Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance Posted on October 10, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Review - Home Cinema 6100 Projector Highlights - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Overview2. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Physical Tour - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Physical Appearance - Home Cinema 6100 Projector - Control Panel - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Inputs and Outputs3. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Physical Tour 1 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Menus4. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Physical Tour 2 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Remote Control - Home Cinema 6100 Lens Throw - Home Cinema 6100 Lens Shift - Home Cinema 6100 Anamorphic Lens5. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality - Home Cinema 6100 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones6. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 1 - Home Cinema 6100 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Home Cinema 6100 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Comparison7. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 2 - Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison8. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 3 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 2 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 39. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 3 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 4 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 510. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 4 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 6 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 7 - Bottom Line: Black level and Shadow Detail11. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 5 - Overall Color & Picture Quality - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports12. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Brightness13. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance 114. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance 2 - Sharpness - Sharpness - Comparison - Next: Close up of a computer monitor, from Space Cowboys (Blu-ray) - Sharpness - Comparison 115. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance 3 - Epson Home Cinema 6100: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise16. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Calibration and Settings - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Color Temperature - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Basic Settings17. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Calibration and Settings 1 - Home Cinema 6100 RGB Settings18. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Projector Screens - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Screen Recommendations19. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors - Home Cinema 6100 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB20. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors 1 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500, HC650021. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors 2 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700, PLV-Z3000 - Epson vs. PLV-Z700: - Epson vs. PLV-Z3000:22. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors 3 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. BenQ W5000 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. Epson Home Cinema 6500UB23. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors 4 - Home Cinema 6100 vs. InFocus X10 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. Panasonic PT-AE300024. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Warranty25. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Review Summary - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector - The Bottom Line26. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Review Summary 1 - Epson Home Cinema Bottom Line: - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Pros - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Cons - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Typical Capabilities Epson Home Cinema 6100 BrightnessBefore we begin on this section of the Home Cinema 6100, you should know that we will soon be changing measuring and calibration equipment. We have been aware that the lumen numbers we publish are typically higher than other reviewers are reporting. Still, “apples to apples” applies. The brightness differences between projectors in our reviews is consistent, regardless of the actual numbers published. If projector x measures 20% brighter than projector y, that still holds true, even if our actual lumen measurements for both, are on the high side. Our screen size recommendations are based on viewing, not on lumen measurements. When we formally switch over, we will publish a table showing “old lumens” vs. “new lumens” for the home theater projector reviews published in the last year. This should prevent confusion. Most likely our next review will use the new gear. OK, let’s get started! As is also the case with the Epson 6500UB, the Home Cinema 6100 is the brightest of the 3LCD projectors. The two Epson’s are virtually identical in brightness. The Epson actually has seven different preset modes, however we concern ourselves with just three: TheaterBlack1 (“best” mode), LivingRoom (a “bright mode, without maximum compromise for ambient light), and Dynamic (the “brightest” mode), but one with pushed colors, and a less natural look, but ideal for cutting through ambient light – great for example, for watching sports where no one is worries about how perfect the skin tones are). Mike in doing his measurements does provide brightness numbers for all seven modes, but we only fully calibrate “best” mode. LivingRoom and Dynamic we allow more imperfections in exchange for not sacrificing a lot of lumens. Here are the numbers (and the color temperatures for 100 IRE (white), for all the preset modes, right out of the box, before any adjustments: color temperatures for 100 IRE: Theater Black 1 687 @ 6566 Theater Black 2 684 @ 6248 Theater 739 @ 7884 Dynamic 2057 @ 6838 LivingRoom 1581 @ 8539 Natural 743 @ 6783 x.v.Color 540 @ 6449 These measurements were done with the projector lamp set to High Brightness. Dropping the lamp into low power mode, we measured TheaterBlack 1 at 517 lumens, a drop of approximately 25%. That 25% drop should be consistent between high and low lamp settings for all the modes. As is typical, low lamp modes have slightly different color temp readings than high lamp. In the case of this Epson, white measured 7031K in low lamp mode, just a little too cool (blue). Note that, out of the box, LivingRoom mode is heavily shifted to blue (over 8500K color temperature) – a far cry from the ideal 6500K for movies, and most viewing. That was easily corrected by adjusting the Epson’s color temp down from its default 8000K (for that mode) to either 6500K or 7000K. Personally, for things like sports viewing I actually favor a color temperature between 6500K and 7000K, and even 7500K is very watchable. 1. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Review - Home Cinema 6100 Projector Highlights - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Overview2. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Physical Tour - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Physical Appearance - Home Cinema 6100 Projector - Control Panel - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Inputs and Outputs3. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Physical Tour 1 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Menus4. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Physical Tour 2 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Remote Control - Home Cinema 6100 Lens Throw - Home Cinema 6100 Lens Shift - Home Cinema 6100 Anamorphic Lens5. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality - Home Cinema 6100 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones6. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 1 - Home Cinema 6100 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Home Cinema 6100 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Comparison7. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 2 - Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison8. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 3 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 2 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 39. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 3 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 4 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 510. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 4 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 6 - Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 7 - Bottom Line: Black level and Shadow Detail11. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 5 - Overall Color & Picture Quality - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports12. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Brightness13. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance 114. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance 2 - Sharpness - Sharpness - Comparison - Next: Close up of a computer monitor, from Space Cowboys (Blu-ray) - Sharpness - Comparison 115. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance 3 - Epson Home Cinema 6100: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise16. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Calibration and Settings - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Color Temperature - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Basic Settings17. Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Calibration and Settings 1 - Home Cinema 6100 RGB Settings18. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Projector Screens - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector Screen Recommendations19. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors - Home Cinema 6100 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB20. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors 1 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500, HC650021. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors 2 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700, PLV-Z3000 - Epson vs. PLV-Z700: - Epson vs. PLV-Z3000:22. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors 3 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. BenQ W5000 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. Epson Home Cinema 6500UB23. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Competitors 4 - Home Cinema 6100 vs. InFocus X10 - Epson Home Cinema 6100 vs. Panasonic PT-AE300024. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Warranty25. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Review Summary - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector - The Bottom Line26. Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Review Summary 1 - Epson Home Cinema Bottom Line: - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Pros - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Cons - Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector: Typical Capabilities Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector – Image Quality 5 Epson Home Cinema 6100 – Performance 1