Though it has been out since around Christmas time, 2005, I was just able to sit down and really play with the C3X Lite from Sim2. I have done many installation and calibrations on its bigger brother, the C3X, but not so much with this unit. This unit has an MSRP of $15,995, and is part of a line of projectors from the Italian company Sim2. They are revolutionary 3 chip DLP units. What makes them so unique is a completely custom designed optical system. Sim2 put several million into this optical system. Its goal, to improve contrast, brightness, and most of all, the physical look of 3 chip DLP’s. The first thing one notices when they open this unit up is the size. Though virtually all of the 3 chip DLP units are very large, sometimes rivaling that of a CRT, the C3X Lite is very small. It weighs in at about 25lbs and is roughly the size of a larger single chip DLP, such as the Sharp XV-Z12000 or Runco VX1000d. Yet it is indeed a 3 chip unit. Sim2 is known for their very Euro styling, and this follows suit. It is has a very attractive case, with lots of curves and rounded edges. It is finished in a gunmetal metallic paint adding to its beautiful looks. This is a unit that you can hang in your home theater, and not feel like you need a box to hide it. The unit has all the standard inputs…HDMI, component, VGA, s-video and composite video. It also has RS232, and 2 12v triggers, one that turns on when the projector is turned on (good for dropping an electric screen), and one for a masking system control. Lens shift is also standard. The remote control is simple, yet fully functional and backlit, which makes for easier control in darkened rooms. I didn’t like that all the buttons on the remote are labeled with symbols rather than words. This did make it a bit tricky to figure out what I was accessing.

I fired her up. First thing I noticed was how quiet it was. 3 chip units notoriously are loud, but not this unit. The C3X Lite has 2 lamp modes (Normal Power and High Power), but what was nice was that the fan noise did NOT change between the 2 modes. This is the first line of projectors I have come across that did this. Usually when you kick a projector into the higher light output mode, the fan gets so loud that it becomes distracting- a real plus for those who would like to toggle the different modes when they are switching their viewing environment. Moving on. I first hooked up my test pattern generator so that I could do a quick adjustment and then calibrate the unit. The C3X Lite comes with many color temperature presets built in, so I checked them all. The one that was closest to the 6500k color standard was number 35. It tested at 6617k on HDMI, and 6726k on component. Actually the 35 spot should have tested much lower than that as it was closest to red and the mid point on the spectrum is about 15-17. Not a big deal since 99.9% of people getting this unit will have it calibrated anyways. Moving on. After adjusting color temp, I did a more final calibration of the standard parameters. The C3X Lite, unlike some other units, does not have color or tint adjustments on the HDMI input. Not a big deal if you trust that HDMI color signals are pure, but it’s nice to have the max control when possible. The color and tint adjustments were, however, on all the other inputs.

One thing that Sim2 does which is not common is give custom aspect ratio controls. This is most beneficial for those who desire a 2.35:1 constant height setup. You don’t actually need a scaler to adjust the various ratios as you can program them into the Sim2 (and leave the anamorphic lens in place). The menu does have lots of phase, sync, overscan, gamma, and other such adjustments which gave more flexibility in setup.

The unit, though only a 150watt lamp, is very bright, as you might expect from a 3 chip unit. My test screen was not ideal as it is a 103” diag. Vutec Silverstar. I almost had to break out the sunglasses. J I did my testing in Low Power mode for obvious reasons, but take the screenshots with a grain of salt. Again, this was not an ideal screen for testing this particular unit. What I am trying to say is don’t let the fact that this is a “Lite” version fool you. It is easily capable of doing large screens and/or rooms with large amounts of ambient light. For those who really feel that “go big or go home” is key, then the higher, 250 watt lamp of the C3X might be considered. Of course the biggest benefit to a 3 chip unit is the lack of a color wheel. This has several advantages. First, since all 3 colors are being displayed simultaneously, instead of in rapid succession, the colors will appear much more vibrant and punchy. Furthermore, you will gain much more brightness (with a color wheel only 1/3 the light is effectively being used). The true contrast capabilities can be much larger (with no tricks such as dynamic iris’) as well. Lastly, there are no rainbows. Though the vast majority of people are not susceptible to them anymore, for those who still have issues, this is one possible solution. In summary, even if you don’t desire a large screen, there are many other benefits to 3 chip technology.

I put in some test material…pure heaven. If you have never seen a properly setup 3 chip DLP, it is something to behold. They have such a vibrancy and depth to them, it reminds one of a really, really large plasma (if it existed). The black levels on this unit are excellent, amongst the best out there in its category. Yet it still maintained superb shadow detail (the camera doesn’t do it justice). This has often been tricky for DLP technology in the past as to achieve the deeper blacks, often they were buried which caused a dark, but non-detailed image. Not the case here. The colors are also extremely rich, something that Sim2 is known for, yet they still maintain lots of detail. This often can prove to be tricky, especially with such large light output. The Sim2 also had a very smooth image. There was not a lot of digital noise and virtually no dithering or other motion artifacts. This is in part because of the fact it is a 3 chip, and partly because Sim2 uses very good processing in their units.

Finding Nemo

Some "real people" shots:

I, Robot

HDTV (DVHS) pictures:

Fast and Furious