Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Physical Tour Posted on October 8, 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 Projector – Appearance The Epson is a smaller projector, but not particularly so. It may be full size smaller than larger projectors like the Sonys, JVCs and larger BenQ and InFocus models, but it’s fairly large compared to the very smallest, like the Optoma HD20. All considered, it’s a larger, small projector. It is finished in a shiny off-white casing with silverish side panels and lens trim. It’s boxy looking! No awards here for styling, despite two toning, and grillwork, yet nothing offensive, beyond its general plainness. Last year Epson switched to this form factor, from the old 1080 UB models which were a bit smaller, and possessed some real styling. Oh well. Most of us only care how a projector looks with it turned on, and the lights turned down. I should note, that the “other” version of the 8100 – the Pro 9100, comes finished in black, not white. OK, the lens is mounted to the right side (if looking at the front of the projector), with a large vent on the left side. The lens protrudes out about 2 inches from the case. (When figuring out placement distances, one normally measures from the front of the lens.) There’s an infra-red sensor in the front for the remote (and another in the top back). Below the front, are two screw thread adjustable feet. The control panel is located on the side with flush buttons (I much prefer control panels to be located on the top, where they are almost always accessable, if needed). Still, that’s not a real issue. To focus the lens, and adjust the zoom, simply rotate the appropriate rings on the lens. To control the lens shift, there are two dials on the top of the projector near the lens. It’s that easy. The well equipped input panel is located on the rear. Home Cinema 8100 Control PanelClick to enlarge.So close. While I’m not a fan of side control panels (Epson, Sony), because I tend to use control panels a lot while testing, for most folks it really won’t matter much, since they will rely on the remote control. One thing though, I refer to it as being on the side, but I should point out that the power button and source switch are located on the top of the projector. The control panel functions are rather typical. Closest to the front of the buttons is a large Menu button. To its right, the four arrow keys on a rocker (diamond configuration, with a center Enter button), and finally closest to the back, is the Escape key which takes you back up a level in the menus. It’s that simple, should you misplace your remote! Click Image to EnlargeInput/OutputClick to enlarge.So close. Again, no surprises here, everything is the same as on last year’s Epson projectors, in excactly the same places. The Home Cinema 8100 has a fairly typical selection of inputs and outputs. There are (from the left) two HDMI (1.3b) inputs, a component video input (3 color colded RCA jacks), the basic S-Video and composite video inputs, and an analog computer input (standard HD15 connector), which can double as a second component video input. There is an RS-232 serial port for controlling the projector from a computer or room control sytem. Additionally, this Epson projector has one 12 volt screen trigger. As mentioned elsewhere, the Home Cinema 8100 also has a second infra-red (IR) sensor on the back of the projector. Click Image to Enlarge 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 Special Features Epson Home Cinema 8100 Projector – Physical Tour – 2