Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 3 Posted on October 9, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Review - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Highlights - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Overview2. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Special Features - Home Cinema 8100 Lamp Life - Placement Flexibility - Sharper Focus - Improved Dual Layer Dynamic Iris - Lots of Memories3. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Physical Tour - Home Cinema 8100 Control Panel - Input/Output4. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Physical Tour – 2 - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens5. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector - Flesh Tones - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Levels - comparison - Black Levels6. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 2 - Black Levels - comparison7. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 3 - Shadow Detail Performance8. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 4 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 - Overall Color & Picture Quality - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: HDTV and Sports - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports9. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Performance - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Brightness - Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE: - Color Temp over IRE Range (Pre calibration):10. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Performance – 1 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Sharpness - Sharpness - comparison - Epson Home Cinema 8100: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise11. Projector Calibration and Settings - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Color Temperature - Color Temp over IRE Range, Cinema Gamma, Medium color temp, BC on: - Lumen Output for various Gamma modes at 100 IRE, color temp on Medium: - Lumen Output at various Color Temps at 100 IRE, Gamma on Auto: - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Basic Settings12. Projector Calibration and Settings – 1 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Post Calibration Grayscale: - RGB Settings13. Epson Home Cinema 8100 – Projector Screens & Competitors - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Screen Recommendations - Home Cinema 8100 vs. Home Cinema 8500UB - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. Mitsubishi HC380014. Epson Home Cinema 8100 – Projector Screens & Competitors – 2 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. BenQ W6000 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. Sharp XV-Z15000 - Home Cinema 8100 vs. Optoma HD20 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. BenQ W1000 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. Panasonic PT-AE400015. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Warranty & Summary - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector - Warranty - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector - The Bottom Line - The Very Bottom Line on the Home Cinema 8100 projector:16. Epson Home Cinema 8100 – Review Summary - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Cons - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Typical Capabilities17. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Specifications Cinema 8100Cinema 8100Mitsubishi HC3800:Mitsubishi HC3800:BenQ W6000:BenQ W6000:PreviousNext Shadow Detail PerformanceDark shadow detail of the Epson Home Cinema projectors has never been stellar. I’m not sure why, but the Epsons always seem to have a touch less dark shadow detail than most of the competition. In the quest for better blacks (a normal Epson tendency) compared to having better shadow detail, I favor the blacker blacks, so I don’t really mind the slight loss. It may bother some, but quite honestly, the Epson 8100, on dark scenes, tends to have a good amount of “pop”, which may be mostly due to the blacks. While more shadow detail would be better still, the Epson did very well on that silhouette image above, better than some other more expensive projectors with better shadow detail. Again, we’re quibbling about very slight differences. Those of you just getting into projectors, don’t let all this “critical” talk scare you off. These projectors all look great, but some folks really want to know all the subtle differences. One more time with the Epson vs. the Mitsubishi HC3800, on this dark scene from The Dark Knight. Look to the buildings behind and to the left of the blue skyscraper. You can see more buildings, and detail with the HC3800 on the right. Would you notice, however when casually watching the movie, or would you be watching Batman there on the ledge? Mitsubishi HC3800Home Cinema 8100Mitsubishi HC3800BenQ W6000 VPL-HW15Sharp XV-Z15000Optoma HD8200Sanyo PLV-Z3000Panasonic PT-AE3000U.PreviousNext Next one of our satellite images from Space Cowboys, look in the dark interior brown area near the left, and other dark areas on the satellite. Epson Home Cinema 8100: Home Cinema 8100:Epson Home Cinema 8100 overexposed:Mitsubishi HC3800:Mitsubishi HC3800 overexposed:Optoma HD20:Sony VPL-HW15:PreviousNext Below is a 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 8100 doesn’t reveal as much detail as the others, but it’s close. Click on left thumbnail image for the Epson 8100, Sony VPL-HW15 in the center, and the right for the Panasonic PT-AE3000U. 1. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Review - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Highlights - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Overview2. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Special Features - Home Cinema 8100 Lamp Life - Placement Flexibility - Sharper Focus - Improved Dual Layer Dynamic Iris - Lots of Memories3. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Physical Tour - Home Cinema 8100 Control Panel - Input/Output4. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Physical Tour – 2 - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens5. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector - Flesh Tones - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Levels - comparison - Black Levels6. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 2 - Black Levels - comparison7. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 3 - Shadow Detail Performance8. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 4 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 - Overall Color & Picture Quality - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: HDTV and Sports - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports9. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Performance - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Brightness - Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE: - Color Temp over IRE Range (Pre calibration):10. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Performance – 1 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Sharpness - Sharpness - comparison - Epson Home Cinema 8100: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise11. Projector Calibration and Settings - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Color Temperature - Color Temp over IRE Range, Cinema Gamma, Medium color temp, BC on: - Lumen Output for various Gamma modes at 100 IRE, color temp on Medium: - Lumen Output at various Color Temps at 100 IRE, Gamma on Auto: - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Basic Settings12. Projector Calibration and Settings – 1 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Post Calibration Grayscale: - RGB Settings13. Epson Home Cinema 8100 – Projector Screens & Competitors - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Screen Recommendations - Home Cinema 8100 vs. Home Cinema 8500UB - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. Mitsubishi HC380014. Epson Home Cinema 8100 – Projector Screens & Competitors – 2 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. BenQ W6000 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. Sharp XV-Z15000 - Home Cinema 8100 vs. Optoma HD20 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. BenQ W1000 - Epson Home Cinema 8100 vs. Panasonic PT-AE400015. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Warranty & Summary - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector - Warranty - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector - The Bottom Line - The Very Bottom Line on the Home Cinema 8100 projector:16. Epson Home Cinema 8100 – Review Summary - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Cons - Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Typical Capabilities17. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector Specifications Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 2 Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 4