Epson Home Cinema 6100 Projector - Image Quality 4

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Art Feierman

Heavily overexposed scene from Lord of the Rings. The overexposure lets you see all the details in the shed on the right, the structure on the left, and the plants and ground along the lower right. The Home Cinema 6100U performs very nicely.

Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 6

Epson Home Cinema 6100

Sanyo PLV-Z700

PT-AE3000U

Our last comparison uses the night train scene from Casino Royale. Look to the trees and shrubs on the right, especially just above the tracks.

(Panasonic) is slightly blurred - our fault -art

Shadow Detail Performance - Comparison 7

Epson Home Cinema 610

Sanyo PLV-Z3000

Mitsubishi HC6500

Panasonic PT-AE3000

Click enlarge. So close. Another very good image for observing shadow detail is this very dark scene from the first National Treasure film. The Home Cinema 6100 does do a good job of revealing details, especially if you look to the top right, or the left center. The image is enough overexposed that you can see the "blacks" in the letterbox area, look gray.

Click Image to Enlarge

Bottom Line: Black level and Shadow Detail

The Epson's combined performance is particularly good for being one of the least expensive 1080p resolution projectors out there. I think the trade-off of better black levels, but a slight bit less shadow detail makes for a better viewing experience than the combination of better shadow detail, but less impressive black levels. I believe the Home Cinema 6100's combination gives it an advantage over most of the nearby priced competition The exceptions being the not much more expensive Sanyo PLV-Z3000 and the $500+ more for the Panasonic PT-AE3000, the two least expensive ultra high contrast projectors. None of the DLP projectors in the price range can match the Epson's blacks, with the exception of the BenQ W5000 which should do blacker blacks than the Epson.