Tom Norton

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CES 2012
Energy Bar
Tom Norton  |  Jan 12, 2012
Energy has long been one of my favorite speaker companies, not least because of my long term reference Energy Veritas v2.8 speakers, circa 1994 (an eon for an audiophile to favor anything). But the brand has fallen on hard times since its acquisition (along with Mirage) by the Klipsch Group. Hopefully better days are ahead. There are, apparently, some new Veritas models in the lineup, but you'd never know it from Klipsch's CES kiosk that features subwoofers and soundbars.
Epson
Tom Norton  |  Sep 06, 2008
Epson launched several new projectors at CEDIA. The most exciting was the flagship PowerLite Pro Cinema 7500UB ($5000, December). Demonstrated with both standard 16:9 material and 2.35:1, the latter with the optional anamorphic lens ($6000) on a 101.5" wide, 2.35:1 Stewart Studiotek 130 screen, it looked superb--probably the best projector I saw at the show at its price or less, and competitive with some far more expensive designs. Blacks were excellent, too, particularly since this LCD design was demonstrated without any help from its dynamic iris.
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Epson 1080p
Tom Norton  |  Sep 16, 2006

Epson had this prototype of a new 1080p LCD projector on static display, but not on demonstration. The PowerLite Pro Cinema 1080p uses the company's newest D6 C2 Fine LCD panels. No price or availability date was announced.

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CEDIA 2010
Epson Does LCOS—Or Something
Tom Norton  |  Sep 25, 2010
Epson has become well known as a major producer of high quality, relatively affordable LCD projectors. Now, using its expertise as a premier imaging chip producer, it has produced an offshoot of LCOS, which differs in that it grows the active elements onto quartz rather than silicon. The result is a reflective LCD, or in Epson's words, RHTPS, for Reflective High Temperature Polysilicate.
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CES 2009
Epson Does Ultra Black
Tom Norton  |  Jan 10, 2009
Epson demonstrated its top of the line ProCinema 7500UB LCD projector at CEDIA. It looked excellent there, but after undergoing further refinements to smooth out some pre-production wrinkles, its finally ready for prime time, with one of the best-looking images at the show. With a claimed native contrast ratio of 6000:1, it didn't appear to need the help of a dynamic iris (though it has one) to produce convincingly deep and rich blacks. Worked great with an anamorphic lens, too, on a 101" wide Stewart Studiotek 130 projection screen. The projector uses an HQV REON processor, has a full color management system, red, green, and blue-only modes for setup, and a claimed tight color alignment of the three panels. The best part may be the $4199 price.
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CES 2009
Epson Emsemble II
Tom Norton  |  Jan 10, 2008  |  Published: Jan 11, 2008

The ceiling mount that covers the Epson projector incorporates the Surround speakers.

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CES 2009
Epson Ensemble
Tom Norton  |  Jan 10, 2008  |  Published: Jan 11, 2008

This wasn't a show for major video projector launches or even major projector demonstrations. That's CEDIA. But JVC, Optoma, Panasonic, Samsung, and a few others took a crack at it.

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CEDIA 2011
Epson Gets Reflective
Tom Norton  |  Sep 08, 2011
Epson made quite a splash at last year's CEDIA with a demo of its first LCOS projectors. The company actually refers to their version of this technology as 3LCD Reflective—essentially the same thing as LCOS, though I recall that they noted in 2010 that they were liquid crystal on quartz rather than on silicon.

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CEDIA 2012
Epson PowerLite
Tom Norton  |  Sep 06, 2012
Epson's long delayed LCOS (reflective LCD) projector caused quite a ruckus when it was demonstrated at the 2010 CEDIA. But it was never released and has now gone back to the drawing board. So don't look for it any time soon.

But there is a new Epson LCD in town, the PowerLite Pro Cinema 6020. The claim of 2400 lumens and a peak contrast ratio of 320,000:1 would, if realized, be industry highs. The refresh rate of 480Hz is said to increase the 3D brightness. At under $4000 when available in November, the projector will come with 2 pair of active 3D glasses, a spare lamp, and a guarantee of an exchange if, on delivery, there is even one dead pixel.

Epson Puts It Together
Tom Norton  |  Sep 10, 2007

The Epson Ensemble HD home theater system is a skillfully assembled package consisting of a control center/DVD player (shown here) with two HDMI inputs, a 720p or 1080p Epson LCD projector, a screen, and a speaker/amplification package from Atlantic Technology. The front speakers are integrated into a sleek cabinet that sits at the top of the retractable screen, the surrounds are built into the sides of the projector case (visible in the following entry), and the amplification for the entire system is built into the subwoofer cabinet. The entire package sells for $5000 with a 720p projector and $7000 with 1080p.The overall performance was very impressive and will blow away most consumers with its performance and slick, elegant design and setup. Equal to a more upscale system? No, but a lot closer to it than even the best home theater in a box can manage.

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