New Epson Long throw laser projectors announced

3t3P · 2 Oct 2021 at 12:27

Who's interested in these?

I'm coming from a now five year old Sony HW40Es. I want higher res now, wider colour gamut, equal or better motion, more brightness and contrast.

Will be awaiting reviews of the new Epson machines, LS12000b seems only one to go for RRP £4,400

The other model (LS11000?) is £300-400 less with half the quoted contrast and 100lumens, unless I and others are missing something seems a waste of time!?

heeeed · 2 Oct 2021 at 16:59

I’m waiting for reviews tbh. I may just look for a 9400 instead and hope they drop a bit. It’s a lot of money to drop on projector, as I’m definitely not looking at JVC money for my partially built cinema room. I’d kind of hoped we were looking at £3.5k territory really. I’d also hoped you could get the higher spec one in white. Hey ho

3t3P · 2 Oct 2021 at 17:12

Yeh I was hoping for same territory tbh. But I'm resigned to 'needing' to spend around 5k on my next PJ to get a noticeable step up from my 40ES across the board in every parameter.

So it's early JVC territory or high end Epson.

I'd stick with Sony but no innovation from them.

Warbie · 4 Oct 2021 at 09:22

3t3P said:
Yeh I was hoping for same territory tbh. But I'm resigned to 'needing' to spend around 5k on my next PJ to get a noticeable step up from my 40ES across the board in every parameter.

So it's early JVC territory or high end Epson.

I'd stick with Sony but no innovation from them.

I'd go entry JVC all day long if budget allows.

Rroff · 4 Oct 2021 at 09:35

Unless coming from some cheap generic brand it is difficult to get a decent step up projector wise. Even my ancient 720p Optoma still looks good and needs some proper 4K content on a proper 4K projector to really show it the door.

3t3P · 4 Oct 2021 at 09:41

Warbie said:
I'd go entry JVC all day long if budget allows.

JVC has me worried on reported lens quality issues, poor aftercare/warranty, expensive bulbs (maybe only the official housing ones?) and gargantuan size!

But that contrast would be something to behold.

Warbie · 4 Oct 2021 at 09:57

Bulbs are expensive for sure and the warranty could be better, but the lenses are solid and it's a different level of projector to pretty much anything lower in price. I'd argue the tone mapping is as important as contast in today's 4k hdr age. Unless you have a htpc running madvr, an external processor doing the same (expensive), and/or only watch sdr, you need tone maping and a JVC N5 does that out the box. No other proejctors do this and hdr is iffy at best as a result.

3t3P · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:34

True the DTM processing built in to JVCs is 'worth' at least a grand (a lumagen is far more, they need some competition hehe).

Do you know the calibrated lumens of an N5? I read it's about the same as a TW9400 in actuality.

There's mention of an N6 but only on JVCs China page and it's impossible to find out anything else about it.

Also rumours of an N5 refresh maybe next year (HDMI 2.1 perhaps?) to consider.
But I have already exceeded my waiting tolerances and it will likely come down to a new Epson laser depending on reviews or an N5.

I do like the filmic look and JVC gives you that with Epson generally cited as a more digital look.

Warbie · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:51

I reckon you'll get between 1300-1400 calibrated on an N5. I don't own one so don't quote me on it. You could wait for the refresh, but it's bound to be more pricey for much the same - so it depends how much you value hdmi 2.1. The real value is the lumens coupled with dtm and decent contrast, which should be the same/similar for both. Perhaps the refresh will have the edge in motion? We'll find out. I personally wouldn't consider any epson over an N5, but it also comes down to your particular requirements. Re. dtm - you'll need to factor in another solution for that if not going for the jvc and as you pointed out, that's at least a grand. As good as madvr is on PC, it doesn't handle tone mapping on streaming services - so if that's a requirement the Envy or Lumagen are the only options and they cost bucks.

3t3P · 4 Oct 2021 at 11:20

I think you're roughly right in that it comes away from calibration with respectable lumens, certainly enough for 120" screen sizes at sensible cinematic foot Lamberts.

Some have compared the Epson's to the JVC and said JVC wasn't twice as good for twice the money.

HDMI 2.1 I don't have any faith in consoles consistently hitting over 60fps so am relatively happy to switch my ps5 to 60fps mode and reduce tearing that way.

If I get rid of my TV which I am by no means attached to being an H6400 1080p 55" Samsung the new Epson laser has the advantage of being used as a TV in the day time, maybe shrinking it's image down to 65-75" or so for bright viewing and making another profile for 120" for films when it's darker/curtains drawn.

Firing up an N5 for that is a bit more baller with JVC bulb money!

Warbie · 4 Oct 2021 at 11:51

For sure! Laser suits that more, altho i'd be more inclined to keep a TV for regular daytime shows/gaming and a pj for longer sessions. Re. value with more expensive pjs - it's diminishing returns as always, but with certain price brackets that make sense given performance. I wouldn't consider a pj without decent tone mapping, for example, as 90% of what I watch/play is HDR and I don't have an external processor. So another pj wouldn't be good enough for what I consider to be a basic requirement.