Acer H9500BD review

Out of the preset modes, we found that Movie offered the best balance between rich colours and high contrast, but much like Acer’s H5610BD, it was only Bright mode that was completely unusable as this turned the screen a nasty shade of green. Otherwise, we were impressed with its high contrast levels, and we were able to pick out an excellent level of detail in nearly every mode available.

Where the H9500BD really stands out, though, is its 3D capability. It comes with a pair of 3D glasses, so you won’t have to factor in this extra cost, and we saw no evidence of any crosstalk or flicker during our test footage. The glasses inevitably dim the brightness somewhat, but the projector’s dedicated (albeit streamlined) 3D menu gives you control over the brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation settings. You don’t get a choice of different picture modes sadly, but we were pleased that the AcuMotion setting was there as well, which made for some particularly slick 3D viewing.

With a brightness of 2,000 ANSI lumens, a dimly-lit room is the best option, but there’s enough light to keep watching with some lights on. We have to say that we’re a little disappointed by lamp life of 2,000 hours at full brightness and 2,500 hours in ECO mode. This works out at comparatively high running costs of 10p and 8p per hour respectively.

Running costs aside, the Acer H9500BD stands shoulder to shoulder with the similarly priced Epson EH-TW6100W when it comes to 2D and 3D picture quality. Its menu system is a little basic, but if you want an excellent projector that’s just about portable, then you need look no further than the H9500BD.