Projector upgrade from Epson TW5200

olv

olv

olv

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I have had my Epson TW5200 for five years now and it is my only TV that I use for everything (which is FreeSat, Netflix, Amazon, SkyF1, YouTube and the odd Blu-ray).

I like not having a normal TV and project onto a bare wall that I painted with one of the DIY mixes of light grey and aluminium paint. The image is about 90”.

I’d like to upgrade it to get a brighter picture with greater contrast as I often watch when it’s bright out and with all white walls and ceiling light control is an issue.

I won’t consider a DLP projector as the rainbow effect gives me a headache. Equally I don’t think 4K offers much for me over 1080 so not that fussed about that.

The TW5600 looks like the current direct replacement for mine but the bump in lumens seems fairly modest (2000 vs 2500) although that is a 25% bump and the contrast spec is higher. I’m worried that it would not give that ‘wow’ factor that I want from an upgrade.

The TW6700 is 3000 lumens which seems like a decent bump in brightness but at £1200 I begin to wonder if a 65” TV would be a more practical option.

So my question is really to those with experience of projectors in the £1000-£1500 bracket, what would you go for? What will give me an impressive improvement in image quality. And given that I am largely happy how the 5200 has performed over the past five years but does struggle when it’s bright, should I just get a big TV?

Thoughts appreciated. Thanks!
 
As much as I love projectors, in a white room without decent light control you're always going to struggle to get that pop from the picture. Get a big TV.
 
lucid said:
As much as I love projectors, in a white room without decent light control you're always going to struggle to get that pop from the picture. Get a big TV.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Appreciate your input. Although I didn’t want that to be the answer :p
 
I know.

The problem is though that we don't perceive brightness in linear terms. Going from 2000 to 2500 ANSI won't seem like a big jump unless your current lamp has started to dull and you're running the new projector in some sort of Dynamic mode. There's also the question of how the manufacturers arrive at their quoted brightness figures; the pictures could be unwatchable because all the settings are geared to get just the most light on screen.

Contrast can help, but only up to a certain point. It very much depends which end of the brightness spectrum they're getting the extra contrast gains from. Put a bigger lamp in a projector and it will boost the light output (the max white part of the picture), but at the same time it could knacker the black level (darkest part of the picture) and so make the total contrast worse rather than better. The trick then is to do something in the light path to improve the blacks. With LCD projectors, it's about how effective the pixels are at blocking any unwanted light, and after that they lean heavily on dynamic iris tech to make the blacks blacker and keep the whites brighter... but not at the same time.

Fiddling around with the lamp power will give a small gain in perceived contrast; but tinkering with the black level will make a massive difference to the measured figures.

On top of all of this you have the room and the ambient light. Where the light in the room is brighter than the darkest half of the picture, it doesn't matter how much extra contrast was gained in the blacks, you'll never see it because the room light is washing it out. A TV doesn't have this problem. Black is the colour of the screen rather than the absence of light hitting a white wall.
 
Ooo, yeah it does. Thanks, it’s even a little bit less on Amazon. Probably worth a go
 
I bought a 5650 about 9 months ago, in a low light room have to run in eco lowest brightness mode as it’s so bright !! In daylight can flick it to normal, but it’s still competing with natural light so never as punchy as TV.
Run in higher brightness settings remember more heat equals greater fan noise. I always dim the room so it works great for us as I need both vertical and horizontal key stone adjustment.
 
Epson TW7400 has been £1299 on Amazon on two occasions lately. Keep an eye out.
 
Decided that I’m not ready to have a TV yet so I’ve just gone for a TW6700 from the Epson Outlet on eBay. It’s new but open box, £679. Seemed like good value.

Also painting the largest wall in the room (opposite the projector wall) a very dark colour to hopefully improve things a bit too.
 
Upgrade properly by painting all the walls a dark colour, not just one :p

My partner chose the new colour of the room in the end and it suddenly became a lovely dark Matt blue.
 
olv said:
I have had my Epson TW5200 for five years now and it is my only TV that I use for everything (which is FreeSat, Netflix, Amazon, SkyF1, YouTube and the odd Blu-ray).

I like not having a normal TV and project onto a bare wall that I painted with one of the DIY mixes of light grey and aluminium paint. The image is about 90”.

I’d like to upgrade it to get a brighter picture with greater contrast as I often watch when it’s bright out and with all white walls and ceiling light control is an issue.

I won’t consider a DLP projector as the rainbow effect gives me a headache. Equally I don’t think 4K offers much for me over 1080 so not that fussed about that.

The TW5600 looks like the current direct replacement for mine but the bump in lumens seems fairly modest (2000 vs 2500) although that is a 25% bump and the contrast spec is higher. I’m worried that it would not give that ‘wow’ factor that I want from an upgrade.

The TW6700 is 3000 lumens which seems like a decent bump in brightness but at £1200 I begin to wonder if a 65” TV would be a more practical option.

So my question is really to those with experience of projectors in the £1000-£1500 bracket, what would you go for? What will give me an impressive improvement in image quality. And given that I am largely happy how the 5200 has performed over the past five years but does struggle when it’s bright, should I just get a big TV?

Thoughts appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...
4k isn't just about the image quality when streaming 4k will give you access to superior sounds assuming you have a Atoms setup. You have to have a 4k projector to access Atmos sound via Netflix/Prime. Instead of getting a new projector why not get a good screen that will improve blacks and improve brightness and colours even in a light room? With a good ambient light rejecting screen you can improve contrast noticeably.
 
Thanks for all of the input. The TW6700 arrived today and initial impressions are really good. I am pleased so far and it’s a good deal brighter, even in eco power mode, and quieter too.
 
Glad your happy with it, I bought one from the Epson outlet and got the dreaded unable to focus issue that has something to do with an internal manufacturing defect. Sent it back and could not be bothered with another so went laser. It was amazingly bright but um rather on the large side for my stand :D
 
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