Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 5 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 For general black level performance examples we’ll start with my favorite, the Starship image found The Fifth Element. The first two are the Epson 8500UB, normal, and overexposed. Below it the older 6500UB, then the BenQ W6000, the others below them, are labeled. Unfortunately, brightness varies even more (than with the side by side images) on these photos, making accurate comparisons of black levels a little challenging, but doable, in most cases. 8500UB 5thelement starship large8500UB 5thelement starship over large2Epson 6500UB 5thelement starship largeW6000 5thelement starship largeVPL-HW15 5thelement starship largeHD8200 5thElement starship largeW20000 5thelement starship largePT-AE3000U 5thelement starship largePreviousNext Click to enlarge . so close Here’s another side-by-side dark scene from The Space Cowboys with the The Epson Home Cinema 8500UB on the left, Epson Home Cinema 6500UB on the right: When you look at the image above, you can see the difference. The background is a little lighter on the older Epson, and picks up a redish hue (something you really don’t notice during normal viewing, but we’re overxposing these images intentionally). It may not look like much, but when I stacked the two Epson’s so they were both filling most of my 106 inch Carada screen in my testing room, and switched quickly back and forth, it is immediately evident that the Epson Home Cinema 8500UB is simply better at “blacker blacks”. Click Image to EnlargeConsider two additional (digital) images which are good ones for observing black levels. (look to the buildings and in the lower one, the sky). Note, both of these images have a fair amount of fairly bright information, and as such, would not allow the iris to be able to dramatically darken the blacks. The image immediately below is from The Dark Knight. I’ve intentionally overexposed it to make a point. This is the type of scene where the difference in black level performance makes a huge difference. Because the outside areas of the scene, and for that matter the men’s jackets, are pretty black, with little detail at all, projectors with just “good” black levels look very flat. Immediately below the Epson image, is the same scene using the BenQ W6000, then the Sony VPL-VW15, both direct competitors. 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 – Image Quality 4 Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 6