Thomas J. Norton

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Enemy of the State—Blu-ray
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 28, 2006  |  Published: Dec 29, 2006

This action thriller may deepen the paranoid fever dreams of those who imagine that the feds are watching, listening-in on, and recording every aspect of their routine lives. But for those of us who know better, it's nevertheless an entertaining action thriller that moves along at a heady pace and is populated by a superb cast.

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Tower Speaker Reviews
Energy Reference Connoisseur RC-70 Surround Speaker System
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 12, 2006

My first experience with Energy speakers came in 1994, when I reviewed the Canadian company's then flagship speaker, the Veritas v2.8. It rotated in and out of my system for years, occasionally bettered in specifics by speakers selling for its original price ($6000/pair) or more, but never trumped overall, to my ears. The pair I own is still a valued two-channel reference, but unfortunately Energy never made a center channel speaker to match it.

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A/V Veteran
Energy Star Certification for TV: How Dim Is Too Dim?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 21, 2017
New proposed Energy Star requirements for TVs are designed to insure viewers are aware of which picture modes/settings meet the Energy Star certification. But that's not all...
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Tower Speaker Reviews
Energy Veritas V2.4 surround speaker system
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 13, 2002

Veteran readers of <I>Stereophile Guide to Home Theater</I> and <I>Stereophile</I> will know that my longtime reference speaker for 2-channel playback has been the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//551/">Energy Veritas V2.8</A>&mdash;it's capable of dominating a room in a way that few other speakers in its price range can. For years now at trade shows, I've badgered Energy to produce a suitable center-channel and surrounds, but what Energy has had in the works the last few years were not additional models to fill out a home-theater setup based on the V2.8, but a complete new Veritas line. Everything about the current flagship of that updated and expanded range, the Veritas V2.4&mdash;from drivers to cabinet&mdash;is new, and many of those new developments are carried over to the full Veritas line.

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CEDIA 2016
Epson Adds HDR to "4Ke" Laser Projector
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 16, 2016
The introduction and demonstration of Epson’s new(ish) Pro Cinema LS10500 Laser Diode illuminated 4Ke projector was one of the highlights of the show. It differs from the previous LS10500 mainly in the inclusion of HDR-capability.

The “e” in the 4Ke designation indicates that this projector, like all of the relatively affordable projectors available from Epson and JVC, uses pixel shift to display a 4K input...

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CEDIA 2018
Epson Demos New Pro Cinema Projector
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 07, 2018  |  Published: Sep 06, 2018
Epson is showcasing its new Enhanced 4K Pro Cinema 4050 LCD projector here at CEDIA Expo 2018. It’s said to offer, compared to earlier Epsons, improved brightness, higher contrast, better HDR, and a newly optimized 4K pixel shift. It’s claimed to provide 2400 lumens of peak brightness (presumably in the High lamp setting), a contrast ratio of 200,000:1, and 100% coverage of P3 color.
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CEDIA 2013
Epson Demos PowerLite Projectors at CEDIA
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 30, 2013
Epson offered impressive demos of its PowerLite Pro Cinema 4030 ($2499) and 6030 ($3499) projectors, the former in 3D, the latter in 2D. Each of these models come with 3 year parts and labor warranty (90 days on the lamp), a spare lamp, and a ceiling mount. Both are finished in black and are available only through "CEDIA" channels--that is, to the custom installer. But the on-line or conventional shopper can get the same performance as the 6030 with the new PowerLite Pro Cinema 5030 (shown here) at $2600 (a wireless version is available at $2900).
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CEDIA 2015
Epson Focuses on High Brightness Projectors
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 16, 2015
In addition to its market leading current home theater projectors, Epson showed several new high brightness models and its current laser model.
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CEDIA 2014
Epson Goes Laser
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 12, 2014
Epson introduced two new projectors that not only use laser illumination (no lamp to replace) but also reflective LCD technology (Liquid Crystal on Quartz, in contrast to reflective LCDs from Sony and JVC that use Liquid Crystal on Silicon). While both of them employ 2K chips, the top model can accept 4K inputs and reproduce them using technology similar to that found in JVC's upscale projectors. (We call it wobulation in homage to early DLP rear-projection sets that employed a similar idea but to different purposes (they weren't 4K, of course), but JVC and, we presume, Epson, would likely take exception to this characterization!)

The LS10,000, which is expected to sell for under $8000, is rated at

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Projector Reviews
Epson Home Cinema 4000 4K Enhanced 3LCD Projector Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 29, 2017

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $2,200

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Good resolution in HD and UHD
Impressive HDR
Low price
Minus
Contrast and black level could be better
Manual HDR/SDR switching

THE VERDICT
The Epson 4000 offers an effective combination of HDR and SDR projection at a price that seemed impossible a year ago.

Native 4K imaging—where the chips display all 8.3 million individual pixels (3840 x 2160) in each frame simultaneously—is still rare in an affordable consumer projector. Currently, the entry price is $5,000, for Sony’s new VPL-VW285ES. But last year, Epson introduced two 3LCD models that use pixel shifting to achieve an apparent resolution close to 4K. The less expensive of the two was the PowerLite Home Cinema 5040UB, still selling, as I write this, for around $2,700. (Its virtual twin, the Pro Cinema 6040UB, was reviewed in the October 2016 Sound & Vision.)

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