Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema 1080 UB front projector Page 3

Color temperature (Cinema Night Setting/6500° temperature before/ Cinema Night Setting/6500° temperature after calibration): 20-IRE: 6,590 K/6,292 K 30-IRE: 6,643 K/6,284 K 40-IRE: 6,678 K/6,302 K 50-IRE: 6,915 K/6,555 K 60-IRE: 6,875 K/6,532 K 70-IRE: 6,892 K/6,554 K 80-IRE: 6,906 K/6,526 K 90-IRE: 6,944 K/6,568 K 100-IRE: 6,868 K/6,511 K

Brightness (100-IRE full field): 12.3/17.4 ftL Primary Color Point Accuracy vs. SMPTE HD Standard

Color

Target X

Measured X

Target Y

Measured Y

Red

0.64

0.66

0.33

0.33

Green

0.30

0.26

0.60

0.65

Blue

0.15

0.15

0.06

0.07

The Epson's Cinema Night picture preset delivered the most accurate color reproduction when the 6,500 K color temperature preset was selected. Grayscale tracking before calibration was +/-415 degrees K of the 6,500 K standard from 20 to 100 IRE, which is pretty good performance right out of the box. Adjustments made to the red, green, and blue gain and offset controls improved grayscale tracking to +/-216 degrees K from 20 to 100 IRE - not a great result on first glance, but the projector tracked within +/-68 degrees for most of that range. Color decoder tests through the HDMI and component inputs revealed that red was slightly low and green was perfect. As compared to the SMPTE HD specification for digital TV colors, the set's red, green, and blue primary color points were quite accurate, for the most part showing just a hint of oversaturation.

The Epson's 17.4 ftL brightness (post-calibration) was good for a projector in its price range. Black levels were unusually deep for an LCD projector. Contrast ratio was 3.466:1 with auto iris off, 8,710:1 with it on. Overscan measured 0% for 1080i/p-format high-definition signals with the picture size set to 100%; reducing the size in 2% steps through the menu delivered fairly accurate results. The Epson displayed 1080i/p and 720p test patterns with full resolution on both the HDMI and component-video connections. However, on 1080i/p signals, single-pixel vertical lines appeared dim - a frequency response roll-off that will result in slightly diminished detail. The calibration of the gamma control was off - the factory 2.2 setting actually delivered a gamma of 1.8, but raising the setting to 2.4 brought the measured gamma up to 2.3 where it should be.

Brightness uniformity was good at all settings; black and white fields showed only minor variations in brightness. However, when using the picture presets that employ the low lamp brightness setting, I noticed an obvious shift toward red in the upper left corner and toward blue in the lower right corner when a full-field white test pattern was displayed. I did not notice the color shift with normal program material, though.

The projector passed all the standard-definition upconversion tests contained on the Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark DVD test disc, detecting 3:2 pulldown fairly quickly but delivering a little less detail than I've seen from many other displays. It passed all of the tests on the HQV Benchmark Blu-ray disc, producing barely noticeable jagged edges on tests such as a shot of a flag blowing in the breeze. The projector offers three levels of noise reduction plus an off setting; the noise reduction was reasonably effective without noticeably reducing detail except at the highest setting (where the reduction was still only slight).

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