Epson Powerlite Pro G6900WU Projector - Performance

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Art Feierman

POWERLITE PRO G6900WU PERFORMANCE: MEASURED BRIGHTNESS, ECO MODE, EFFECT OF ZOOM LENS For the measurements on this page: Auto Iris is Off for all measurements.All other settings at default (untouched) Zoom at mid range and Lamp mode on Normal (full power) unless noted otherwise.

G6900WU Measured with standard lens at mid-zoom, lamp at full power
Color Mode	Lumens	Color Temp
Dynamic	4744	6139
Presentation	3615	7749
Theatre	3808	6686
Sports	4207	6455
sRGB	3162	6711
Multi-Projection	3795	6685

As you look at these numbers, note that we measure at mid-point on the zoom. Below we'll show you how much brighter or dimmer the projector will be if at full wide-angle, or full tele-photo on the lens. The other lenses all have their own characteristics, and as is typical, most will pass less light through, thus measure less bright. We do not have other lenses to compare, however.

Also note that the measured brightness and color temp differences between Theatre and Multi-projection are insignificant. Consider them the same for color and brightness purposes.

Effect of Zoom Lens Position on Brightness

Zoom Lens Positioning vs. Brightness (based on Dynamic mode)
Position	Lumens	Percentage Drop In Brightness
Wide-angle	5288	0%
Middle	4744	10.3%
Telephoto	3402	35.7%

As you can see in the table, the difference between wide angle - placing the projector as close to a given sized screen as the lens will allow, and the mid-point on the zoom only causes a modest 10% and change drop in brightness.

That's actually very good. That is, the drop of 10% is modest for a projector/lens with a nice long 1.8:1 zoom ratio.

As expected, (as it seems to be typical), the drop from mid-point on the zoom to full telephoto (placing the projector at the back of its range) is significantly greater.

All considered, the total drop of only about 36% is reasonable, or better than typical for such a lens. That said, some similar lenses may have even less drop off, but I would expect a bit more drop, not less, if you looked at a number of projectors with lenses in the 1.6:1 to 2.1:1 zoom range.

What this tells you, is that where you mount the projector can make a real difference. Of course there are some trade-offs. When at the short end of the range (wide-angle) there's going to be a bit more optical distortion (such as barreling), and if working with screens with positive gain, the audience will see a little more roll off in brightness in the corners and sides, than the center, because of the steeper angles between lens and those edges.

Ultimately though, most installations would work out best sticking to the wide angle side of the range, if possible, for the extra up to about 50% more brightness, than being at the opposite end of the zoom range.

G6900WU Eco Mode

Epson's Eco mode, of course, draws less power, puts up a less bright image, saves the environment, and reduces fan and overall projector noise. One could say it not only saves energy, but also reduces noise pollution (by 8 decibels).

The same roughly 37% measured power drop would be consistent, regardless of color mode. That is, expect the same 35-40% drop in Theatre, in Presentation, etc. BTW, figure most of our readings are within +5% when we measure.

Eco Mode affect on Brightness (based on Dynamic mode)
Power Mode	Lumens	Percentage Drop In Brightness
Full	4744	0%
Eco	2998	36.8%

Here's a brief story for you. Back in the mid and late '90's the big show then (and now) for business projectors was Infocomm, but back then, most projectors had a few hundred lumens. At the Infocomm show, 50 or so projectors would be all set up on the same screens for the annual Infocomm Shoot-out. The same content was fed, in a fully darkened room, to each projector so we could compare.

As best I recall, two teams were created to go through all the projectors and measure the brightness of all of them, and ultimately those measurements were posted. Both teams used identical equipment. Typically the differences though were 3-5% - just from "how" they measured, between team 1 and 2 with one team fairly consistently producing higher measurements, But the thing was, sometimes the team that was typically reporting lower numbers might be 5% or more higher on a one or two projectors.

In other words, one team might find projector A to measure 500 lumens, while projector B measured 470, but the other team might find projector A to measure 475, but projector B to measure 510. Go figure! And with the same equipment!

The moral of the story, ours (and others) measurements are accurate only to a point, certainly when two different people (or groups) with the same gear, can vary by 10% or more in their readings. On the bright side (no pun intended), a 5% difference is barely visible.

PS. around here we wait at least 20 minutes before measuring, for the lamp and temp to stabilize. That once got us into trouble with Casio's hybrid LED/laser projectors. Seems that those early Casio's powered up at their brightest, and over the first 15-20 minutes, actually got somewhat dimmer.

And finally, I remind you that we do not measure brightness to figure out the maximum brightness a projector is capable of, but the brightest a projector can do, while still having a reasonable picture. My best example might be a projector that by boosting contrast, adds 10% more lumens, but when doing so, it badly crushes all the highlight detail. So, for that reason, we never go hunting for the maximum brightness a projector can do.