Epson Home Cinema 8350 Projector - Performance 1

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Art Feierman

Close up of a computer monitor, from Space Cowboys (Blu-ray), left to right: Home Cinema 8350, Optoma HD20, Mitsubishi HC4000, and Sharp XV-Z15000.

Sharpness - comparison

Cinema 8350

Optoma HD20

Mitsubishi HC4000

Sharp XV-Z15000.

Epson Home Cinema 8350: Bottom Line Sharpness

I see an improvement here. I cannot tell if Epson has really made the Home Cinema 8350 sharper than last year's models, by virtue of a slightly improved optical engine, or just luck of the draw, but if they all look this sharp, that is an improvement.

Light Leakage

There is minimal leakage from this Epson design. That was true of the older 8100 and 6100 models. There is light in the vents but minimal unless you are looking directly into it. Leakage through the lens is minimal. When it comes to light leakage, this Epson is a good design.

Image Noise

Pretty standard stuff. The noise filter menu setting defaults to 1. I never noticed any artifacts worthy of comment. I'm not sure if Epson is using Silicon Optix for their image processing, but they have been in the past, and they do a pretty good job. But then, I do use a Silicon Optix test disc when testing.

Audible Noise

Epson claims 22 db in eco mode and 28 at full power. 28 is pretty good for full power, quieter than any of the DLP projectors, even at several times the price. The iris noise is minimal by my reckoning. The 8350 has been sitting 3 feet behind me and 18 inches below me, for most of a week. all my viewing has been with the lamp on full power. Never noticed the noise, but then, I know some folks are far more sensitive to background noise. In low power mode (eco mode), the 22 db isn't the quietest projector out there, but is close to silent, for all practical purposes.