Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Calibration and Settings 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 We calibrate each home theater that is reviewed. It is a pretty standard calibration, there’s always more that can be done by some of the “hi-end” calibrators. Our calibrations, including the Home Cinema 8500UB, are normally limited to a grayscale calibration, along with brightness, contrast, color saturation, etc. We did not adjust the individual colors. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Color TemperatureLet’s start by repeating the pre-calibration measurements of the THX mode (which is based on the REC 709 standard on the 8500UB,) but on the 9500UB you can change that to the European EBU standard, or to the SMPTE-C standard: 30 IRE 6304K 50 IRE 6354K 80 IRE 6403K 100 IRE 6505K Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Basic SettingsIn addition to calibrating Red Green and Blue for a correct grayscale balance (6500K), there are a number of other settings that come into play. Typically Contrast and Brightness (white balance and black balance), need to be done first. Color saturation and gamma also need adjustment. Settings for measurements (default values are in parenthesis): Vivid Cinema Day THX Cinema Night HD Silverscreen Contrast = (0) -3 -2 -1 -3 -4 -2 Brightness= (0) 3 3 2 4 5 3 Color Saturation= -10 0 (-1) 0 0 0 Tint= 0 0 (-1) 0 0 0 Color Temp (default)= 6500 7500 N/A 7500 6500 5500 Lamp Mode (default)= Normal Normal Normal Normal Eco Eco Auto iris (default)= Normal Off Off Normal Off Off All other settings at default (untouched) x.v.Color has none of the above adjustable settings except Lamp mode, which is Eco by default. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Post Calibration Grayscale: THX mode (REC 709) (stored on User 1)6482 User 1 (THX) User 2 (Cinema Day) User 3 (Vivid) 30 IRE = 6482 40 IRE = 6498 6580 6395 50 IRE = 6449 60 IRE = 6497 6839 6390 70 IRE = 6504 80 IRE = 6519 90 IRE = 6506 6870 6639 100 IRE = 6543 6718 6363 Average gamma = 2.17 Gamma: Set for 2.2, it measured across its range, an average of 2.17, close to the desired 2.2. RGB SettingsBelow are the RGB settings we ended up with post calibration. While there is some slight variation in color from one lamp to the next, you should find these provide a better picture than the defaults. Plug’em in, save them in one of the 9 User memory areas, and try them out. To get the color temp settings above, the following adjustments were made to gain and bias: Offset R = -3 R= 0 R= -15 G = 0 G= 0 G= 0 B = 0 B= -10 B= -10 Gain R = -1 R= 20 R= 25 G = 0 G= 0 G= 0 B = 2 B= 0 B= 20 Color Saturation: -1 0 10 Tint: -1 0 0 Gamma: 2.2 2.2 2.2 Lumens: 498 1168 1309 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 Projector – Performance 3 Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector Calibration and Settings 2