Digital Trends

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 September 19th, 2007 | by Marshal Rosenthal

Testing 

Six color mode settings are there for those who want to get up and running quickly. Each mode does something different – the Dynamic mode, for example, increases the brightness of the overall image. This helped when I played the newly remastered Director’s Cut of Commando upscaled to 1080p through my Oppo 981HD DVD player.

But while the grain was fairly tight for a film of its age (and came across quite sharp, as the Epson’s lens resolves nicely), the brightness only served to highlight artifacting problems in some of the smoke and explosions (not unexpected in older movies such as this one). Mind you, the image was smoother when I switched to the less bright Living Room mode. But using this option, the increase in contrast seemed to muddy the flesh tones.

Frankly, Natural mode looked best to me, especially in terms of overall color, with no discernible viewing benefit I could see when using the Theater setting (designed for a totally dark environment). Note: Both of the aforementioned settings are aided by a Cinema filter which kicks in to increase contrast and improve flesh tones.

Switching back to Natural and playing the Fantastic Four sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer, both the Hu-man Torch’s flame along with Angelina Jolie’s lips are lusciously crimson, and the overall color palette is clean and realistic to the eye. Had the Blu-ray version been available, I’m sure (based on some HD trai-lers viewed) I could have been able to see the sheen on the Surfer’s body and count the cracks on the Thing’s skin. But even running just the standard DVD, the overall quality is spot-on.

Happily though, I do have a copy of the HD DVD of Next, wherein two heavily digital scenes take place. The first has a train just missing Nicholas Cage’s car shooting across the tracks, while the other has him scurrying down a hill during a landslide. At 1080p resolution, the wheels of the locomotive can be seen as individual components working together rather than just a blur, and every rock, pebble and dust cloud is distinct as it kicks up around Cage. The Epson also handles black areas quite well in HD and it’s not like you’re looking into an inkwell, as it is with a DVD. And while I could live without seeing the bags under Cage’s eyes, on the flip-side, you also get close-ups of Jessica Biel that look mighty fine.

I also tried watching some standard definition (SD)television as well as HD programs off of my Dish Network HD receiver, with the projector delivering a consistently bright image with smooth tones that moderates bad SD pictures to where they are better than just acceptable (being able to tweak and save a setting really helps here), even as it handles 1080i broadcasts like a champ by providing realistic imaging from the compressed video signal. 

As to the projector’s exhaust, which vents out the front, it’s only mildly discernible to someone seated directly behind it, and disappears when audio is being played at even “don’t wake up the baby” levels. Just remember to clean the filter occasionally, as well as replace it every few months, particularly if you live amidst debris like cigarette smoke, pet hair and the like.