The compact DLP projector is set to shake up the affordable UHD market…
Since the launch of 4K Blu-ray and 4K streaming at the latest, the new picture standard has established itself as high-end in Germany too: the 8-megapixel resolution delivers unprecedented detail, the DCI colour space brings genuine cinema colours for the first time, and HDR makes more realistic use of contrast. It is all the more surprising that only very few models on the projector market are able to deliver these benefits, and even fewer in the affordable price range up to €3,000. The main reason is the difficult technical implementation in projectors, which are much more complex and delicate in design than TVs. Native 4K projectors therefore still sit in high price segments that are unaffordable for most. Taiwanese manufacturer Acer now wants to put an end to “unaffordable”: with its new V7850 model, it is sending a new home cinema projector with 4K and HDR into the race, which is said to rival even Sony's native 4K heavyweights in sharpness. And all this at a knockout price of under €3,000. In this review special, we show whether the promises are kept or whether the new projector is just “hot air”.
Contents:
Features and technology
The first thing you notice is the remarkably compact dimensions of the V7850 – the newcomer is smaller than many a Full HD-only device. Yet the projector is surprisingly quiet and is undoubtedly one of the quieter DLP projectors on the market; Acer has clearly learnt its lesson here.
Inside works Texas Instruments 4K UHD technology, which consists of a DLP chip with 4 native megapixels that are sequentially doubled to the full 8 megapixels by means of an eShift glass. While this is not fully native 4K, it still offers twice as many pixels as other eShift devices from JVC or Epson, which only use Full HD chips.
In the V7850, the DMD chip works in combination with an RGBRGB colour wheel, which is ideal for home cinema use as it allows particularly accurate colour reproduction to the BT709 / sRGB colour standard. Unfortunately, the new BT2020 colour space with cinema DCI P3 support is not covered, although the V7850 is said to be at least compatible with it.
When it comes to placement, the Acer impresses with a generous zoom range, which should allow one of the common image sizes between 2.2 m and 3 m in most living rooms. Less exemplary is the very limited lens shift, which only works vertically and has very little range. This means the V7850 cannot be adapted to the room height as well as Epson's LCD competitors. We also miss a motorised zoom / focus, which is becoming standard in this price class.
The connection panel is again generous and offers all common digital & analogue video and communication interfaces. You rarely find more even in higher price classes.
Operation
The operating system is clearly laid out and can be controlled quickly and reliably with the handy, backlit remote control.
In this upper price class, you expect all the parameters needed for a complete picture calibration. This is largely the case with the Acer V7850, but unfortunately only one memory slot is available for your own settings, which is too few. 
Picture quality
Texas Instruments insists that the technology described above can easily compete with native 4K in terms of sharpness. For this reason, we paid particular attention to sharpness. And indeed, the detail reproduction of the Acer V7850 is so fine and sharp that it puts all other projectors with eShift technology in the shade. Here is an example:
In the screenshot above, we see a 4K wide shot with fine details of the building façades. Looking more closely at the fine UHD details reveals the striking difference from other eShift projectors (here the Epson TW7300).
Acer V7850
Epson TW7300
The Acer V7850, with its native resolution twice as high, is much better able to bring out the fine details of 4K resolution than the Epson TW7300/9300. Even from normal viewing distances, the Acer looks considerably sharper than its rival. In fact, the Acer manages to keep up with the Sony VW550 (a native 4K projector for €10,000).
The differences become even greater in motion: the Acer V7850 is practically the only affordable projector with genuine 4K frame interpolation, which ensures that UHD resolution is retained in motion too. With moving images, the Acer pulls even further ahead of the Epson, and of the Sony as well. There is currently practically no other home cinema projector this sharp on the market. But where there is light, there is also shadow: however well the Acer V7850 copes with 24p and 60Hz material, it has problems with the 50Hz material common in Europe, as used for sports broadcasts and TV. It has to convert this internally to 60Hz, which leads to slight stuttering. For now, the Acer V7850 is therefore not recommended as a sports projector.
Colour space
For colour, Acer relies on a classic RGB/RGB colour wheel without any “BrilliantColor trickery”, which results in a correct ratio of colour brightnesses. In terms of hue, the colour wheel is tuned to the classic Rec709/sRGB standard, as our measurement shows:
For SDR, this guarantees perfect colour reproduction, but for UHD Premium Blu-rays with original cinema colours, the colour space is too small to render particularly saturated colours. For this reason, the V7850 adapts UHD Premium content to its own colour space in real time, which produces a very appealing picture; in a direct comparison with projectors with a native DCI colour space (e.g. JVC X7500), however, the shortcomings in particularly pure reds and greens become visible.
The Acer handles the increased HDR contrast well, especially in bright scenes, thanks to its high light output (1,900 lumens gross / 1,400 lumens calibrated) and very high ANSI contrast (>400:1); especially in optimised rooms, the picture has great depth and strong separation between bright and dark content. Due to its limited contrast range (1,400:1 native calibrated / 4,800:1 dynamic), however, it shows weaknesses in dark scenes with a high proportion of black, where it lacks depth and therefore produces a slight grey veil – here LCOS projectors are still ahead.
Conclusion
With the V7850, Acer has produced an impressively sharp 4K projector that, at €2,990, finally makes Ultra HD resolution in home cinema more affordable for many. Its quiet and compact chassis and well-balanced tuning of brightness, colours and sharpness will win many fans this year and form a strong counterweight to the established LCD / LCOS leaders from Epson and Sony. After many years, the battle between DLP and LCD projection technologies is back on – at last! Because competition is good for business, and customers benefit from falling prices and bigger steps in technical development. 
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Further guides:
- Projector lens memory – saved lens positions for changing aspect ratios
