Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Image Quality – 4 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 SpecificationsEpson 8100Sony VPL-HW15Panasonic PT-AE3000UPreviousNext 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. The first image is the Epson, followed by the Mitsubishi HC3800, BenQ W6000, then the Sony VPL-HW15, followed by the Sharp XV-Z15000, fifth is the Sanyo PLV-Z3000, and the last one is from the Panasonic PT-AE3000.In the image below, the Epson doesn’t show quite as much dark detail (as most of the other projectors shown) in the shrubs and trees on the right, behind the railroad tracks. Mitsubishi HC3800BenQ W6000Sony VPL-HW15Sharp XV-Z15000Sanyo PLV-Z3000Panasonic PT-AE3000PreviousNext (Please note, the Panasonic image above is a little blurry, must have bumped the tripod. Sorry! That shouldn’t affect your ability to see the shadow details. -art)Epson Home Cinema 8100 - Overall Color & Picture QualityGenerally, the Home Cinema 8100 looks really good. It really has not a single significant weakness, at least not compared to other, similarly priced projectors. Color and skin tones really are extremely good, better than all the images in this review would suggest. Black levels are really very respectable for lower cost, non “ultra-high contrast” projectors. Shadow detail is good, though not great. The Epson image might be described as being dynamic looking – has that “pop and wow” factor I have attributed to other Epsons and some other projectors in the past. The Epson 8100 is not a purist’s projector, but a good overall projector in terms of picture, that will please most regular folks, and enthusiasts.Here’s the “crew” image from Space Cowboys – first one is the Home Cinema 8100, followed by the Mitsubishi, and the BenQ W6000.And here are a few assorted, additional images, some of which can be found on other recent reviews: Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: HDTV and SportsI love this Epson for my HDTV sports viewing. It’s bright, it’s reasonably sharp, and the picture pops. My college and pro football games last weekend all impressed me and my friends. I primarily watched in our calibrated Dynamic mode, which is putting out about 1300 lumens on this pre-production projector. That’s a good four hundred more than my JVC projector in the same room, and, wow, watching on the Epson was far better, with the modest ambient light in the room.Simply stated, for HDTV sports, this projector is going to be really tough to beat, especially since it’s about the brightest around. Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV SportsWith Dynamic nicely calibrated, and the gamma a little lower than I would use for movies (2.1 on the Epson for sports), the image looked bright, and well balanced. Black levels and shadow detail are not really a factor for this type of viewing, so the 8100 essentially should do about as well as the more expensive and soon to be reviewed, Home Cinema 8500UB.I should note, though, on some HDTV content that’s dark, including a number of music videos, one could appreciate better black levels, but few will really care.All in all, the Epson Home Cinema 8100 proves to be a really, really, good projector for the bucks when it comes to HDTV viewing! Also, keep in mind, that those of us heavy into sports viewing (or for that matter TV), put a lot more hours on our projectors (and the lamps) than movie only folks. Epson’s 4000 hour lamp (at full power), further makes this a great HDTV viewing solution, even if that’s not an image quality issue. 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. 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