Hisense L9H TriChroma Laser TV Review

Hisense makes a distinction for its ultra short throw (UST) projectors between Laser TV models—including the 4K Hisense L9H TriChroma Laser TV ($5,499) reviewed here—and Laser Cinema models, like the PX2-PRO, one of our top UST picks. Although both categories of projector can serve in either a family room or a traditional home theater, the Laser TVs are designed to be straightforward TV replacements, complete with screens, so you don’t have to find an appropriate match yourself. Hisense sells the L9H—its current premium Laser TV model—with a choice of two screens. The version we tested—which essentially turns the projector into a 100-inch 4K smart TV with Dolby Vision—offers enough to make it our new Editors’ Choice award winner for a UST projector with a bundled screen.

A Choice of Bundled Screen: Do You Want Yours Bigger, or Brighter?

You can buy the L9H with either of two screens. Both offer ambient light rejection (ALR), which means they reflect light coming from the projector to the viewing area, while minimizing how much of the light coming from elsewhere gets reflected in the same direction. The 100L9H-DLT100C, which is the model we tested, comes with a 100-inch-diagonal screen and lists for $5,499. The 120L9H-CINE120A offers a 120-inch screen and lists for $6,499. (Both bundles are widely available for less than their list prices.)  However, price and size aren’t the only reasons to choose one over the other. They also differ in both gain (the effect the screen has on either increasing or decreasing brightness) and viewing angle (the maximum angle you can view from without seeing a noticeable drop in brightness).

The DLT100C offers a 1.5 gain, which means it increases image brightness to 150% of what it would be using a standard 1.0-gain white screen. It does that by reflecting more light into a relatively narrow range of angles, rather than equally in all directions. If you’re within the angle of view to which the projector is reflecting more light, you get the benefit of added brightness. Beyond that angle, the picture is dimmer than it would otherwise be. (You may remember seeing a similar effect viewing older LCD monitors from too far off center.)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

The DLT100C’s viewing angle is 45 degrees left and right of the perpendicular line you can draw between your position and the plane of the screen. So if you’re left or right of center by enough so you’re looking at the far side of the screen from more than 45 degrees, the image will have a noticeably lower brightness in that area. In a family room with lots of windows, the gain in brightness is an obvious plus, but you’ll want to make sure that all your couches and chairs are within the viewing angle for the edge of the screen that’s farthest away.

Note that we did all of the testing for this review with the DLT100C screen. If you get the projector with the Cine120A, both its larger size (spreading the same projector brightness over a larger area) and 0.4 gain will lower the image brightness, which makes it less well suited than the DLT100C for rooms with high levels of ambient light. However, its viewing angle—70 degrees left or right, or a total of 140 degrees—will give you an equally bright image from almost anywhere in the room.

Features and Setup: An Easy Experience Right Out of the Box

Like most 4K projectors, the L9H depends on a 1080p DLP chip equipped with TI’s XPR fast-switch pixel shifting to deliver 3,840 by 2,160 pixels to the screen. The light source is Hisense’s TriChroma laser engine, which uses three lasers—red, green, and blue—for its primary colors and rotates through them in sequence. One of the advantages of triple-laser engines in general is their ability to produce a wide color gamut (range of colors). For the L9H, that translates to a rating of 107% of BT.2020 (aka Rec.2020), the spec for 4K UHD projectors and TVs, which is to say, it should be able to show all the colors defined by the spec.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

One unusual design touch for the L9H is that it offers a fixed focus for the size of screen it ships with. That means you can’t switch to a different size if you decide you want a still-larger image, but it also means you don’t have to focus it manually. Just position the projector so the picture fills the screen, and you’re all set. Three additional factors are very much on the plus side: (1) Hisense calibrates the projector for the screen it ships with; (2) the screen is a little easier to put together than most other wall-mounted screens; and (3) the mount lets you raise and lower the screen just a bit to compensate for mistakes in measurement. But before you decide whether you want to tackle the task yourself rather than pay someone to do it for you, be sure to check Hisense’s YouTube video for assembly and mounting.

Physical setup is standard for this kind of projector. Set the 24.7-pound, 6.1-by-24-by-13.6-inch L9H in place, and connect the cables. Connection options include three HDMI ports (two HDMI 2.1 and one HDMI 2.0) plus a choice of Ethernet or Wi-Fi for connecting to your network for streaming with the integrated Google TV, plus a coax connector for an antenna or cable TV input. Once the hardware is connected, the L9H’s automated setup routine offers to adjust the image geometry, but, as with any projector, this feature is best avoided, since it can introduce artifacts and lower brightness.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

Strictly as a point of reference, using the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommendations, the rated 3,000 ANSI lumens would be enough in a dark room to light up a roughly 300-inch, 1.5-gain screen. In combination with the ALR feature, it should be more than bright enough using a 100-inch screen to stand up to the ambient light in almost any family room. In our tests, in a room with skylights and windows, it delivered a highly watchable image even in daytime.

The onboard audio, built around two 20-watt stereo speakers and a Dolby Digital sound system with Dolby Atmos, delivered enough volume to fill a large family room at high enough quality to be usable. For even better quality, you can connect to an external audio system via Bluetooth, WiSA, or the one HDMI port with eARC support. A particularly welcome extra for Bluetooth is a lag adjustment feature to keep audio and video in sync.

Testing the Hisense L9H: Pick a Mode, (Almost) Any Mode

The menus offer the same long list of picture modes as other Hisense models we’ve reviewed, including eight predefined color modes for SDR content, seven for HDR (shared by both HDR10 and HLG), and four for Dolby Vision (Dolby Vision Bright, Dark, Custom, and Game). You won’t find any 3D modes, since the L9H lacks 3D support. For any given type of input—SDR, HDR10, HLG, or Dolby Vision—the list shows only the appropriate modes for the current input. You can customize each mode and even specify whether any changes you make should apply to input from all sources or just the current source.

Color accuracy in my tests for almost all picture modes, including the brightest for SDR and HDR, varied from more than acceptable by most people’s standards at the low end to good at the high end. After my preliminary testing, I chose Theater Night mode for SDR viewing tests, Filmmaker mode for HDR10, and Dolby Vision Bright for Dolby Vision.

Using default settings for our test clips, both SDR and HDR modes showed noticeable loss of shadow detail, but both were easy to improve. For my formal testing with SDR, after turning off Smart Scene, turning on Active Contrast, and adjusting brightness, the image held shadow detail well, while also delivering rich, saturated color and both good contrast and a good sense of three-dimensionality in bright and dark scenes.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

For HDR input, I turned Active Contrast on and also turned on Dynamic Tone Mapping. The description of the image quality after the settings adjustment is essentially identical to the description for SDR in general terms, but noticeably just a bit better—as it should be with any projector, but often isn’t. The L9H also handled Dolby Vision material well, and without any need for adjusting settings. However, our test suite doesn’t include Dolby Vision versions of the same movies we use for our SDR and HDR10 viewing tests, so I can’t make a direct comparison with the same clips.

One other setting you’ll want to consider changing is frame interpolation (which Hisense calls Motion Enhancement). The feature is designed to smooth motion, but it also tends to add a digital video effect that makes filmed material look like live video. Hisense models, including the L9H, offer a Film setting, which, to my eye at least, smooths motion without giving movies a live-video-like look.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

One potential problem for those who see rainbow artifacts easily (the red/green/blue flashes that DLP projectors can show), is that I saw them fairly often with the L9H. On the other hand, I didn’t see any of the speckle effect that triple-laser projectors can add to an image. That said, some people are more sensitive than others to each of these issues. (I see the rainbows easily, for example, but tend not to see speckle.) If you’re concerned about either or both, be sure to buy from a retailer with a loose return policy so you can test out the projector for yourself.

The input lag for the L9H is short enough for casual gaming, at least for 4K/60Hz input, which I measured with a Bodnar meter at 34.3 milliseconds (ms). It would not sync with the meter at 1080p/60Hz for long enough to get a measurement. However, having a longer lag at the lower resolution and same refresh rate would be unusual, which suggests that the lag is at least as short at 1080p.

Verdict: A Winning Combination of Projector and Screen

For those who don’t already have a screen, the L9H not only eliminates the need to find one, but it also comes out of the box ready-focused and calibrated for the screen it comes with. If you’re concerned about rainbow artifacts, consider the Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS800—another current top pick for UST projectors—and the Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS650. Both are guaranteed not to show any, and they’re almost as easy to pair with a screen as the L9H is. (Simply choose Epson’s own 100- or 120-inch SilverFlex ALR screen for either.) Between the two projectors, the LS800 is a touch brighter, and it has the shortest throw of any UST model we’ve seen. Meanwhile, the LS650 is the least-expensive rainbow-free UST projector we know of.

If you already have a screen or want to pick one out on your own, either Epson model is also worth considering, but also take a look at the Hisense PX2-PRO, which shares many of the L9H’s features and is our top pick for those who aren’t bothered by rainbow artifacts. None of these models offers 3D support, however. If you’d like 3D, a further alternative to take a long look at is the Nomvdic P2000.

All that said, if rainbow artifacts aren’t an issue, and you want a projector that comes with an already-vetted screen rather than having to suss out the right match on your own, the Hisense L9H is a compelling pick. Its combination of bundled screen, appealing features, and on-point image quality is enough to make it our new Editors’ Choice-winning UST model for those who want a projector and screen in a single package.