Epson PowerLite 85+ Projector - Performance

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Art Feierman

Epson PowerLite 85+ Projector - Brightness

Ultimately what every consumer wants to know is how bright a projector actually is compared to what is stated by the manufacturer. Depending on the Color Mode one is in, a projector can perform either as good or in general about 30 percent less than the stated lumens. The Epson PowerLite 85+ was on mark with this general rule. Epson claims the 85+ produces 2600 lumens in its brightest mode.

In Presentation Mode, which is the factory default for the Epson 85+ I measured 2267 lumens. A very bright and vibrant image that would work well with all flourescents on in a typical conference room or classroom. Even daylight would still allow for a decent presentation regardless of the content.

Theatre Mode brought the brightness down to 1885 lumens. Still a very acceptable image especially for watching video. Photo Mode was put out lumens close to Theatre Mode at 1930 lumens. That was expected since it is probably trying to increase contrast just like Theatre Mode would. sRGB Mode produced a lumen rating in between Theatre and Photo Mode.

Blackboard and Whiteboard Mode, two modes that are not often used produced around 1700 lumens. The mode that must have been used for testing would have to be Dynamic Mode. This Mode put out 2761 lumens.

Lumen uniformity was pretty consistent across the whole image. However the bottom center of the image is where the brightest readings were detected. In the corners and upper portion of the image, lumens fell by about 5-10 percent. Not enough to be an issue or be noticeable when projecting a flat color background.

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Audible Noise

Finally, we have ECO Mode. This mode might just be the desired setting because not only does it make every projector on the market quieter, but it expands the lamp life by an average of about 1000 hours. This is true for the Epson PowerLite 85+ as well. However this units brightness dropped to 1925 lumens. Not too bad

When it came to audible noise, the Epson claims it produces 35 dB in brightest mode and 28 Db in ECO Mode. From what I could tell while evaluating the unit this seems about right. It was faily quiet in Bright Mode and ECO mode really cut the sound down. It is safe to report that this projector will in no way distract your audience or take away from the healthy amount of sound the built-in 10 watt speaker produces.