Epson Home Cinema 8500UB and Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector Review-3 Posted on October 22, 2009 By Art Feierman 1. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB and Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector Review - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Overview2. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB and Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector Review-2 - Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Highlights - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Creative Frame Interpolation - Home Cinema 8500UB Super-Resolution - 4000 Hour Lamp3. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB and Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector Review-3 - 4000 Hour Lamp - Improved Dual Layer Dynamic Iris - Split Image Demo Mode for CFI4. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, Pro Cinema 9500UB – Physical Tour 1 - Control Panel - Input/Output - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Menus5. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, Pro Cinema 9500UB – Physical Tour 2 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Remote Control - Home Cinema 8500UB Lens Throw - Home Cinema 8500UB Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens6. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 1 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Out of the Box Picture Quality - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector - Flesh Tones7. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 2 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Black Levels & Shadow Detail8. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 3 - Some more dynamic iris discussion9. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 410. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 511. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 612. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 7 - Shadow Detail Performance13. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 814. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Performance - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Brightness - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Sharpness15. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 816. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 917. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 10 - A mix of additional images to show off the Epson Home Cinema 8500UB: - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Bottom Line on HDTV Sports18. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Competitors - Epson Home Cinema 8350 - Competitors19. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Performance 220. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Performance 3 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise21. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Calibration and Settings - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Color Temperature - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Basic Settings - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Post Calibration Grayscale: THX mode (REC 709) (stored on User 1) - RGB Settings22. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Calibration and Settings 2 - Brightest Modes:23. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Projector Screens - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Screen Recommendations24. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Competitors - Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Epson Home Cinema 6500UB - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. HC6800, HC7000 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Sanyo PLV-Z300025. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Competitors2 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. BenQ W6000 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Sharp XV-Z15000 - Home Cinema 8500UB vs. JVC DLA-RS10 and DLA-RS1526. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Competitors3 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Sony VPL-HW15 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Panasonic PT-AE400027. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Warranty28. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector, Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector – Review Summary - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector - The Bottom Line29. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector, Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector – Review Summary 2 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Pros - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Cons - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Typical Capabilities30. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB-Specifications 4000 Hour LampEpson is using the same lamp this year, as in last year’s projector. What makes it noteworthy is that it claims 4000 hours operation at full power (or low power, for that matter). Few home theater projectors have lamps claiming more than 2000 hours at full power, though 3000 hours is typical for low power mode. A couple of Mitsubishi home projectors claim 3000 hours at full power, and 5000 in low power, but since most home theater people will run in full power, most of the time, Epson’s lamp is probably the lowest in terms of cost of operation. This is a key point, when comparing projector value. That Epson also has only a $299 MSRP, when most lamps are $395-$400, makes for further savings. If you are a moderately heavy user (anyone into sports, and almost anyone that watches TV – HDTV as well as movies), the savings can be $400 – $800 over 3-4 years, compared to a projector with a typical lamp life. Improved Dual Layer Dynamic IrisWithout getting into details, Epson now has a dual layered iris, that overall gives a slight improvement to black level performance. On very dark scenes, blacks get visibly darker. It’s not a great difference, and it won’t get the Epson’s in the range, say of the JVC RS20 (which is twice the price), but it does get the Epson closer. The new component of this dual iris, if I understand it correctly, uses steps, and then the result is smoothed electronically. As is the nature of improving blacks with the use of a dynamic iris, there is little improvement in blacks in brighter scenes, where the iris can’t shut down significantly without significantly dimming all the bright areas. According to Epson the new iris does also help in the brighter scenes, but any improvement in those scenes, is very minor. Split Image Demo Mode for CFIA nice touch, with this feature (both projectors), by pressing down the Memory button for about 6 seconds, a split screen, blue border shows up, separating the left and right sides. The right side – the CFI demo side is in in the blue box. The left side, regardless of how you have CFI set in the menus, turns CFI off while in test demo mode. It will restore whatever setting you had it set for. The right side, (in the box) lets you toggle between CFI Off, and Low, Medium and High, so you can compare any source material between CFI off, and any of its three levels of CFI. Click to Enlarge.So close Very nice touch, all considered. On of the most interesting things I’ve spent too much time looking at – including moments ago, is watching the split screen on Casino Royale, with the the right side on Low and the left side, of course, Off. There’s no question that the Low CFI setting reduces motion blur. What is interesting, is that you can spend a lot of time trying to see how little difference there is in terms of the low setting and the “live digital video” look of low, compared to off. Kick CFI over to High, and the live digital video look is obvious, compared to off. A fair amount of people will choose to watch movies with CFI on low, perhaps not all movies, but likely those more action oriented. Click Image to Enlarge 1. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB and Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector Review - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Overview2. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB and Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector Review-2 - Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Highlights - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Creative Frame Interpolation - Home Cinema 8500UB Super-Resolution - 4000 Hour Lamp3. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB and Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector Review-3 - 4000 Hour Lamp - Improved Dual Layer Dynamic Iris - Split Image Demo Mode for CFI4. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, Pro Cinema 9500UB – Physical Tour 1 - Control Panel - Input/Output - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Menus5. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, Pro Cinema 9500UB – Physical Tour 2 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Remote Control - Home Cinema 8500UB Lens Throw - Home Cinema 8500UB Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens6. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 1 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Out of the Box Picture Quality - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector - Flesh Tones7. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 2 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Black Levels & Shadow Detail8. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 3 - Some more dynamic iris discussion9. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 410. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 511. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 612. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 7 - Shadow Detail Performance13. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 814. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Performance - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Brightness - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Sharpness15. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 816. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 917. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 10 - A mix of additional images to show off the Epson Home Cinema 8500UB: - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Bottom Line on HDTV Sports18. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Competitors - Epson Home Cinema 8350 - Competitors19. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Performance 220. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Performance 3 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise21. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Calibration and Settings - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Color Temperature - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Basic Settings - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Post Calibration Grayscale: THX mode (REC 709) (stored on User 1) - RGB Settings22. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Calibration and Settings 2 - Brightest Modes:23. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Projector Screens - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Screen Recommendations24. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Competitors - Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Epson Home Cinema 6500UB - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. HC6800, HC7000 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Sanyo PLV-Z300025. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Competitors2 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. BenQ W6000 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Sharp XV-Z15000 - Home Cinema 8500UB vs. JVC DLA-RS10 and DLA-RS1526. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB – Competitors3 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Sony VPL-HW15 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB vs. Panasonic PT-AE400027. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Warranty28. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector, Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector – Review Summary - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector - The Bottom Line29. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector, Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector – Review Summary 2 - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Pros - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Cons - Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector: Typical Capabilities30. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB-Specifications Epson Home Cinema 8500UB and Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector Review-2 Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, Pro Cinema 9500UB – Physical Tour 1