Epson Ensemble - 1080p projector system - the First easy to install projector based home theater

When Epson initially announced the Epson Ensemble back at CEDIA almost a year ago, I was blown away by the concept. Now I’ve have the chance to review it, and that means, the whole system, including the installation!

The Epson Ensemble is being installed in my home, as I write. It is actually in my testing room/office. I’ll be doing a full review, in addition to this blog and a follow up one in the next 24-48 hours. The review will include the entire process of installing the Epson Ensemble, as well as the final results.

I better start out by describing the Epson Ensemble, so everyone understands the concept. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in New Projector Reviews, Products, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Viewsonic Pro8100 redux: A second look coming

Greetings all!

About two and a half weeks ago I published a full review of the Viewsonic Pro8100 1080 3LCD Home Theater Projector.  Overall, it was very impressive, but had one glaring (ok, not so glaring) flaw.  I found the dynamic iris to have problems.  It was often visible in its operation, to the point of occasionally being distracting.  It didn’t just adjust from scene to scene, but seemed to overshoot where it was heading (opening or closing) before settling back to where it should be.

This resulted in making its action more visible than if it simply adjusted to exactly where it should go.   Read the rest of this entry »

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Upcoming Projector Reviews for July and August - InFocus, Epson, BenQ

Greetings everyone!

This is just a quick piece to let you know what is planned for home theater projector reviews over the next two months.   Of course, summer is a bit slow for new home theater projectors, but there are a few, I’m hoping to get my hands on.  I’ve got confirmations from the manufacturers for most of these.  Here’s the scoop: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in New Projector Reviews, Products | 6 Comments »

InFocus IN83 Projector with 1080p Darkchip4, OMG! First Look

Greetings all, 

I can tell you right now, InFocus has released a first class projector.  I already liked the IN82, and here comes it’s Darkchip4 “version”, called the IN83.  So far, I’m pretty much “blown away”.  

Remember, please, this is a very preliminary “first look” based on a couple of hours of untouched, “out of the box” settings, and then some minor tweaking, and more watching but without calibrating the IN83.  In fact, I’m normally not that good at “tweaking” by eye, without software or gear. Read the rest of this entry »

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Viewsonic Pro8100 home theater projector - review is now online

Finally, done, except for some minor editing, and perhaps an image or two. 

The first unit we received had an issue, so we received a second one, and it performed beautifully, give or take a minor issue or two.  In a nutshell, the Pro8100 is definitely brighter than the average 1080p projector for the home, especially in its best mode, and it is one of the sharpest projectors I’ve seen.

The Pro8100 was found to have great color management, decent but not great out of the box color (but it calibrates beautifully), and an overall dynamic image with rich colors - lots of wow and pop!  We also found a flaw or two, notably with its dynamic iris.  For most considering the Pro8100, the “issues” are not deal breakers, and the strengths are multiple.

Check out the full Pro8100 projector review.  -art

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InFocus Darkchip4 IN83 Projector - Can InFocus raise the bar?

6-24-08:  Our next home theater projector review is the 1080p resolution, InFocus IN83.

I just received tracking information from InFocus for my IN83 review projector.  The IN83 is perhaps the first big name Darkchip4 DLP projector to ship.

UPS advises that it will arrive tomorrow.  Thursday night it will get fired up, in the theater, and I’ll check out it’s out of the box performance.   With luck, it will be calibrated by Friday night, and I can spend the weekend doing extensive viewing.  Look for the review to post around 7/8, sooner if I can (don’t forget - there’s the 4th of July, between now and then.

Not much else to say, other than the IN83 should be almost identical to the IN82 we reviewed earlier this year, with some minor improvements, and one major one - the switch from the Darkchip3 DLP chip, to the newer, higher contrast Darkchip4.  This allows even better black level performance. Read the rest of this entry »

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Viewsonic Pro8100 1080p Home Theater Projector - First Look

Greetings all,

Things haven’t worked out as well as I had hoped with this review, and I am now waiting for a replacement review projector from Viewsonic.  As a result, the review will now likely be posted around June 25th.  There have been some very interesting results.  To quote The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” however, “DONT PANIC”.

Let’s start at the beginning.  TheViewsonic Pro8100 is Viewsonic’s first serious entry into the 1080p home theater projector market.  It is a 3LCD projector, however, it is unusually large for an LCD projector.  It’s pretty, in shiny black, and slightly sculpted.  Physicially, it looks worth the price tag ($4999 list price).

Read the rest of this entry »

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Optoma HD65 Projector Review coming along nicely!

Ahh, where to begin?

As many of you have read, I was really impressed with the Optoma HD71.  It’s a really bright 720p home theater projector, who’s review posted earlier this month.  Being a big fan of having some lumens to spare, I really looked forward to the HD71 review, and considered the less expensive, physically tiny, and less bright HD65, to be of secondary interest, compared to the HD71.

Having said all that, I’ve been working with the HD65 for more than a week now (interrupted by a nice weekend out to the desert for the Joshua Tree Music Festival), and find it to be a rather formidable projector in its own right.

I’m already starting to write up the review and hope to post Wed. night, (May 21), but probably you’ll have to settle for Thursday evening.  Projector reviews rarely manage to get finished right on schedule.

Here’s some tasty tidbits about the HD65 that hopefully will hold you over until the full review posts:

It really is tiny for a home theater projector!

The HD65 actually has very good “out of the box” performance, I was most impressed with the color balance.  This is one of the few projectors Read the rest of this entry »

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Major Error on 1080p Projector Comparison

Greetings All!

It has been brought to my attention, that the numbers I cited, in this blog, and in the report, relating to the Panasonic rebate, are incorrect:I reported that the new Promotion was going to be $400 mail-in cash rebate, and a $250 Blockbuster rental card. Well it turns out I screwed up. I see now (from the new banners just received from Panasonic’s ad campaign, and a couple of emails from dealers), that the campaign is actually $650, consisting of $400 in Blockbuster rentals, something that many folks will value as being worth far less, and $250 value for an extra year extended warranty! I checked an email received from Panasonic, and it too said that.Unless I were to value the $650 of blockbuster rentals and warranty, as about the same as cash (and I know many don’t like the Blockbuster cards), that should put the Panasonic in the $2000 - $3500 range.

Here’s how I’m going to treat things:

The awards, as they sit, will remain. Afterall, for those that will value the Blockbuster card as useful, and extra year warranty, it could just barely be rationalized that the PT-AE2000U still makes the top of the lower price category.

But more to the point, if I do not leave it there, I need to change the price point, so that I have at least three projectors in the Entry level category, which might mean making the lowest category $2400 and under, or something like that. That would move a couple projectors over, and force me to redo both the Under $2k and $2K to $3500 sections. All that would occomplish is moving back all reviews a couple of weeks. I just don’t have the “strength” to redo it all. Sorry!

I will, however alter some of the text in the report to correct about the rebate, and I will factor in the different rebate, in the current one-on-one comparisions that are in progress right now, including Panny vs Sanyo, Panny vs HC4900, Panny vs. Epson Home Cinema UB, and assign it a different value proposition.This will delay posting them a couple of days, now probably Thursday night when 6-8 comparisons will now post, as as three of the four I have already written, but not posted, involve the Panasonic.

Again, my apologies, for a grave error on my part. I can’t even blame it on Panasonic. I spoke with them, misunderstood, and then didn’t look closely at the email they sent me, which properly stated the program, so the fault is all mine. -art

Posted in New Projector Reviews, Opinion, Products | 4 Comments »

The 2008 1080p Home Theater Projector Comparison Report is Posted

Not complete yet, images not yet added, and not fully proofed, but there’s plenty there.

Best In Class $2000 and under:  Panasonic PT-AE2000U

Best In Class $2000 to $3500:  Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB

Best In Class $3500 to $10,000:  JVC DLA-RS2

The report also lists Runner-Up awards and Special Interest awards. 

Click for the 2008 1080p Home Theater Projector Report. Enjoy! 

Posted in New Projector Reviews, News, Opinion | 3 Comments »