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Greetings Scott,
Looks like you have most of this sorted out. I passed on the RS2, because of my large screen, and it’s low lumens, but the RS20 is supposed to be almost as bright as the RS1 I use. Note, I wish I had more lumens with the RS1 in brightest mode, but with my shades down (but leaking light) and my off white walls and ceiling, it does an adequate (make that “respectable” job for my sports and HDTV viewing (more would, however, be better). As of this afternoon, my walls are now dark rust colored, but it will be tomorrow night, or more likely Wed. evening before I have all the equipment back in the room and wired up, to see how much of a difference the off-white vs. dark rust color makes in maximum screen size. I will blog on that in the next week or so. I don’t see the Epson being able to handle a full 126″ screen in full power, but if you are mounted at virtually full wide angle, the extra 15-20% brightness might be enough to do the trick for “best” mode viewing. -a

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Not sure, however, there should be an appendix in the Epson manual that will give you all the resolutions supported. Better still, you might want to call into their support, and ask them if there’s a way to get it to go up another resolution step. Theoretically, the highest working resolution for 4:3 on a 1080p projector would be SXGA+ - which is 1400×1050. -art

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Hi Tom,
I’ll answer both comments in this one. First, your room is much like mine (light walls), although mine have just been painted dark rust (they are just finishing today). I’ll be able to blog about the differences relating to screen size, over the next couple of weeks, as I get used to the “new” room.

As I have said in the review, with white walls (and my Stewart Firehawk G3 - high contrast gray), I find about 110″ as large as one can get a “good relatively bright” image with. Livingroom provides plenty of extra horsepower though. Brightness between 6100 and 6500UB is close enough to be a non-issue. Shadow detail. Pretty much the same, but, I have found over playing with many projectors, those without the better black performance, tend to reveal a little more shadow detail. That said, between these two, it’s going to be slight, and I wouldn’t think, an issue. Both have the same characteristics to shadow detail, just losing a bit of the darkest, but a bit more than some other projectors. It’s more about having large very dark areas and losing enough detail to get a large “flat” area lacking any detail. Both projectors do well enough in shadow detail. Sure, if you want to pause, and go hunting for the finer really dark details, you can see differences, but in general viewing the subtle differences tend to be in background, black clothes, etc., not the stuff you eye is drawn to.

Overall, my take is that, yes the UB is worth the difference, for those of us looking for “best possible” within a budget. While it is true that any ambient light seriously affects black levels and shadow detail performance, a projector with better blacks will still look better in low light, or no light, but with light walls/ceiling/floor, even though you are not getting all the rich, inky dark blacks that we crave for. -art

Thanks again-Bo

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Greetings Bo,

The TW4000 should be the international version of the Pro Cinema 7500 UB in the US. It may be that the TW5000 is the designation in the EU, and the TW4000 in asia. I can’t be sure. The TW5000 is definitely the same basic projector as the Pro Cinema 7500UB. that means frame interpolation, better black levels, etc. I’ve just searched online, and from what dealers are posting in Australia, and elsewhere, the TW4000 has the same basic specs as the 7500UB and TW5000. Another possibility, is that there is difference between the 4000 and 5000 that are equivalent tot he 6500UB and 7500UB here in the US. Both have the new, longer life (4000 hours in full power - according to Epson) lamp, as well.

Look for these possible differences - Does the TW4000 have internal support for an anamorphic lens?
The TW5000 and 7500UB do. The 6500UB does not. The 6500UB comes in a white case, but that is no doubt selective marketing for the US, and Epson America’s two branch distribution strategy - to differentiate the products. The online dealers get the 6500UB, the local installing dealers, the 7500UB.
Sorry I couldn’t be more definitive, but you should be able to sort it out from there! Anyone out there know for sure? -art

Yes, the RS1 is still a step up. It combines great black levels with more “film-like” than the Epson. I’ve watched the Epson set up side by side with the RS1. I’ll still keep my RS1 over the UB, though I sure wish it had the lumen output of the Epson in brightest mode.

At it’s best (the right, dark scenes, with no significantly bright areas at all), the Epson can match the RS1 in terms of blacks, but on mixed scenes, the RS1 will do a tad better, and have better dynamic range, as the Epson, and for that matter, probably any projector with a dynamic iris is usually willing to compress the brightest small areas slightly to get the blacks blacker. -art

Thank you for your work and input!

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Yes, I do have a CIE chart, and should have put it up a while ago. Remember, we don’t calibrate the individual colors so the CIE should remain unchanged by our calibration. -art

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Sorry Matt, I’m slammed. I’ve started it (about 20%), but I’m done until Friday, when friends in for the Rose Bowl (Go Penn State!) game tomorrow and NYE, go back home. I suspect, though, if you look, the review itself does touch on differences, and preferences for most of those projectors.

In reality, the 6500UB stacks up about the same as the 1080 UB last year - my favorite of the 3LCD projectors, and better in black levels than the lower cost Sony - VPL-HW10, but not up to the JVC’s.

None of the DLP’s can match the 6500 UB on dark scenes for black level performance though a number of projectors have a small advantage in very dark shadow detail. The Epson though, compared to the other 3LCD projectors and the DLP’s, has a richer more dynamic look to dark scenes, with blacks at least enough blacker, to make a difference - even against the PT-AE3000.

As I pointed out, the 6500 UB’s sharpness is now “very sharp” overall, with no other projectors enough better for anyone (in my opinion) to consider that a factor. The other stuff all still applies - audible noise levels, etc. The 6500 UB, as is Epson tradition, has more “pop” and “wow” factor, overall, than most of the competition, but the trade-off, as I describe it, is a little less “film-like”.

Like the 1080 UB before it, my take is that it is the best overall, of the lower cost (under $3,000 street) projectors, and I doubt I would consider anything short of the JVC RS1, or RS10 (when I review it) as enough of a step up, to rationalize a greater expense. Happy New Year. -art

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The 6100’s “First Look” is posted! -art

How loud was the Dynamic Iris when engaged? I had to return a 6100 because of the horrible noise, and from what others are saying, it is typical of the Epson design.

Thanks
Mick

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Greetings Mike,
That’s really strange. One of the first things I considered with the 6500UB and the 6100 was the dynamic iris noise. My take was that it was significantly improved over the 1080 UB, and should no longer be an issue, except by the same audio noise sensitive folks who also can’t live with projectors that are rated much above 25db. Mind you I have been mostly using the High Speed setting, really haven’t watched with the standard setting. Oh, it’s very evident, as the projector locks on to a source, goes into mode, and resets the iris, etc., but I just haven’t noticed it at all during normal viewing.

It’s possible there is variation from projector to projector - which was also reported with the 1080 UB, however, while writing this, I switched from college football, to a movie for several minutes, with volume off (faint music from my daughter in another room is in the background). I can, when I turn an ear to the projector, from my seat just about 3 feet away (my head at the same height as the lens), and all I can hear of the iris is a very faint rumbling as it operates. I’d say, that, at its loudest, it is still well below the fan noise. An intermittent sound, would be more noticeable than a continuous fan, but it’s low enough overall, that I have zero problem with it. Definitely not a problem with the 6500UB, nor I think, for the 6100UB, as I shot a lot of side by sides with the 6100 last night, with no sound going in the testing room, and only rarely noticed the faint rumbling, except when I’d pop in a new disc.

Bottom line: From the two units I have here, I can’t say that the iris is completely undetectable, but based on these two, it can’t be a problem for the vast majority… - unless, perhaps you have a projector somewhere on a hard surface, and it is picking up the vibration, and making it more noticeable. In my viewing room, the projector sits on a soft surface, in my testing room it’s on a hardwood desk less than 4 feet in front of me. -art