Epson Z8450WUNL Projector - Image Quality
4-24-2012 - Art Feierman
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Epson Z8450WUNL Color & Picture Quality
Pretty impressive. Epson may offer up six "color" modes, but they are all at least "presentable". The brightest mode of most projectors is usually "over the top" and reserved for horrible room environments. Even Epson's Dynamic mode on the Z8450WUNL, is very respectable. All three image sets using the same camera settings.
Below, the Epson Z8450WUNL projector in dynamic mode.
Below, the Epson Z8450WUNL projector in Presentation mode.
Below, the Epson Z8450WUNL in Theatre mode.
Theatre (above) offers the best color, but, this image was taken with the same exposure as the others, so does appear dark. Still, the individual colors (though dark) look very good. We did not calibrate or adjust the image in any way before taking these shots (in other words these are taken with the "out of the box" default settings. Remember, the Powerlite Pro Z8450WU offers extensive color controls allowing for the same precision calibration an expensive home theater projector would also have.
Some additional images to demonstrate the image quality performance. These three images projected using Presentation Mode:
Adjusting the Color Temp
The images below give you an idea how the adjusting of the Color Temp affects overall color balance:
7500K:
Note the brightening of the Reds (including the trees back right), and the darkening of the blues as we drop from 7500K to 6500K.
Bottom Line Image Quality: You are In Control. The Epson offers tremendous color control, so you should have no trouble producing color balances as good as any home theater projector, if calibrating. This is ideal for any presentation or other purpose demanding the most accurate color representation.
Epson Z8450WUNL Projector: Readability - Sharpness
The Z8450WUNL is a high resolution (1920 x 1200) projector, small (8 pt.) text was sharp and easily readable even on a 112” diagonal projected image, despite being very small type (you'll need to be close). This was true of white text-on-black and yellow text-on-dark blue backgrounds as well. Convergence was very good for a 3LCD projector, which can sometimes be subject to slight misalignment of the three color LCD panels, resulting in an image that is more smooth than sharp. However, the Z8450WUNL provided a sharp image with all types of source material. As it’s unlikely that a source component will be at a higher resolution than the Z8450WUNL’s native (2K - WUXGA) resolution, there should be no problem with readability on any presentation.
Video processing was checked by viewing images from the DVE-HD test disc, and also with Blu-ray movie content. Overall, this projector produces a sharp image, that lower resolution projectors just can't touch.
The Epson Z projectors all offer digital zoom, allowing you to zoom in close and show only a small portion of the source image. This does reduce clarity, but the much larger size of, say, the text being zoomed in, it is still going to be more readable than the same smaller text.
Below, the Epson Z8450WUNL projector 1920x1200 (WUXGA) resolution. The color mode used, is Dynamic.
More related to sharpness and clarity on the Performance page
Epson Z8450WUNL Projector: Video Quality
Due to the high resolution of the Z8450WUNL, viewing video from a Blu-ray source was quite satisfying. As was the case when we reviewed the Epson G5350NL, Theater (or Customized) modes provided the best overall picture quality for video presentations. Unfortunately, the relatively low contrast ratio (1000:1) of the Z8450WUNL was a detriment to any video with dark scenes, which inevitably ended up looking a bit washed out. On the plus side, it’s very good color depth and brightness made watching daytime viewing of sports a pleasure. In this regard, most home theater projectors would not be able to compete with the Z8450WUNL. Its high brightness provides for a very enjoyable picture that is not washed out, as most home theater projectors would be.
Video presentations over an analog connection from a laptop were also quite good, as the Z8450WUNL’s upscaling is equal or better than most.