Ensemble HD 1080: Physical Attributes of the Complete System Posted on August 19, 2008 By Art Feierman 1. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Highlights - Overview - The Dynamics of Owning a Home Theater Projector System2. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review-2 - The Dynamics of Owning a Home Theater Projector System - What's Normally Involved in Putting Together A Home Theater3. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review-3 - What's Involved in Doing a Home Theater, Epson Ensemble HD Style - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 System Overview of Equipment - Ensemble HD 1080: Basic Specifications4. Ensemble HD 1080: Physical Attributes of the Complete System - Ensemble HD 1080: Physical Attributes of the Complete System - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 A/V Controller5. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review-4 - Ensemble HD Screen (and speaker) System - Ensemble HD 1080 5.1 Speakers and Amplification - Ensemble HD 1080 Remote Control - Ensemble HD 1080 Miscellaneous Equipment6. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 System: Image Quality Sections - Home Cinema 1080 Projector: "Out of the Box" Picture Quality - Skin Tone Handling7. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-2 - Home Cinema 1080: Black Level and Shadow Detail - Black Level Performance - Ensemble HD 1080 Shadow Detail Performance8. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-3 - Ensemble HD 1080 Shadow Detail Performance9. Home Cinema 1080: Black Level and Shadow Detail – 2 - Epson Ensemble HD Home Cinema 1080 projector - Shadow Detail Performance - Epson Home Cinema 1080 Projector: Sharpness - The DTS test disc main menu is a good test of sharpness - A close-up of the monitor image in Space Cowboys - Bottom Line Sharpness10. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-411. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-512. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-6 - Epson Ensemble HD Home Cinema 1080 projector13. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-914. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-10 - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Performance: HDTV and Sports - Overall Image Quality - Overall Picture Quality: Bottom Line15. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Home Theater System Review: General Performance - Ensemble HD 1080 Menus - Ensemble HD 1080 User Memory Settings - Ensemble HD 1080 Projector: Universal Remote Control16. Ensemble HD 1080 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Ensemble HD 1080 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Ensemble HD 1080 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility - Ensemble HD 1080 Projector Brightness17. Ensemble HD 1080 Projector: Measurements and Calibration - Ensemble HD 1080 Projector Light Leakage - Ensemble HD 1080 Audible Noise Levels - Ensemble HD 1080 Projector: Measurements and Calibration - Epson Home Cinema 1080 Post Calibration Measurements: - Theater Black 1 mode: - Living Room Mode - Dynamic (Art's settings - a very quick calibration)18. Ensemble HD 1080 Image Noise - Ensemble HD 1080 Image Noise - Ensemble HD 1080 Sound Quality19. Other Cool Features of the Epson Ensemble HD 1080 - Midnight Mode - Multiple formats accepted by the DVD player - The USB port on the front - Headphone Jack! - AM/FM tuner - Preset screen drop - Additional Radio Frequency capabilities20. Installation of the Epson Ensemble HD Home Theater System - Installing the Epson Ensemble HD in my Office/Testing Room/Theater 2 - Home Theater Installation: Day One - Bingo, at that point, they discovered Problem #1. - Problem #221. Home Theater Installation: Smooth installation from there on out - Smooth installation from there on out - That didn't take long: Day 1 - Day 2: Smooth as Silk!22. Home Theater Installation: Hooking everything up - Hooking everything up - One, Two, Three, Go - If Only You Could See What I Saw23. Home Theater Installation: And, finally: Calibration, then – All Done - And, finally: Calibration, then - All Done - And what have we learned today? - The Bottom Line: Installation of the Epson Ensemble HD - The Low Cost of this Complete Home Theater Installation24. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 A Complete Home Theater System Review: Summary, Pros and Cons - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Home Theater System: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Home Theater System: Pros - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Home Theater System: Cons25. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Competitive Aspects - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Competitive Aspects - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater Projector System: Summary - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater Projector Based System - Bottom Line:26. Epson Ensemble HD1080 Projector Specifications Ensemble HD 1080: Physical Attributes of the Complete SystemShown here: Epson Home Cinema 1080 right after mounting, in the provided projector housing that includes the rear surround sound speakers. The projector is one of the smaller home theater projectors out there. Even sitting in its cradle (with rear speakers), the whole assembly is still about the same size than some of the larger under $10,000 home theater projectors, including the JVC RS1, RS1x and RS2, the Sony VW projectors, and the recently reviewed InFocus IN83 and BenQ W5000. From a placement standpoint, to fill the included 100″ diagonal screen, the projector can be as close as 9.8 feet, and as far back as 20.9 feet (measured from screen, to the front of the lens). There is more than ample lens shift, so that the system can be wall mounted or ceiling mounted. When ceiling mounted, the center of the lens can be up to almost 23 inches above the top of the screen surface, so, even in a room, with relatively high (normal) ceilings, such as a 10 foot ceiling, the projector cradle can be mounted just about flush with the ceiling. If shelf mounted, it can be anywhere, again, from that far above the screen to even below the bottom of the screen (although no one is going to mount it really low). Epson Ensemble HD 1080 A/V ControllerThis relatively small device (about the size of a Sony Playstation 3, measuring in at 13.5×10.5×4 inches), is the AV receiver, DVD player, AM/FM tuner, and room controller, all in one nicely styled black box. The AV Receiver aspect supports full 5.1 audio, and multiple formats including: Dolby Digital Surround, DTS 5.1, Dolby Pro Logic, and Dolby Pro Logic IIx. That’s just fine for today, although it doesn’t support all of the brand new – coming soon – Dolby and DTS formats that HDMI 1.3 can handle. Still, these compatibilities offer a solution for just about anything you can throw at it, that is available today (movies, TV, etc). The built in DVD player is just that, a basic SD-DVD player, not a Blu-ray player. Some will be unhappy with that, but I don’t see why, when you consider Epson has been working on the design of this system,since long before the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD war were decided. Fortunately, the AV Controller has 2 HDMI inputs, and the first thing I did upon completion of the installation, was to plug in a Sony PS3 into one of them so I could watch my Blu-ray movies. Since my Blu-ray player is outboard, and firmware upgradable off the internet, that likely will work out much better for most people. Had Epson put in a basic Blu-ray player, it almost certainly would not have had the performance, or the upgradability of the PS3. The built in DVD player supports a healthy assortment of DVDs and CDs, including: SD-DVD (standard format DVDs) Recordable DVD (DVD-R format) Standard CD CD-R and CD-RW Data CDs with jpg MP3 and WMA files On the other hand, the player cannot play SACD or DVD-Audio, DVD-RW and several other formats. In other words, it plays what I have listed, but no other formats. I better mention it again, before it is forgotten. The AV Controller also has an AM/FM tuner, although I’ve never tried it, as I’ve got something like 60 music channels on my cable, (which happens to be plugged into the 2nd HDMI port). Down here, by the beach in San Clemente, CA, half way between LA and San Diego, reception leaves much to be desired anyway! The AV Controller is primarily controlled with the remote control (we will explore than in the General Performance section). It does have a couple of controls right on the unit, though. There is a Power button on the left, five small buttons in the center in a row. On the left is Source select, then the DVD controls: Play/Pause, Back Chapter, Forward Chapter, Stop, and Eject. To the right of all that, is a large volume dial (backlit in LED blue – like the power button), when the unit is on. The power button is orange when off, the volume dial doesn’t light when off. Low on the front left, are a headphone jack, the Audio 2 input (convenient), and the USB input. There are a good selection of inputs on the back- both video and audio. No actual photo at this time, as we never photographed the back of the A/V Controller, before installation. I did, however take a picture of the drawing in the manual – it’s not great: Video inputs: HDMI 1 and HDMI 2, Component Video, S-Video, and of course Composite video. There is also an input for a USB flash drive (want to watch pictures from your digital camera? – No problem). Audio inputs: As you would expect, there is also a full complement of audio inputs. Remember HDMI ports provide audio as well as digital video. In addition, there is a Coaxial audio port, and a Digital Optical port, as well as stereo audio labeled Analog audio for the audio for the composite or S-video inputs. There is also an additional stereo audio input simply labled Audio In, which can be used for an iPod, MP3 player, or other audio only device. Tuner inputs: There is the traditional 75 ohm coaxial input for the FM tuner, and the standard two connectors for the AM tuner. Outputs: Interestingly, Epson thought this all out rather nicely, there is an HDMI output (you could use that for a separate DVR), an analog 5.1 audio output, and a stereo (labeled 2CH) audio pass through output (to a recorder). As is typical of audio outs, the volume of the system does not affect the output volume of the 2CH output. Bottom line on the Ensemble AV Controller, is that they have covered almost all of the bases. Few users, if any, will run out of inputs or outputs. Next: 1. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Highlights - Overview - The Dynamics of Owning a Home Theater Projector System2. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review-2 - The Dynamics of Owning a Home Theater Projector System - What's Normally Involved in Putting Together A Home Theater3. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review-3 - What's Involved in Doing a Home Theater, Epson Ensemble HD Style - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 System Overview of Equipment - Ensemble HD 1080: Basic Specifications4. Ensemble HD 1080: Physical Attributes of the Complete System - Ensemble HD 1080: Physical Attributes of the Complete System - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 A/V Controller5. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review-4 - Ensemble HD Screen (and speaker) System - Ensemble HD 1080 5.1 Speakers and Amplification - Ensemble HD 1080 Remote Control - Ensemble HD 1080 Miscellaneous Equipment6. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 System: Image Quality Sections - Home Cinema 1080 Projector: "Out of the Box" Picture Quality - Skin Tone Handling7. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-2 - Home Cinema 1080: Black Level and Shadow Detail - Black Level Performance - Ensemble HD 1080 Shadow Detail Performance8. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-3 - Ensemble HD 1080 Shadow Detail Performance9. Home Cinema 1080: Black Level and Shadow Detail – 2 - Epson Ensemble HD Home Cinema 1080 projector - Shadow Detail Performance - Epson Home Cinema 1080 Projector: Sharpness - The DTS test disc main menu is a good test of sharpness - A close-up of the monitor image in Space Cowboys - Bottom Line Sharpness10. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-411. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-512. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-6 - Epson Ensemble HD Home Cinema 1080 projector13. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-914. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater System Review: Image Quality-10 - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Performance: HDTV and Sports - Overall Image Quality - Overall Picture Quality: Bottom Line15. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Home Theater System Review: General Performance - Ensemble HD 1080 Menus - Ensemble HD 1080 User Memory Settings - Ensemble HD 1080 Projector: Universal Remote Control16. Ensemble HD 1080 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Ensemble HD 1080 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Ensemble HD 1080 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility - Ensemble HD 1080 Projector Brightness17. Ensemble HD 1080 Projector: Measurements and Calibration - Ensemble HD 1080 Projector Light Leakage - Ensemble HD 1080 Audible Noise Levels - Ensemble HD 1080 Projector: Measurements and Calibration - Epson Home Cinema 1080 Post Calibration Measurements: - Theater Black 1 mode: - Living Room Mode - Dynamic (Art's settings - a very quick calibration)18. Ensemble HD 1080 Image Noise - Ensemble HD 1080 Image Noise - Ensemble HD 1080 Sound Quality19. Other Cool Features of the Epson Ensemble HD 1080 - Midnight Mode - Multiple formats accepted by the DVD player - The USB port on the front - Headphone Jack! - AM/FM tuner - Preset screen drop - Additional Radio Frequency capabilities20. Installation of the Epson Ensemble HD Home Theater System - Installing the Epson Ensemble HD in my Office/Testing Room/Theater 2 - Home Theater Installation: Day One - Bingo, at that point, they discovered Problem #1. - Problem #221. Home Theater Installation: Smooth installation from there on out - Smooth installation from there on out - That didn't take long: Day 1 - Day 2: Smooth as Silk!22. Home Theater Installation: Hooking everything up - Hooking everything up - One, Two, Three, Go - If Only You Could See What I Saw23. Home Theater Installation: And, finally: Calibration, then – All Done - And, finally: Calibration, then - All Done - And what have we learned today? - The Bottom Line: Installation of the Epson Ensemble HD - The Low Cost of this Complete Home Theater Installation24. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 A Complete Home Theater System Review: Summary, Pros and Cons - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Home Theater System: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Home Theater System: Pros - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Home Theater System: Cons25. Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Competitive Aspects - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Competitive Aspects - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater Projector System: Summary - Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete Home Theater Projector Based System - Bottom Line:26. Epson Ensemble HD1080 Projector Specifications Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review-3 Epson Ensemble HD 1080 Complete, Projector Based Home Theater System Review-4