Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 7 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 Shadow Detail PerformanceShadow detail of the Home Cinema 8500UB also seems to be slightly improved over the older 6500UB, but it’s a subtle improvement. I still don’t think that the Epsons deliver quite as much very dark shadow detail as a lot of other projectors. Of course, the fact that it has blacker blacks, also means that the near blacks are inherently darker, so harder for the eye to make out. Even so, many other projectors reveal a touch more. Personally, I’d rather have a bit better blacks and a bit less dark shadow detail, than the other way around! Every time! From LOTR – Lord of the Rings: Left Home Cinema 8500UB: , Middle: Sharp XV-Z15000, Right: VPL-HW15: 8500UB lotr gondor night 1XV-Z15000 lotr balcony 2VPL-HW15 lotr gondor night 3PreviousNext The next set of comparison images, continues with a shot of Clint Eastwood from Space Cowboys. This is a very dark scene with Clint Eastwood, on Blu-ray disc. The photos are intentionally way overexposed. Look for the blacks in the shades, and the details in those shades in the form of the white trim. (At this level of overexposure, don’t even worry about the skin tones, as in these type of photos they always look terrible, and way oversaturated/too high contrast). First image is the Epson Home Cinema 8500UB followed by the BenQ W6000 and the VPL-HW15, next are: Sharp XV-Z15000, Optoma HD8200, Sanyo PLV-Z3000, the older Sony VPL-HW10, and the Panasonic PT-AE3000U. The Epson did particularly well in shadow detail on our Clint Eastwood dark scene from Space Cowboys, and slightly better than the older 6500UB: 8500UB spacecowboys clintdarkroom largeW6000 spacecowboys clintdarkroom largeVPL-HW15 spacecowboys clintdarkroom largeXV-Z15000 spacecowboys clintdarkroom largeHD8200 spacecowboys clintdark largePLV-Z3000 spacecowboys clint largeW5000 spacecowboys clintdarkroom largePT-AE3000U spacecowboys clintdarkroom largePreviousNext 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 6 Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector – Image Quality 8