The LG CF181D is a 1080p home theater projector that was released in late 2009 at a price of $2,499. It has several key features, including extremely high brightness of over 1200 lumens in Cinema mode, excellent sharpness and picture depth for HD images, and strong performance for 60p content with its frame interpolation. However, it has weaker black levels than comparable projectors, especially for standard definition content. The reviewer was able to calibrate a pre-production sample to improve image quality, though the final production units may have different calibrations. The projector has a 1.8x manual zoom lens, vertical lens shift, and connection ports including HDMI. It

1. Projector Central Review LG CF181D
LG Electronics CF181D
1080p SXRD Home Theater Projector
Evan Powell, December 4, 2009
ProjectorCentral.com
Performance
Features
Ease of Use
Value
Contrast 35,000:1
Lumens 1800
Weight 21.6 lbs
Resolution 1920x1080
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Technology SXRD
Lens 1.8x manual
Lens Shift Vertical
Lamp Life 3,000 Hrs
3,500 (eco)
Lamp Cost n/a
Warranty 2 year
Connectors: S-Video, Composite, Component, RGB, HDMI (x2), USB
Video Formats: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p/60, 1080p/24, 1080p/50, 576i, 576p
One of the most surprising new 1080p models coming to market this year is the LG CF181D.
At an official street price of $2,499, it is the least expensive LCoS 1080p projector to come to
market in 2009. It is also, hands down, the brightest home theater projector we've ever seen
when calibrated for optimal video performance. It is scheduled to commence shipments
toward the end of the month, but we've had a chance to see a late edition pre-production unit.
LG has come out of the blue to challenge Epson, Mitsubishi, and Sony with a formidable
offering of their own in the mid-$2,000 price range.
Overview
Brightness. This may be hard to believe, but after calibration, we measured the modified
Cinema mode on the CF181D at a whopping 1219 ANSI lumens, with lamp on high and lens
at wide angle. We normally think of 800 lumens as being the bright end of Cinema modes in
home theater projectors, so this is an astounding number.
For dark theater viewing at screen sizes of 120" to 150" diagonal, 1200 lumens is way too
bright. In order to cut brightness, you can go to low lamp mode, which dropped our Cinema
mode to 887 lumens. For most users, that is still too bright. Lumen output can be cut further

2. Projector Central Review LG CF181D
by setting the projector farther back from the screen and using the long throw end of the
zoom. If you set its 1.8x zoom lens all the way back to its maximum long throw position,
brightness is curtailed by another 26%, down to 656 lumens. That's not much loss for a zoom
lens of this range-normally we'd expect to lose about 35% on a 1.8x zoom lens.
LG Electronics CF181D
The CF181D has several other precalibrated operating modes. Vivid is the brightest,
measuring 1478 on our test sample. Standard and Game modes both put out 1071 lumens
with the lamp on high. Sport mode produced 936. It is odd to find non-video optimized
modes producing less brightness than the Cinema mode.
Picture Quality. The CF181D delivers a magnificent, sharp, extremely natural, highly three-
dimensional image when displaying HD images of average light level, or brighter than
average light level. We set it up side by side with the Epson 8500 UB on the large Da-Lite
JKP Affinity screen we use for 1080p shootouts. The CF181D was able to trump the Epson
8500 UB in apparent sharpness and picture depth in most scenes in an average Blu-ray
movie. However, its one weakness is maximum black level. When the screen goes to black,
or rolling credits on a black background, or a scene of stars in deep space, the CF181D has
the weaker black level than any 1080p model in its price class. Since this is not the typical
scene that one views, it is usually not an issue of consequence. But for those who crave deep
blacks when the screen goes to black, the CF181D leaves something to be desired. On the
other hand, in a scene with average light levels and high dynamic range, black elements in the
picture look plenty deep. There is no impression of muddiness at all. In fact, in this type of
scene the CF181D can produce whiter whites and blacker blacks than the 8500 UB.
When switching to standard definition DVDs, the CF181D's limitations in black level
become more apparent. In the opening scenes of Get Shorty on DVD, John Travolta's black
coat and shirt are not as black as we'd like to see, and dark scenes have some muddiness that
is not there in HD material. Shadow detail is lacking.
Frame Interpolation. The CF181D has a frame interpolation system which is quite useful
for 60p material, and not so much for 24p. Like the JVC RS25, if your source material is HD

3. Projector Central Review LG CF181D
video at 60 fps, the CF181D's frame interpolation system will produce a clearer and more
stable image. It is excellent for music concerts, live performances, sports, and so forth. On the
other hand, our test unit does not perform well with 24p movie material. It seems to jump in
and out of frame interpolation, creating a jerkiness in camera panning shots that is quite
distracting. We hasten to remind readers that we have a pre-production sample, and LG may
fix this prior to the release of production units.
Calibration. Our preproduction sample was not properly calibrated. We have no idea
whether final factory calibrations will be different than they are on our sample. So the
following data may be irrelevant. But we used the CalMan Pro calibration system to bring
Cinema mode into a reasonably flat 6500K gray scale. Starting with the Medium color temp,
the adjustments were these:
Red Contrast 9
Green Contrast -11
Blue Contrast 0
Red Brightness -3
Green Brightness 0
Blue Brightness -6
There is an auto-iris with four options, Off, 1, 2, and 3. Auto Iris 3 yielded the least deep
blacks, but a nicely balanced picture. We set contrast to 48, brightness at 50, sharpness at 5,
color at 48, tint 0, and black level was set to low.
LG CF181D Rear Connection Panel
Zoom and lens shift. The CF181D has a 1.8x manual zoom lens, and vertical lens shift that
travels a range of 2.6 picture heights. Throw distance for a 120" diagonal screen is 12 to 21.5
feet, which is typical. A shelf mount behind the seats is the ideal installation scenario, but the
lens shift allows for ceiling mounting as well. If mounted on a shelf against a rear wall, keep

4. Projector Central Review LG CF181D
in mind that the projector is 18" deep, and the connection panel is on the rear. We would
allow six inches clearance between the rear of the unit and the wall for cables and heat
dissipation, so the lens will extend out two feet from the wall.
Air filter: The air filter needs to be cleaned or replaced periodically. Access is from under
the front of the unit. If ceiling mounted with the underside of the projector having at least
four inches clearance from the ceiling, it is possible to dislodge the air filter housing and
reinsert it without dismounting the projector. If the projector is on a shelf, the easiest way to
access the filter is to lift the front of the unit, or invert it.
Remote and menu With the screen at a distance of twelve feet
from the seats, and the projector directly behind the seats at 14
feet, the projector would not respond to the remote signal being
bounced from the screen. Moving two feet closer to the screen
solved the problem. If your seats and projector throw distance are
going to be at least 12 and 14 feet respectively, installation
planning should anticipate the need for the person controlling the
projector to be seated in line of sight, so the remote can be pointed
directly at the projector.
The remote itself has great backlighting, with buttons well spaced
and easy to read in the dark. Several buttons give direct access to
controls, enabling you to bypass the menu. These include mode,
aspect ratio, input source, color temp, gamma, and others.
The menu layout begins with a display of six options: Picture,
Adv. Picture, Screen, Option, Information, Input. Selecting any of
these takes you to a secondary menu where all six are accessible
again, but only by icons that one needs to learn to recognize. Once
you become familiar with them, the opening menu screen becomes
redundant and adds an extra unnecessary click to get you into the
menu. Like most menus, this one takes some time to learn. It is not
obvious, for example, which image controls are in Picture and
which are in Advanced Picture until you explore it and get
familiar with the layout. Want to switch the lamp from low to
high? That's in Menu/Advanced Picture/Expert Control/Lamp,
which is not as intuitively obvious as other menu systems.
Competition: CF181D vs. Epson 8500 UB
The CF181D and the 8500UB are priced very close to one
another. A key advantage of the CF181D over the 8500UB is its
brightness in Cinema mode. The CF181D is more than double the
light output. So for very large screens, 200" diagonal and greater, the CF181D has a decided
advantage, primarily with HD source material. It is true that the 8500UB has a Living Room
and Dynamic mode that exceeds the brightness of the CF181D, but HD picture quality in
most scenes is superior on the CF181D, so the trade off between incremental brightness and
slightly less picture quality is a questionable one.
The 8500UB has a much deeper black level when the scene is black or very dark. On the
other hand, in an HD scene with average light levels and good dynamic range, the CF181D

5. Projector Central Review LG CF181D
can show deeper blacks and whiter whites. Typically in scenes like this, the CF181D has
more picture depth. Overall, with an HD source, we prefer the image quality of the CF181D
over the 8500UB for this type of scene, and we prefer the 8500UB when a lot of black is
present in the image.
The Epson 8500UB has a clear advantage over the CF181D with standard definition. We fed
both units a 480i signal from our Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player to see what they would do
with a signal in native format. The opening scenes in Get Shorty were rendered with better
contrast and black level on the 8500UB. Dark scenes that look somewhat muddy on the
CF181D are better defined with more solid blacks and greater shadow detail. Beyond this, the
8500UB had a smoother, more filmlike essence to the image. The 8500 simply has a decided
advantage across the board with standard DVD source material.
Both models have frame interpolation. Both of them work equally well with 60p video
material. For 24p movies, the 8500UB works perfectly well, and the CF181D does not work
well at all, at least on our pre-production sample. It is possible that LG may fix this prior to
releasing the production units.
Both units have long range manual zoom/focus lenses, and both have manual vertical lens
shift. The 8500UB has horizontal shift, while the CF181D does not. Neither model has an
anamorphic stretch mode to accommodate and A-lens. Both projectors come with a standard
two-year warranty. Click here for a spec comparison of the two models.
Conclusion
LG Electronics is coming to market with a formidable 1080p offering that we consider to be
highly competitive. Its brightness in Cinema mode is unbeatable. In most average scenes with
HD sources, its picture quality is as good as it gets in this price range, especially in terms of
apparent sharpness and three-dimensionality. With HD material, its weakness in black level
only shows up when the scene is black or very dark, but for many users this will be a
limitation that is easy to overlook. With standard DVDs, the black level limitations are more
apparent. So for those who plan to watch a lot of SD DVDs from their library, the CF181D
might not be the best choice.
At the moment, based on the evaluation of a preproduction unit, we see problems with the
frame interpolation on 24p material that we suspect LG may get squared away in production
models, but at the moment it is an open question. Nevertheless, several competing 1080p
projectors under $3,000 have no frame interpolation at all, so the fact that the CF181D has it
working beautifully on 60p HD source material is a benefit.
When all is said and done, the LG CF181D is a pleasant surprise that we were not
anticipating. For Blu-ray HD sources in particular, this projector is a genuine pleasure to
watch. Its vibrant, natural and extremely clear image can often surpass that of the
competition. If you intend to watch primarily HD/Blu-ray material, and you need a lot of
light for a very large screen, we are confident that you will love the picture you get from the
CF181D.