Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector - Image Quality 7

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Art Feierman

Shadow Detail Performance

Shadow 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 1

XV-Z15000 lotr balcony 2

VPL-HW15 lotr gondor night 3

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 large