Epson Pro Cinema 810 Projector Review - Image Quality

Overview
Image Quality
General Performance
Warranty
Summary, Pros, Cons

The most notable improvement of the Epson Pro Cinema 810 over its predecessor the Pro Cinema 800, is in image sharpness. This is the direct result of improved optics. Whereas the older Epson produced acceptable sharpness, the new 810, is definitely sharper, but still not up to the sharpest 720p projectors.

However, the most interesting thing about the Pro Cinema 810, is that when it comes to watching content, the 810 seems to fit that description of "the whole is greater than its parts.

I watched large quantities of content, incuding movies and trailers in hi-def, concerts in hi-def, and of course some standard DVDs. The Epson just didn't seem to be an LCD projector. The pixel structure, for sure is more visible than a DLP, but the hard edge of good sharpness, and LCD pixel structure tend to combine to create a less "film like" image than that of DLP projectors. Perhaps most typical of that are the Sanyo PLV-Z5 and maybe the Sony HS51a. By comparison, the Epson image is more forgiving. I didn't feel it was at all soft (even those comparing close up images, the Sanyo in particular looks sharper). And I really enjoyed watching the 810.

We'll start, however with the handling of flesh tones, so it's time for my usual "warning": There are limits to what my digital camera can capture - it cannot handle the full range from darkest shadow areas to full on whites, that a good projector can project. As such, the images below are good for "giving you an idea", but keep in mind - they are here to support the commentary, not the other way around. Also direct comparisons between the same and similar images shot with different projectors can be helpful, but also can be misleading, for example, it is impossible to get the exposures to be identical, and therefore on two projectors that are very similar in image quality, the eye will likely choose the one that is slightly brighter overall. So - take the images with "a pound of salt" because a grain - just isn't enough! -art

Back to flesh tones. Overall, the Epson in a couple of its modes, produced excellent fleshtones - out of the box, I favored Standard for movies, with minor adjustments, Silverscreen also performed well. The images below were shot in silverscreen mode - which unadjusted runs a little warm - a bit too much reds. Here goes, with our favorite images, two from Lord of the Rings (Arwen, and Gandalf) followed by two from The Fifth Element (Leeloo, and a shot of Bruce Willis). The last of the 5 images from standard DVD is Will Smith from I, Robot.

You can click on these images like most of the images in this review, for larger versions.

As I mentioned in the Overview, the first review unit I received has a problem, and that is, uneven color across the screen. This was determined to be a fault with pre-production 810's which Epson assures me was fixed by the time production projectors hit the street. Here is what the problem looked like when projecting a white image (slightly underexposed so you can better see).

Looking closely at the image to the right, you can see a shift toward red, mostly in the bottom and right side, and a little in the left bottom and upper left corner.

If you look above, at the image of Gandalf, guess what? Yep, you can see that red in his cloak and his hair in the lower part of the image, but that red shift isn't there at the top of his head or the gray building behind him, (except slightly at the extreme right). A replacement 810 is on the way to me, and I will update this comment, along with the same image shot on the new projector, for comparison. BTW, it's not uncommon for pre-production units to have problems that are corrected by the time consumers get their hands on them! (That's why they are "pre-production" - the design is not finalized.)

Also note, the redish shift also adds to the slightly warm color of the Silverscreen mode, out of the box. Unfortunately, the end result is too much red in most of these screen shots, but correctable with adjustments. It will be interesting to see if the Silverscreen preset color mode on the replacement 810 will be less redish overall. Look for those new images when the newer 810 arrives.

I won't reshoot all the images, but will do a couple/few, like Gandalf above, and leave in the original, so you can see the difference between projectors.

Editor's Note: A second Epson Pro Cinema 810 arrived, and did not exhibit the significant color shift across the screen that the pre-production unit did. Although still not perfect, it was drastically better. (I don't think I've ever seen an LCD projector do a perfect job, but the second Epson Pro Cinema 810 is close enough that it should not be detectable in normal viewing!

Moving on:

Switching to Hi-Def, here are images from Phantom of the Opera, and AeonFlux:

And here's Clint Eastwood from Space Cowboys (HD-DVD):

Epson Pro Cinema 810 Overall Image Quality

The Epson 810, is, if nothing else, a projector that produces rich dynamic images. Colors jump off the screen, and overall have very good "depth". Here are a variety of scenes designed to show off the projector's dynamic abilities

From AeonFlux: HD-DVD:

Space Cowboys (HD-DVD):

From Starship Troopers (standard DVD):

You should be getting the idea, the Epson 810 has plenty of punch in its projected images, which, combined with lots of lumens, makes for a particularly satisfying viewing experience. (I consider having an underpowered projector for your environment/screen size, etc., , one of the biggest problems you can have.)

Epson Pro Cinema 810 Black Levels and Shadow Detail:

The combination of the latest LCD panel technology, plus a dynamic iris system allows Epson to claim an extremely impressive best contrast ratio of 10:000:1 (better than any DLP or LCD projector can do without a dynamic iris - or so I have been led to believe).

At its best, the Epson 810 produces very black blacks, and is very good on shadow detail (although not spectacular). I'll start with images that try to show you the blacks, then focus on shadow detail further down

Lots of stars above (more if I slightly overexpose the image - I do have other versions). More to the point the blacks have that almost "inky" quality, that despite only being very dark gray - yells out "blacks!"

Moving to HD-DVD, and Space Cowboys

OK, time to take a look at the effects of the dynamic iris. Let me start by repeating what I have said in other reviews. A dynamic iris opens and closes (with steps in the middle) on a frame by frame basis. Thus, on a dark scene without really bright areas, it can close way down, letting through less light, lowering the black levels, for the non-blacks in the image, their brightness values are "equalized" so that they remain as they should be, despite the drop in black levels.

The downside: If there is an extremely bright area in a frame, the iris can't close down at all, because you wouldn't be able keep the bright area as it is supposed to be. Net result - dynamic irises work best on scenes that are very dark throughout, with no bright, or near bright areas at all, still do well with scenes with more mid-range areas of brightness, and are essentially ineffective on scenes with full value whites or full intensity colors like a maximum brightness red, yellow, or any color. That's it in a nutshell, there is some fine tuning that can do a little in that scene with a pure bright area, but not much.

So, for your consideration:

This first image - of a star scene with no really bright objects (from The Fifth Element), taken with the iris turned off.

The second image, below, same scene - Iris turned on, and the same exact exposure. The blacks just got visibly blacker, the "brighter areas - stars, etc. remain essentially unchanged, resulting in a visibly more striking image.

Lastly, what happens if the same scene has some areas that are very bright? To trick the projector, all I had to do, was press the menu button. By putting the menu on the screen, the projector's dynamic iris reacts to this new scene, can't close down (for fear of making the menu - which it can't tell from the DVD content - too dark.

The end result, the blacks are not as black as the 2nd image.

And that's the short version of the story about dynamic irises.

Of course, if you have lousy black levels (and by any measure, the Epson's are pretty good), your blacks and very dark colors come out much lighter than they should, and therefore slightly brighter areas with information - shadow details - get lost since both the blacks and the details end up the same value (brightness).

Let's look at some of my favorite images, starting with the cavern scene in HD-DVD from Phantom of the Opera. You'll find these images on most reviews done in the last 6 months.

Both images can be clicked on for larger versions. The first is a normal exposure, you can see plenty of details in the walls, but due to camera limitations, not the projector's fault, details are lost in the darkest areas, including the far right wall. To see what the projector really is capable of, I reshoot the same image but overexpose it. Thus, the bright areas are way too bright, but now you can see all the details that the projector was projecting, in the walls, horse, and other very dark areas:

Here are another pair (normal and overexposed), this time from standard DVD, Lord of the rings: Especiallly note the details in the shed area on the right and along the bottom of the image:

And a few more images that are good at revealing shadow details:

Three from Sin City (a very dark movie, with lots of black and white or sepia, with spot color added for effect.) it is an excellent test of black levels and shadow detail. Standard DVD:

Phantom, again: This time from the beginning which appears in black and white.

This last image is from Aeon Flux (again - HD-DVD). The Epson does a very good job of revealing shadows and slightly lighter areas on the dark table top.

In summary, black levels are extremely good for an LCD projector, and on the right scenes can rival Darkchip3 powered DLP projectors. Shadow details are perfectly acceptable, and I would say, very good, for a projector in this class.

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Epson Pro Cinema 810 Projector - Sharpness:

Ahh, much improved over the old Pro Cinema 800, in fact, the sharpness is very impressive. The lens is obviously very good. I compared images shot with the Sanyo Z5 and Panasonic AX100U. The Epson has it all over the PT-AX100U. Compared to the Sanyo, the Sanyo sharpening algorithms create what looks sharper, but gives a jagged look to fine shapes and curves. The Epson is a bit softer and definitely more pleasing, it's that "film-like" feel. Of course, the pixel structure is more visible than a DLP projector, but pixels are definitely less obvious than, say the Sanyo. (The Panasonic PT-AX100U has virtually invisible pixels but pay the price in softness.

Let's take a look.

The first image is a closeup of the necklace in Phantom. Click to enlarge enlarge any of these images.

Next is a closeup of the Cable guide on my HD-cable box.

and immediately below a shot of the gulde on the Sanyo PLV-Z5. When you click on the full screen image below you'll get a closeup similar to the image above.

Here are a couple of HD images from Aeon Flux, the first can be found on a number of reviews, the second one I'm just starting to play with, and the enlargement is cropped for a closer look. All are good for getting a good feel for the Epson's image sharpness. On the first one, look at her hair, eyes, and brows.

Lastly for sharpness, a look at the Warner Brothers emblem, also found on a number of reviews: Click for the enlarged closeup.

Oops, here are two morer: Click on this HD-DVD image from Italian Job for a cropped enlargement - look to the sign by the lamppost, and texture in the pillars and buildings for readability and detail:

And finally, one more for considering sharpness:

Epson Pro Cinema 810 on HDTV

I won't say I was surprised, but the Epson really shines on HDTV. Here are a few images of HDTV content. I opted not for the HD color preset, but for the much brighter Cinema Day color preset. The images following were all taken with Cinema Day, with no adjustments to the color.

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Might as well start with Superbowl, which I recorded on my HD DVR: Wow!

Yes football fans, Peyton Manning is in the wrong uniform below (the image was from a short piece they ran during the game.)

And I watch a lot of music videos, so here first is a shot from the band Sugarland, and then again with Bon Jovi. Finally Pete Townsend of the Who from the HD Isle of Wight concert.

Watching HDTV content was very impressive. Dynamic and rich colors are the operative term. As much as I like my BenQ PE8720, (which is visibly sharper), my BenQ lacks the horsepower, and the punch of the Epson (OK, to be fair, the lamp on my BenQ has over 1300 hours on it, so I've probably lost at least 25% of it's brightness already. Still, the Epson impressed!

One more - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and guest Bill Cosby!

By the way, here's the same frame again, shot in Cinema Night mode, which is much more suited for the color balance of movies. I thought I'd toss this in to give you an idea of the significant difference you can find between modes. You'll note the lower image has a much warmer (redish) flavor, as expected:

OK, that's enough to consider, here are a few more images, and then it's time to look at some of the non-image quality related aspects of the Pro Cinema 810, in the Performance section.

Aeon Flux (HD-DVD)

Phantom of the Opera (HD-DVD):

Sin City (standard DVD):

Space Cowboys (HD-DVD)

Overview
Image Quality
General Performance
Warranty
Summary, Pros, Cons