Epson Home Cinema 8100 - Page 2

Pretty breif review. Sounds like a good machine but where are the contrast measurements? This is the only area that is supposed to be an improvement on the 6100. Evan's comparison with the 6100 at the end only frustrates me more!

I logged on tonight to post this link but I see I've been beaten to it. :-)
Excited to hear that Projector Central feels the the panels are inorganic.
I note that Art at Projectorreviews.com states that he confirmed with a source at Epson that the panels are organic but we don't know the quality of his source- is it someone in the know or just a typical PR person who may have the specs confused with the 8100 or just now know whatsoever?
Anyway, the evidence so far tends to indicate that, even if the panels are organic, they seem to behave like inorganic panels now and will hopefully last similarly.
I doubt that I'd ever keep a projector for more than 10K hours, but I would like to know that I could concievably sell it/give it away at that point with a clear conscious.
The 6100s focus issues being corrected are a mega-plus.
I think my mind is made up...
And to think I ALMOST ordered an Optoma HD20.

I wish there would have been a good comparison between the 8100 and 6100. The only comparison was that the focus issue has been resolved. "It is a significant step beyond last year's 6100 in performance, and lower priced as well." Exactly what does he mean by perfomance?

What a crappy review.Worst ever for Evan.Really no mention of contrast levels.From what I read it sounds like the 6100'Just slighty improve.He never gave the 6100 it dues last year.Well hopefully Art will get it soon to review.

I don't know, the review was good for what it was, but I've never come to expect the Projector Central reviews to be as in depth as Art's reviews. At least it confirmed everyone's general suspicions though that the HC8100 will be an incremental step up from the HC6100, and will not exhibit the focusing problems or the historical image retention (aka burn-in) problems experienced with organic panels. If that's true, and it costs less than the HC6100, it's a great deal for consumers, and will certainly be one of the top contenders for what I'm considering, even though I still have a soft spot for DLP. Placement issues are making it tough though.

What can we make of Epson's claim of 4000 hrs in high mode or low? Is this accurate /possible from projector user's experience?

Probably obvious to all, but just wanted to state that one should not read too much into Projector Central's "inorganic" diagnosis. Good that the image persistence does not occur readily, but that does not prove anything; it could be just that the organic technology has improved sufficiently to get rid of this problem.

I agree, Astomusic. Without a statement from Epson, improved organic technology must be considered as a cause for the improvement.

I've been checking Art's site constantly for the last two days waiting for the 8100 "First look" post. I feel like a kid who can't wait for the car ride to end.

"Are we there yet". NO! (repeat 12 times)

Yah Art's post is up.

My reaction: meh.

What's up? I don't see anything new.

Oh, you mean his first look in his blog:

http://www.projectorreviews.com/blog...t-look-review/

Doesn't say anything more about whether he thinks its organic or not. 5-6 more days until full review.

Looks like no big improvment over the 6100.Glad I just bought the 6100.Also Art must not realise that the 6100 is selling for less than $1600 now.

Actually, projectorcentral does claim it's a big improvement.

"It is a significant step beyond last year's 6100 in performance"

I was hoping that this would match the performance of the Sanyo PLV3000. I'll be replacing my old Z2 pretty soon and I am hoping that there will be something new under $2000 street price that can match the 3000. If this thing did 24p and frame interpolation I would be sold.

They say that but with no specs to back that up.Arts says it is the same fp but with higher contrast'but not enough to really make a huge difference.The best thing about the 8100 it makes it entry at a lower price than the 6100 did.So by this time next year you could see it selling for alot less.

Interesting followup comments by art in his q and a blog:As to the 8100, I am a bit disappointed. With the doubling of the contrast to 36,000 I had hoped for blacks approaching the original 1080 UB, which claimed 50,000:1. Alas, it was not to be. I can see virtually no difference under normal viewing between the 8100 and the older 16,000:1 6100, other than on the very darkest (no bright areas at all), scenes.

doesn't seem like a big improvement to me

We'll probably have a better idea when the production units are available and reviewed.

Speaking of production, does anybody has any idea when we can place an order for this unit? Where can I buy it?

Well, on the projector central review, the projector place says you can call and place a preorder, I imagine you can do this at other places as well. No one is giving an eta though, we can only hope it's not any later than the late october period the epson press release suggested.

I was curious if Epson ever fixed the de-focusing issues on the 6100?

According to Projector Central they did...

Let the prognostication begin

http://www.projectorreviews.com/epso...8100/index.php

One thing i notice.Art mentions average sharpness.On the 6100 he said above average sharpness.I know the 6100 uses a fuginon lens.The blacks are only slighty improve.

That's the first thing I noticed as well. Very disappointing. My Panasonic 2000 has "average" sharpness. I need something noticably better than in order to retire my 2000.

I think he is being caution with all the new pjs that are coming out. Plus, he has seen a quite at CEDIA and as usual he does an update later on.

Unless full production models improve upon his unit I think there will be a lot of happy 6100 owners out there.

Well, for me the fact that it doea not have the focus instability of the 6100 is a pretty big deal. When I start watching something, I don't want to have to readjust focus after 45 minutes.

And when the reviewer for project central states this: "Now with the 8100, we have run the test sample for a couple hours on a static image to see if image persistence occurs. It does not. Rather, it behaves like all other 1080p models with inorganic panels that we've seen." To me that is a pretty good indication that the panels are not organic. They obviously test for this a lot with projectors, so I would think that is a pretty good sign myself.

I believe the focus issue was repaired on the 6100. You should contact Epson about that.

ehhh, it's kind of hit and miss still, not as bad as when the units first came out, but some take longer than to focus than some people might like

Yeah, and it's just not worth taking the chance IMO if you are in the market for a new projector, not when the 8100 is almost out. I will be waiting myself.