Epson Home Cinema 8500UB Projector, Pro Cinema 9500UB Projector – Review Summary 2

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• Excellent out of the box picture quality thanks to a pre-calibrated THX mode
• An excellent “brightest” mode too, one of the brightest, and with good color
• The best black level performance of any projector near or below its price
• With Super-Resolution, the Epson is sharper than average

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• Below average dark shadow detail performance
• Remote’s backlight could be a little brighter
• Low rumbly sound from dynamic iris does bother a few people, though noise overall is average, and well below the noisier home theater projectors
• Home Cinema 8500UB does not support an anamorphic lens
• It could always be brighter in “best” mode!

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• Audible noise (fan noise)
• Number of HDMI inputs (2)
• Brightness in “best” mode

The very bottom line: The Epson UB projectors – the Home Cinema 8500UB and the Pro Cinema 9500UB projector, are, so far, still the projectors to beat in the mid-price range for 1080p projectors. They offer unmatched black level performance for the price, improved skin tones, a better than typical dynamic iris, and over all, represent, a somewhat small, but very real, improvement over last year’s projectors. This is true for general picture quality, and also for improvements in areas like CFI, where the improvements are greater. And all that for a lower price than last year’s model.