*Official* Epson Home Cinema 8100 owners thread! - Page 58

Well, I doubt if you get many folks willing to open up their unit to check the name/part # on their bulb. But the carton on my refurb until from VA was marked "refurbished" in several places. It's no secret that many CE manufacturers clear out remaining stock of discontinued models by marking them "refurbished" and blowing them out at discount prices. But almost always they only give a limited 90 days warranty. So if Epson is going to got the trouble & expense of offering these significantly discounted units with the same full 2 year warranty as the units that sold for full retail got, plus extend the bulb warranty to the same 2 years, doesn't it seem likely that they would swap out the old bulbs for ones from the new vendor and save themselves headaches and expense down the road??? (The Epson tech support rep I spoke to did tell me the bulb warranty was extended to 2 years, but ONLY after he brought up my product registration info).

I don't think you are a "troll", just someone who is very thorough at investigating before buying, and very persistent at getting the answer you want. But look, no CE product is perfect, check into any one of them and you will find something from someone who was not 100% satisfied. The highly regarded Panasonic AE4000 has several owners reporting dust blobs accumulating in the lens. I've had mine for 2 years last Dec, and with 1400 hours it has worked perfectly. The Panny AX200 has reports of developing large yellow spots on the image. I got rid of mine last week to make room for the 8100, and 3 years & 1150 hours it worked perfectly. I do think the few who report problems make a larger impact then the many for whom the product worked fine. Few are going to go to the trouble of posting on a forum "hey, BTW, I've had XXXX now for 4 years and never a problem". Those who do have a problem are far more likely to post about it, if not to complain to at least seek information on their problem.

At some point you're going to have to decide either this is a very good projector at a great price and excellent warranty, and take the plunge and keep your fingers crossed - or not, and move on.

Almost every "old timer"/expert member will tell you to wait until the bulb has at least 30 hours on it to be "burned in" before calibrating. But the review tomd51 linked to in post #1701 has some good settings to start with. I tried them last night. I liked the first 9 settings for contrast through Gama, but when I tried the offset and brightness for Red, Green & Blue I didn't like the colors and reverted them back to the default 0 and just stuck with the first 9 settings. This is with a Blu-ray disc and using the Theater color mode which he recommends. I tried all the modes and also like Theater mode as the most natural. I have and recommend the Spears & Munsil calibration disc, and I'll use it at around 40 hours on the lamp.

EDIT: tomd51's link worked yesterday but I just checked it and now it just goes to the main page of hometheaterhifi.com. Here's another link to their review of the 8100, page 3 that has the recommended settings.

CochiseGuy!
Thanks for your helpful advise and understanding where I'm coming from. I have been researching this the last few days and I'm very conflicted. It does sound like I have to actually buy the unit for them to tell me 2 years, fair enough. Now we all know this and hopefully if others in future comment on it, we have the right response.

Yeah, many products , even when AWESOME, have a few people that always find something bad to complain about. I do realize this is a Great projector and just concerned about bulb life, I guess it takes a few years to get data on. Still not sure what percentage of 8100 owners get the 700 hour POP, but it does seem a little like the xbox 3 rings of death situation (xbox 360 is a AWESOME gaming system but early models did have overheating problem) .
My main concern is still this, is the unit itself defective from a overheating perspective because of the design , therefore burning out the bulb, or is it the defective bulb causing the problem. I'm hoping that it is a bulb problem because if it is not, then every 1,000 hours I will have to figure in 250 dollars a POP after 2 years.

I think I'm still undecided but if I buy it , it will come with 2 years on bulb which is good. Except for the bulb issue I would have bought it already.

rgtaa - Here's a thought: What is Fry's return policy? I bought from Visual Apex and their return policy is 10 days & under 5 hrs. use no return charge, up to 30 days & under 50 hrs. use, 20% restocking fee. If Fry's has something like that you could buy a unit, register it, and then call or email Epson support with the serial # and confirm then they will cover the bulb for 2 years at no charge you'll feel confident in keeping it. Should the bulb goes out at 700 hours, you get a new bulb free and should be able to sell it with a brand new bulb for pretty much what you paid for it.

In checking eBay, completed listings, one sold on 1/26 with 195 hrs. for $770, another sold on 1/24 with 400 hrs. + new spare bulb for $732.

The price you are looking at is a great deal for a great product. I've had my 8100 since it first came out with zero problems. If you do have a problem, my experience with other Epson products has been nothing but positive. I've had other items replaced or repaired out of warranty by them in the past. It is rare that a company will stand behind their products but Epson does, just read through this thread. Like I said, I've had zero problems with my 8100 but if I do, I am not concerned. With electronics, you never know. I just took my Onkyo 1007 out of my system due to an audio output failure. My standby Onkyo 606 which had an HDMI board failure was repaired and is now up and running while the 1007 gets fixed. The 1007 is out of warranty, but from what I've seen, they are repairing out of warranty. If not, I bought it with my AMEX card which gives an extra year of warranty. That is something you might want to look into. Buy it with a card that gives a free extended warranty or buy a bulb warranty. I did that with my Samsung DLP which gave me piece of mind plus a free bulb. Don't sweat the bulb too much or you won't enjoy using it. I still grin every time I turn the 8100 on, definitely a worthwhile purchase.

Search this thread for tompace settings. He posted some pretty damn nice settings according to his setup, although he said it was for a +2 gain grey screen. Looks pretty good on mine, but I had to do my own tweaks for brightness, but color was great.

The 8100 wont do 2.35, so you have to do the zoom thing people do for a 2.35 image.

I still only have about 16 hours on my 8100, stupid finals have me busy. But in a few days I should be ready to put some massive hours on it and also my Disney World of Wonder blu ray should be in. I am sure a recalibration is in place.

Question - is there a keystone adjustment setting in the menu? As you can see in the below photos, I'm suffering from "keystoning."

GO GIANTS!!!! (screenshots capture via cell phone camera)

anyone using this latest calibration from tompace on a white screen with 1.0 gain?

this calibration was done on a grey screen with 1.8 gain, not sure how different it's going to be on a white screen.

thanks

Not that I can find in searching in the manual PDF. It looks like your projector isn't centered on the projection area and you have it angled to the right to compensate? Have you tried centering the pj straight ahead, centered in the projection area, and then use lens throw to move the image to the right as needed?

I was very impressed & please with how the game looked on the 8100. Great game too, whoever won, but a plus the good guys won.

how do you make sure your image is centered?

i try placing the pj right in the middle of my screen, but that doesn't guaranteed that the jp is centered. many variables to take into account; tape measurement inaccuracies, walls not perfectly straight, etc.

I checked the manual - no keystone option. I think you are right. I need to play around with the placement on the shelf. I'll let you know if that works. Game looked amazing. Had some family and neighbors over...their jaws dropped when they saw the size of the image - 150" .... I'm very pleased so far.

smokarz - I have yet to calibrate or even adjust the settings. I just rented Kung Fu Panda 2 on Blu-ray. I am going to watch that tonight - but not before I input the TomPace settings. You asked about screen gain/color - my advice is to just try his settings. You never know - might look amazing. If not, you may need to adjust a few things here and there.

Well, centered as much as possible, doesn't have to be exact. Using the Pattern button on the remote, the center vertical bar should be directly in front of the lens, then use the horizontal lens shift to move the image left or right as needed.

thanks coch. i'll try that to center my projector.

anyway, just sold my optoma hd65 and bought the epson 8100 from AV. really looking forward to it.

I eliminated about 98 percent of the keystoning by adjusting the feet on the projector. Couple more tweaks and it'll be perfect.

I just finished calibrating the 8100 with TomPace's settings. Looks good (although a tad dim) - about to watch Kung Fu Panda 2 (Blu-ray) in a few minutes. I'll report back.

cool, take some pictures if you can. we love pictures around here.

are you using the settings i posted in #1718?

also, i'll be mounting my projector on the ceiling so can't do much with the feet.

anyone uses this VideoSecu universal mount?

http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Univ...8586400&sr=1-1


where do i get M4x9mm screws for mounting? Lowes, Home Depot, or online?

thanks!

found this M4-0.7 x 6mm screws at home depot? are these the right screws?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...&storeId=10051

You like photos taken with my camera phone? LOL Still haven't figured out how to take good photos. My projected image is like the Matrix..."Unfortunately, no one can be told how nice a projected image is. You have to see it for yourself (in person)."

Here's a photo anyway...came out a bit green on the capture, but I assure you - it was pristine.

Yep, I used the settings you posted in #1718. After I inputted the settings, I saved it into the projector memory.

Ah yes, I hadn't thought of that since I use a ceiling mount. If you have a level and put it on top of the projector that can help with the tweaks. I used a level on top of the projector and just had to twist the projector on the ceiling mount to get it level. The pic does look a bit green, but I'm not the greatest photographer either. I tried to take some pics of the SB halftime show but my digital camera uses flash and long aperture opening in the dark environment so the pic comes out fuzzy with motion distortion unless I pause the picture, which I can't do with HDTV. I'll try to take some pics of Cleopatra UK BD.

Not sure where to post this...I have an 8100 with a Pio VSX-23 and wanted to try the 12volt trigger. If I connect the 2, can I make the Pio trigger the PJ to turn on? I can't seem to find the answer anywhere and they both say "trigger out".

Thanks

I believe the trigger out on the 8100 is for sending a signal to lower an electric projector screen whenever the projector is turned on, I don't believe it will work in the capacity you are looking for. -TD

ok, so different calculators are putting out different numbers. which is correct?

what's the optimal throw distance for a 110" screen? 14ft, 17ft, 20ft?

i assumed the ideal situation is not having to use the zoom at all? or half of the zoom?

thanks,

I'm sure someone will chime in with an intelligent response here, but in my opinion, I would prop the projector up on a tall shelf and experiment. I have mine about 14 feet away from the screen and use the zoom lens to fill my entire wall. Just try a bunch of zoom adjustments at different throw distances and find out what YOU think looks the best.

The zoom is available to essentially allow you to accommodate for the available screen size. Using no zoom at all is ideal as you'll be able to take full advantage of the lumens and resolution of the projector, however this is rarely if ever practical. A common average screen size for the Epson HC projectors is 110", so using a smaller screen will give you more lumens and possibly better resolution, though the second may not be perceptible.

I think Mackey's got the right idea in that there is no 'one size fits all' solution, so do some experimenting and see what works best in your environment. -TD

agreed. trial and error would be best in this situation, however i have to mount my pj on the ceiling and def don't want to mount/unmount it to try out.

i think i'll go with the numbers from projectorcentral, that one seems to make sense.

Definitely use the calculator. I was suggesting to also use a very tall shelf (if you have one) to get the projector closer to the ceiling - then you can mess with lens shift and the zoom lens to see what you like best.

I'm projecting approximately a distance of 14 ft. to a 92" screen and there's no loss of lumens or resolution. I believe this fell close to the mid-point of PC's calculator for the 8100 using a slight bit of zoom.

Am I the only posting photos/screenshots of the 8100??

Even though I have my own 8100, I want to see other members' setups.

Come on, people!

my 8100 haven't arrive yet.

also, i am in the process of building a new screen. lol

You are missing out. I borrowed today, via my local library, the following Blu-ray discs:

The Dark Knight
Casino Royale
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith

Time to push the 8100 to the max this weekend!