Epson Home Cinema 1080UB being reviewed - First thoughts
January 5th, 2008 Art Feierman
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1/5/08
First, Happy New Year to all!
I had hoped the Epson Home Cinema 1080UB would arrive a week or two ago, so I could complete the review prior to leaving for The CES show on 1/7/08. Alas, it finally arrived late on the 3rd. I’ve already logged a number of hours on the 1080UB, and I’ll say to start, it is most impressive.
At CEDIA in September, the look I had at the pre-production of the Pro Cinema 1080UB (I think it was the pro version - months ago), impressed me. Claimin a 50,000:1 contrast spec, this Epson, even considering it uses a dynamic iris, it has led me to hope that the Home Cinema 1080UB will prove to have the best black level and shadow detail performance yet, from any LCD projector. (And possibly challenge the best of the DLP’s and, dare I say, the JVC LCoS projectors?)
I haven’t measured, or calibrated the grayscale balance, as I had to finish off the last review, which just happened to be the Home Cinema 720, but while I’ve been writing up the HC720, I’ve been watching the Home Cinema 1080UB!
And so far - Wow would be a good word. Black levels are definitely VERY good. Last night my family watched The Departed, which just arrived from Netflix (in Blu-ray format). Plenty of dark in that movie, and the UB performed excellently.
After the movie ended, and the rest of the family called it a night, I put on some segments of The Departed, again, and switched back and forth between the HC1080UB, and my RS1, in my theater room. Unfortunately in that room, I can’t switch quickly, since, if I leave the JVC on (mounted up high), it still sends a small amount of light to the screen, which of course would affect the UB’s image. Since I have to shut the projector down, it takes at least 5 minutes after power up, before the image is relatively stable, in brightness, etc.
But, I digress. The important point is that the black levels in the letterbox areas, is actually very close between the two. My JVC seems to be a little brighter with both in best modes, and to have a bit lower gamma overall, but the Epson may well prove to be competitive with the RS1, if not as good at black levels and shadow detail, at least fairly close, and defintely more horsepower in brightnest mode.
Oh, if only the Epson had arrived last week. Then, I would have had the JVC RS2, the Sony VW60 and a Panasonic PT-AE2000U all sitting in my testing room for comparison. Unfortunately, the last of those shipped back early on Wednesday, and hours after Fedex left, then I get the email saying the Epson would arrive the next day. Alas!
Right now I’ve got the Steelers Jacksonville playoff game on, and like other Epson home theater projectors, it is bright, dynamic, and overall a great projector for sports.
Tonight I’m going to do some measurements and adjustments, and also shoot a few side-by-side images against it’s little brother, the Home Cinema 720. I can tell you right now, that while there are similarities, the HC720, isn’t particularly strong on black levels, and the 1080UB, most certainly is.
Also on tonight’s agenda, I’ll be viewing a few segments from the usual movies I use for the review. My goal is to post some additional comments tomorrow evening (Sunday night), because I won’t be able to finish the review until I get back from the show.
One last thing. Epson is offering up two versions, the Home Cinema 1080UB, with fairly wide distribution, and a local dealer Pro Cinema 1080UB. Generally, when they do this, it is the same basic projector, but the Pro version which sells for a lot more, has different presets, and is ISF Certified, including the two ISF modes for calibrating Day and Night settings.
For those of you setting their clocks by my reviews (which are usually a couple of days late), I’m hoping to publish the full review on Tuesday or Wed, the 15th or 16th.
And, one more time Happy New Year! -art
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January 5th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I have heard the image is somewhat “soft”…I am about to make a move between this and the ae2000u and was wondering if you noticed that at all?
January 6th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Art,
I think many of us are more interested in how the Epson compares to the VW60 than the RS2. ANy thoughts here.
Also, there have been some reports that it is very dim in best mode. Is it, and how is it with the iris engaged.
Steve
January 6th, 2008 at 10:39 am
I had the TW1000 and it’s black level and contrast were better than my previous Hitachi TX200 but I found the TW1000 was not as sharp as the TX200 was.
How do you find the sharpness of the 1080UB? Does the picture look sharply focused? Can you compare its image sharpness to the Epson 1080 (TW1000) or any another projector?
thanks,
Chris
January 8th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I am looking forward to your eval on the Epson HC1080UB. I don’t suppose the fan is any quieter? Thanks for the ‘real-time’ blogging…it is really helpful to get the latest when I am near a purchasing decision
January 8th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Art
That sounds very promising concerning the Epson 1080UB. I look forward to your upcoming review. I am in the market for a worthy upgrade from my HD1000U. Hope you enjoy the show!!
January 17th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Lee, and Chris PC - regarding sharpness. The UB seems reasonably sharp. At the moment, I only have my JVC RS1 for direct comparison, and as you may know, the RS1 is very average in sharpness. The Epson UB, is sharper, but just a touch. It feels slightly sharper when just watching, as well, and I sit “close”. It may not be as razor sharp, as the HC6000, or the Optoma HD81 on the DLP side, but it would be close. I don’t have a problem at all with its sharpness. Let’s say, that the very slight difference between it and my JVC, is all the extra I had hoped for when selecting the RS1, as sharpness, was one of my concerns. Ultimately, I find the RS1 to be sharp enough, and the UB, that little bit better still. -art
Steve, yes I’ll definitely be commenting on the UB vs. VW60. There was only so much I was willing to put into the blog, otherwise, the blog ends up being the review.
As to brightness, in best mode, not quite as bright as some, but a solid 450 lumens (lamp on full), putting it on the high side of average, That puts it about halfway between the Panasonic’s 402 lumens, and the Sony VW60’s 493 (those are lamp on bright measurements for both of them as well).
Engaging the iris doesn’t affect overall brightness, only on dark scenes, but if you mean how was the iris’s functionality, I found it to be quiet - if you get next to the projector, you can hear it softly whirring and clicking, but I never noticed it while watching content. It does make some louder, audible noise when at the beginning of discs as my PS3, kicks the signals in and out. but not an issue, as I never heard it do that during scene changes in content.
Chris I think Epson says the fan is quieter, but it can’t be much. Still, it’s quiet in low power, and perhaps a couple of db below most of the DLP’s in full power. Nicely, the fan noise is one of the lower pitched, so less noticeable.
Dave N. This would be one hell of an upgrade, from the HD1000.
Thanks, all, gotta get back to the review, though, or it will never get finished.