High End Home Theater Projectors Compared

[70short]

Id like to see a shoot out between the panny 7000 and the epson 5010 tweeked to near perfect picture and lets see which 1 wins in the market for 1 of these in the near future

[JSprayaEntertainment]

25,000:1 contrast is not possible ! once it hits the screen.. its the nature of light and what happens when it hits a wall ( your on the internet look up documentaries on light or read something ... people believe anything its sad ...How ever projector screens are rough for this very reason to try and keep lights away from darks and prevent color bleeding ...

1600 LUMENS kinda ! in the day i cannot watch my ($500) 1500 lumens viewsonic

( view my page to see 1500 lumens in action )

[bujoun76]

What kind of splitter are you using? I recently bought one and it died on me, after about 2hrs of use, and I really DONT want to go through that again. Can you recommend one?

[ProjectorPeople]

@bujoun76 Hi there! A good splitter is very important. We aways use the QVS 1x4 4 Port HDMI HDTV/HDCP 720p/1080p Splitter/Distribution Amplifier in our shootouts. I can't post links in comments. Drop me a line if you need any more help.

[bujoun76]

@ProjectorPeople I found the splitter on Amazon! Thanks.

[aaronhare]

@ProjectorPeople WHAT IS A SPLITTER? I had a projector that was 720p and i dont think I used one

[sawink]

The Vivitek is also $1000 more than the Panny and why are we doing reviews right out of the box? You are a professional...Who is going to spend 2-15 thousand dollars and not set up the projector perfectly? (well near)

[len0808]

these are not high end projectors

[fingerdrop]

Ok, one more question for you guys. I'll be video djing in many different arenas, (I have LCDs for daytime) and will need a proper portable screen that is very portable (I drive an IS250), durable, and I want a good 8' plus screen (up to 12' I think is ok). Lighter the better.

Any ideas?

screens/chart_portable.asp

[ProjectorPeople]

@fingerdrop Hey there! We can't wait to see your pictures.

As for the screens, I'm so sorry but I'm going to have to refer you to a Projector Expert. There are a few follow-up questions they'd need to ask you in order to find you the best screen.

We try to answer as many questions as we can over channels like YouTube and Facebook, but sometimes they're a little too complex to answer with a quick paragraph.

The Experts are at 1-888-248-0675. Let me know what you end up purchasing!

[fingerdrop]

Hi guys. After watching this video I picked up the Vivitek H5080 for DJing.

You mentioned that there are additional lenses you can purchase for it. I was unable to find those on your website. Do you have any recommendations on where to find those?

[ProjectorPeople]

@fingerdrop Hey there. Sorry, YouTube won't let me post links so I have to explain this the long way.

Search for 'Vivitek H5080' on our site. The first result will be the projector's main page. Click it. Once there, you'll see an 'Accessories' tab. Click it. Scroll down just a tad and you'll find the accompanying lenses.

And hey, while you're at it, send us some pictures of your new purchase in action. We'll feature you on the blog!

Holler if you have any problems finding those lenses.

[fingerdrop]

@ProjectorPeople Thanks. They are a little pricey. I will probably wait until I have a need.

Now I will be using this projector for DJing so I will have some video and pictures when I get some field work with it.

I'll send it your way. I love that you guys are so responsive.

[pogobull]

just got a call from epson . frame interpolation issues. apparantly there are quite a few havin this problem. take it in store for a firmware update tomorrow.

hopefulply this sorts the issue out.

but really a superb projector . am beaming a 150 inch screen and the pic quality is awesome .

[pogobull]

hey . me again. just let you no am super happy with the 8500UB . you were rite bout the lens shift how when you have it high then move lens to left/right also moves it down or up. have never incounted this with epson lens shift before.

have had to contact epson today .only had the projector for 5 days (16hrs on lamp) have started to get what looks like reddeish halo and bright red horizontal lines in image so am sending it back but still waiting on return call from epson.

[ProjectorPeople]

@pogobull Oiy. Good luck. I'm sure they'll be able to figure it out.

[pogobull]

hey ,me again. have decided to purchase the epson 8500UB ,after months of reading forums watching (your)videos. should arrive tomorrow.

will post you a comment on how this performs from my point of veiw.

but thanks for your time

[ProjectorPeople]

@pogobull Congrats! Please keep us posted!

[pogobull]

thank you

[pogobull]

great vid....... am currently bout to purchase new HD projector. currently own the epson EMP-TW1000 and have been lookin at the 8500UB but theres also the panasonic AE4000 mmmmmmmm decisions overall both are awesome projectors .um just put you in my shoes for a bit ??? .between the two epson or panasonic if you were to invest in either which would be your choice.

am leaning towards the epson due to the fact that it has an extra 2000HRS on the lamp compared to the panasonic .

[ProjectorPeople]

Hey there. Youre right, both the Panasonic and Epson are awesome projectors. You cant make a bad decision here. The decision really lies in whats most important to you: upfront expense vs long-term cost of ownership.

I can see why youd lean toward the Epson considering it has a longer lamp life and youve already owned the brand. The Epson is $300 more than the Panasonic, but you could easily make that up in the cost of lamp replacements. In time, it may be cheaper to own the Epson.

[ProjectorPeople]

@pogobull We have a chart comparing the two projectors on our site.

Youll see the Epson has a higher contrast ratio than the Panasonic. But it also has 1 less HDMI input. This may be an important factor, depending on your home theater setup.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

[stryker7x]

I prefer the look of a DLP projector. LCD image is vibrant but unnatural and the blacks are more of a blue green. DLP is not perfect with rainbow problems and grey blacks. LCOS projectors produce the deepest blacks, (not mentioning CRT projectors), but many have uniformity issues and lack the sharpness of DLP. If I had the money I would buy a Titan Reference 1080p 3 chip DLP projector all for a small amount of $70.000, one can only wish.

[ProjectorPeople]

There's a new low cost LCoS projector out you may want to check out. The LG Electronics CF181D. This is the first LCoS projector for home theater we have carried in this price range.  I am sure the 3 chip DLP is pretty amazing though. Maybe they'll get cheaper some day. :)

[DEVILSxxxFLAME]

Great video, if we can only get a more in depth video quality comparisons. Please!!!!

[ProjectorPeople]

@DEVILSxxxFLAME Thanks Devil... can I call you Devil? :) What kind of depth would you like to see? You want higher resoution video so you can compare yourself? Or did you want more of the staff opion here? Or were you looking for data from professional calibrations to be included? I fear the data would be dry and the opinions are subjective, that's why we've been focusing on feature differences. But we are open to suggestions for how we can improve. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[DEVILSxxxFLAME]

@ProjectorPeople I believe your opinion is far more important than that of these retail stores who just want to sell you the product. I've read multiple reviews on both projectors but a direct video comparison between these great high end projectors are rare to nonexistent, until now ofcourse. Tanks for your attention, you guys are great.

[ProjectorPeople]

@DEVILSxxxFLAME Good to know! If you keep liking them, we'll keep making them! Our opinions are pretty varried after most shootouts. I was a little surprised at how good the Vivitek looked, since I don't usually like DLP quite as much (color too saturated for my taste). But Vivitek has roots in high end PJs too, so it makes sense. I really like Epson color, quality, menu, etc. And maybe half the team likes the Panasonic. And all of us would take any of them if they were free. Is that helpful?

[DEVILSxxxFLAME]

@ProjectorPeople Thanks for that input, it helps. I myslef am leaning towards the panasonic. I just like attaining as much information as possible before taking the dive into the purchase. The espson and vivitek look great but since the panasonic costs a bit less, i can purchase a screen as well. Once again, thank you. Keep this videos coming!!!

[Anoon]

first, love your videos. Nice showcase

[DEVILSxxxFLAME]

@Anoon Wow, that was a quick reply, thanks. What i meant by a more in depth comparison is that you compare this high end projectors in their video quality (color accuracy,detail, contrast, black levels, frame interperlation if applicable, and so on). Maybe you guys can tweak the settings (calibrate) to produce the best possible image and then compare. I know the opinions are subjective, but they will be useful and appreciated.

[ProjectorPeople]

@DEVILSxxxFLAME  We've considered calibrating them first. Others have suggested it too. The issue we keep coming back to is - how many of our customers will actually calibrate their projector? if it's less than %10, which seems possible, then are we actually comparing what our customers will see/use? How about I post a poll on our blog and ask how many calibrate. And in the meantime, if we find any info on calibrated projectors from another source, I can post it (Twitter, Facebook, or blog)?

[DEVILSxxxFLAME]

@ProjectorPeople That sounds great. Calibration can be an expense that not many are willing to make, but maybe small tweaks in in the basic picture controls can suffice. Nothing special that would require a professional. Something like your "1080p projector shootout" video, but updated with these new projectors. A poll would be great also. Thanks. You guys are very attentive, thats great.

[ProjectorPeople]

@DEVILSxxxFLAME Ok. I posted a survey. We will see how it turns out. Thanks for the suggestions and your own attentiveness. :)

[hdtv00]

@ProjectorPeople True but you could at the least put each in it's considered best mode. Certainly not the dynamic mode you have these in during the comparison. Say for the panny best mode is color 1.

Also the line saying that color would be set to what looks right to each person. Come on at least mention there is a standard for color, I mean clearly anyone looking at these high end projectors is looking for reference quality. Not some by eye guess at what color should be set, that's just silly.