Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Performance 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 Epson Home Cinema 8100 BrightnessAll considered, this Epson should prove to be just about average in brightness in its best movie mode (Theater Black 1). When you need maximum lumens, though, the Epson appears to be the brightest of the “serious” under $2000 projectors. This combination should make the Home Cinema 8100 a really good choice for those of us who plan to view a mix of movies, sports and general TV viewing, on average sized screens from 90 to 110 inch diagonal, with the extra lumens in its “Dynamic” mode, allowing the Epson to provide a very watchable picture with sufficient ambient light to get sports fans out of the “cave” and into an environment more suitable for watching sports and TV with friends. This review is based on an early pre-production projector. Since there is really nothing about the Home Cinema 8100 compared to the 6100 it replaces, that would suggest that it not be the same in terms of brightness (same claim from Epson, same panels, same lamp…), I assume that a full production 8100 will match the brightness of the older unit. Our test unit, however comes in 10%+ less bright than the 6100 in last year’s review. Until I get in a production version of the Home Cinema 8100, for final calibration settings and measurements, I’ll assume that this unit is not as bright, by virtue of being pre-production. Here are our measurements for the different preset modes: Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE: Dynamic 1288 @ 7314 Living Room 1136 @ 8345 Natural 480 @ 6233 Theater 437 @ 7377 Theater Black 1 344 @ 6292 (low lamp) 2 (461 w/Normal Lamp) Theater Black 2 325 @ 5526 (low lamp) x.v.Color 352 @ 6303 Lumen Output (Low Lamp, Dynamic): 976 @ 7533 Note, we published measurements for Theater Black 1, and 2 for both low and full lamp power. While I expect most folks to run Theater Black 1 (best mode) at full power, Epson has those modes defaulting to eco (low) power, so we are showing lumen measurements for both. Overall, eco-mode drops power output by just over 25%, compared to high lamp power. Note, unlike most other projectors, according to Epson, there is no significant increase in lamp life, by using low power. Pre-calibration we measured these color temperatures (target is 6500K) over the grayscale range. Click Image to Enlarge 30 IRE 6513K 50 IRE 6652K 80 IRE 6649K 100 IRE 6556K That’s pretty darn good for before a calibration, and for that matter pretty good for after a calibration too! The Calibration page will provide the settings we used. That includes basic settings as well as gain and offset. We will revise, with numbers from a production projector when available, if there is a noteworthy difference. Keeping in mind that this is a pre-production projector, the color temp range for Theater Black 1, was pretty “all over the place”, not as good as we normally expect, nor as good as on any recent full production Epsons. I expect, once again, that the full production unit will measure much tighter, with its different color tables. Color Temp over IRE Range (Pre calibration): Theater Black 1: 30 IRE 7013K (dark gray) 50 IRE 7010K (medium gray) 80 IRE 6633K (light gray) 100 IRE 6292K (white) The Home Cinema 8100 has the same Fujinon lens used on past Home and Pro Cinema series projectors, with its 2.1:1 zoom range – the greatest (by a little) of any projectors out there. Because of the wide range of the zoom, you can expect different lumen measurements depending on whether the lens is in wide angle (projector closest to the screen), mid-point, or telephoto (projector the furthest from the same screen size). Wide Angle (zoom out): 560 lumens Mid-zoom: 480 lumens Telephoto (zoom in): 350 lumens In other words, relative to the mid-point where we do all our normal measurements, if you are placing the projector closer, at the wide angle point, brightness will increase by 17%. If you place the projector at maximum distance, brightness will decrease by 27%. Since wide-angle on the Epson lens is pretty much about the same placmement distance as mid-point on most DLP projectors, please consider that, if you are ceiling mounting fairly close (in about the same place you would mount a typical DLP projector with its 1.2:1 zoom), then this Epson projector will be brighter still, compared to the DLP, than the basic lumen measurements would suggest. More information and measurements can be found on the Home Cinema 8100 Calibration page. 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 – 4 Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Performance – 1