Don't let the size, weight and price tag scare you, NEC Display's NP-PH1000U is a large venue projector that puts the emphasis on large and leaves the competition in the digital dust. It not only has superior brightness and can fill a huge screen with a rich and vibrant image, but it is one of the most flexible projectors in its class. In other words, the PH1000U can light up just about any house of worship.
At 9.3- by 22.7- by 22.0-inches and weighing nearly 90 pounds, the black and silver PH1000U has a sophisticated design. It's also a handful to install and will require at least two people to unpack and set up. To make this easier, the projector has handles along its length and precision stacking brackets with locking pins at its corners. On the downside, the projector is only available in black.
Inside, the PH1000U is one of the first professional projectors to use three 0.96-inch Digital Light Processing (DLP) imaging chips to create a 1,920 by 1,200 resolution, high-definition image. It is a top shelf projector all the way with two air-cooled lamps, an 11,000-lumen brightness rating, and the ability to put a sharp and vivid image of up to 41.6 feet onto a screen.
As is the case for other large venue projectors, the $50,000 PH1000U comes without a lens. NEC has a nice assortment of five bayonet lenses to choose from that offer a variety of projection ranges and image sizes. They add between $4,700 and $8,000 to the system's price tag. For my work with the PH1000U, I used the NP29ZL long-throw lens.
Power Zoom and Focus
The projector has both powered zoom and focus and the gearing is attached to the side of the lens. Once the projector has been set up, this allows the PH1000U's image to be fine-tuned with its remote control without ever getting onto a ladder. The zoom and focus action may be slow but it is extremely precise and you can save any settings if you need to swap lenses.
I really appreciate that the projector has both horizontal and vertical keystone correction as well as image shifting circuitry, making it a snap to get the PH-1000U's image exactly the way I want it. It can also be set up for a variety of colored projection targets and works with circular, concave and convex screens. The system has a handy built-in test pattern that can streamline aiming, focusing and optimizing the image.
While the projector doesn't have a place to hide the inevitable warren of cables, as is the case with Epson's PowerLite Pro Z8455WUNL, the PH1000U offers just about every conceivable input option that a church could want. In addition to a pair of VGA, HDMI, DisplayPort, Composite, Component and S-Video inputs, it has RS-232 and VGA-out ports.
The projector goes beyond, showing split screen as well as picture-in-picture from two sources. NEC's Multi Screen Tool and a notebook's webcam can streamline edge-blending on up to four projectors. It takes a few minutes to automatically fine-tune the image to a point that is better than I can do manually.
There's also a USB port for projecting items from a USB memory key or controlling the system with a wireless keyboard. Wired networking is built in, and NEC offers a WiFi option for $80. It can directly project items grabbed from the church's LAN and can be monitored and controlled from a networked computer.
Not enough? The system has a slot for NEC's SB01HC circuit board that uses the Open Pluggable Specification to raise its imaging to broadcast quality. It adds BNC jacks for projecting an SDI or SDI-HD signal. On the downside, it costs $1,900 and is built into other projectors in this class.
The PH1000U's control panel is next to the projector's bank of connectors and the unit can be password-protected. I really like that the panel is lit with three LED lights so that I could leave my flashlight in the toolbox. On the downside, the PH1000U lacks the innovative small info screen on the side of Hitachi's CP-WU 8450 that shows what source is connected and its video details. (I particularly appreciate it while hanging off of a ladder.)
The projector's menu is logically arranged and has the ability to work with a variety of items for getting the most out of the PH1000U to its environment. It's all in there, from adjusting the projector's white balance to finding out how many hours the lamps have on them.
Real World Tests
In a series of real-world tests, the PH1000U proved itself to be a one-of-a-kind device that puts other professional projectors to shame. With both of its lamps firing, it was able to put 11,530 lumens onto a screen, slightly over NEC's 11,000 lumen specification. For locations that require more, four PH1000U devices can be safely stacked to blast over 45,000 lumens of light onto a screen.
At the other extreme, the PH1000U can be green. It has an Eco Mode that lowers its brightness—and its power consumption—by 20%. Like other NEC projectors, the PH1000U has a carbon meter to track the projector's power use and its impact on the environment.
To get to this brightness level, the projector uses a lot of electricity. All told, it consumes 981-watts of power with both its lamps running, which is an excellent argument for setting up a dedicated power line for it. Its $825 replacement lamp is rated to last for 2,000 hours of use, but changing a lamp is a little tricky because you first have to remove the rear fan; figure that it will take about 10 minutes.
Assuming the PH1000U will be used for 15 hours a week, and the national average price of 12 cents per kilowatt-hour for power, the projector has estimated annual operating expenses of $736.
There are two filters that need to be changed or cleaned every 5,000 hours of use or roughly every six years at this rate.
The PH1000U is a little slow to start up and shut down, taking 36 seconds to put an image onto the screen and three minutes and 10 seconds for it to turn off, which will seem like an eternity compared to devices like the Epson PowerLite Pro Z8455WUNL. When it is operating, the projector hits a peak temperature of 150-degrees Fahrenheit at its rear exhaust, although the cabinet stays cool to the touch. On the downside, the system's two fans are noisy, hitting 49 dBA at 10 feet from the projector.
While it's extremely bright, the PH1000U's image quality is excellent, with realistic subtle shading and flesh tones. It has pinpoint focus, excellent grayscale imaging and good color balance. The projector has IDT's HQV video processing chip to put smooth video on the screen.
The projector comes with a three-year warranty, although the lamps are only covered for 500 hours. At close to $60,000 with a lens and a couple of options, the NEC PH1000U is priced at the very high end of the current projector market. On the other hand, it's worth it because it is a rare projector that does nearly everything well.
