Epson Home Cinema 3020 Projector Calibration and Settings 2

NOTES:   Overall, the 3020 is pretty much the same as the 3010.  Almost identical lumen output (the 3010 was slightly greater in Living Room mode).  Grayscale is decent right out of the box in Cinema mode, with the usual lack of red in the higher IREs.  It calibrated very well (see graph), with only the big bump in Delta E at 100 IRE as the red taps out.  In real world use, whites look good, without any blue or green cast.  The gamma settings are more accurate than they were with the 3010, with the average gamma coming in at only 0.03 less than the preset value (2.17 vs. 2.2).  Like the Panasonic AE8000, there are extensive gamma settings available, but the simple gamma setting is so good, most people won’t bother with it.

As mentioned above, doing a Quick Cal of Dynamic causes a rapid drop in lumen output.  The calibrated Cinema mode’s output of almost 1400 lumens is probably more than enough for most users.

The color gamut is very good by default in Cinema mode, with only Red being off the mark.  Green, in particular, is probably the most accurate we’ve seen in an Epson projector.  Cyan, in particular, couldn’t be more accurate.  Yellow and magenta are slightly off, but are easily improved with the CMS.  The deficiency in red is something that’s limited by the projector and so the CMS can’t fix it completely.  Trying to move red to its data point causes luminance to suffer, so you’re stuck with slightly orangy reds.  Even so, with normal viewing, the colors looked good.  There does seem to be a little too much red in skin tones, but if this bothers you, you can always turn the main Color control down.

Ultimately, the Home Cinema 3020 produces reasonably good color, even better if calibrated. It should prove more than satisfactory for the Home Cinema 3020’s target market, and likely will satisfy many enthusiasts spending in this budget range.