light leaks through and is projected onto the screen. This means that areas on the screen that are supposed to be black will look gray under certain conditions. This is especially true of the letterbox bars on super-widescreen movies (2.35:1). Because they are generally next to a completely black reference (the black border around the screen) they tend to look slightly gray. Different people have different reactions to black level. Some people really are distracted by the lack of deep black, while others find it not a problem. It’s important to see the 10HT, properly calibrated, before buying it, because you don’t want to get it home and find that you can’t stand the black levels. That
