The Offical Epson 8350 Owners Thread - Page 237

On another note, I just got through doing the trig calculations to see if my ceiling fan will be in the way of the projected image hitting the screen and I can say after double checking my numbers that I should have about 0.75" of clearance.

This is coming from the Mits HC1500 that is on an inexpensive ceiling mount which puts the lens 11" from the ceiling to the Peerless mount that puts the Epson only 7.8" from the ceiling. Luckily I had about 4.5" to spare when I measured the distance between the HC1500 light beam and fan blade. The math would seem simple but I also needed to compensate for the EPSON being 3" closer to the fan, hence needing to do a little trig to check the angle of the light beam.

The good news is I don't believe I will need to purchase a ceiling plate and down rod just to clear the fan blades, saving me $55.

I purchased the 8350 new for $1080 (including shipping), I was hoping to get in on a refurb deal but it just didn't work out, so I paid an extra $180 that I didn't quite plan on. This with the new $110 mount, my projector upgrade is adding up. Saving a little on not needing the extra hardware makes me feel a little better.

Thanks for the response. What's the optimal throw distance for 120"? I didn't think it mattered just as long as you were within the range that you can zoom to fit the screen? I read the only real difference is the further away from the screen the better the contrast and the closer the brighter the image. Guess that isn't exactly true?

I would not believe the contrast is better with the projector positioned further from the screen, particularly since the brightness of the image decreases with throw distance.

If you are within Epson's recommended throw distance for your screen size, I suppose I would expect the image to be crisp. Just do a search for Epson Projector Calculator and put in your numbers. From what I see you are within the range of 11'-9" to 25'-1" so you should be fine.

You say you have a Favi electric screen, is it very flat? When I setup my dedicated HT I went with a Carada Precision series fixed screen, high contrast grey since my room is fully light controlled. The screen is stretched nearly perfectly flat across the aluminium frame. I sure hope my new Epson will be just as sharp, if not more so, than my current 720p Mits.

anyone experience when playing movie and the screen pretty much delay? the motion when fast screen it won't keep up like stutter looking...THe movie file is .mvk as bluray.

I hook up HTPC to Onkyo receiver then to Epson 8350. I don't know if there is a setting to fix this issue? THanks.

Well it's only been about three weeks since receiving my 8350, but I just can't believe what you get for 1000.00.

This projector is INCREDIBLE.

If I said it once, I must of said 100 times to my wife, if you get this quality for a grand, I could only imagine what a "high" end unit looks like.

But I have to ask, can it get better then this, I don't see how. I am sure some will disagree, but those are only the "I spent more, so mine is better a-holes".

I have mine projecting on a Valpex 100 inch Tension Screen. These two together, make for a great combination.

I just have one question, what video source/DVD do you use as a focusing tool. I have what I think is perfect focusing, but just curious to see if there might be a better disk to use for focusing.

Thanks.

Yes it can get better. Better sharpness, black levels, color accuracy, motion handling, and 3d. That said the 8350 does deliver great bang for the buck. I use Digital Video Essentials for calibration and focus tests.

Well replacement number two has gone back as well The convergence was still way off. Not inches like before but probably 4 pixels wide. You could see a 1/4 inch purple shadow plain as day around any text from about 8 feet away. This is after Epson promised they would check it before sending it out. I know we can keep going with replacments till i get a good one but in reality I find it a pain. I wish I had gone with something else. Rant over

Still haven't seen any users with over 1000 hours. Maybe there are some and I've missed it, but it looks like most of us have had to get a replacement unit before that. Currently I'm on 224 hours on my 2nd unit (3rd really, the first replacement had problems too) and all is well. My first projector was fine until around 350 hours, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Still wondering if everyone has to re-focus every time they use the projector. I have to and it bothers me but I am generally happy with the great picture.

No I have been using mine for about a month now, and have only focused once. Is your projector mounted securely, there could be movement of the projector, which would cause the refocusing problem you are having.

Have you tired wedging that yellow foam that came with the projector in there so that the ring doesn't move, or are you saying it goes out of focus without the ring moving?

Mine sits on a shelf near the ceiling and has been in focus from day one, even with 3 subwoofers working.

Shelly

That's what I am thinking, this guy probably doesn't have it mounted right.

After all it is a manual focus, so there's no way it could go out of focus on its own.

Either it's getting bumped , someone is messing with it, or it's not securely mounted.

End of story.

No, never (had mine about 1 year).

What you might need is some friction between the focus ring and the zoom ring.

I bet a 3.25" rubber VCR belt (or similar) would work nicely. The belt itself should be 1/8" to 1/4" ... round would be ideal. A nice big rubber-band might also work. Or maybe, rubber-tubing over a zip-tie, thin wire, or string. Not too tight. DO NOT use tape or anything with any glue on it.

They shouldn't need anything. Send it back to Epson. Why should he trouble shoot anything.

My projector is enclosed in a fairly small cabinet with a glass door. It is ventilated by a thermostatically controlled fan. There is no chance the focus ring is being moved by anyone but me and the ring is stiff enough to move that I know it is not slipping.

The only explanation I have is that as the unit heats up, it has to be refocused. I only have to do this once per viewing session. It is especially noticeable when playing games on the PS3. It's the text that makes the focus, or lack of it, noticeable.

I can't imagine any manufacture defect that is responsible for this but I guess I should call Epson and see what they say. I have 550 hours on the projector.

I'd have to conclude it's getting far too hot in that cabinet and the temperature swings are causing your issues. IMHO, never a good idea to put anything that can generate this kind of heat into an enclosed space unless a lot of expensive engineering and equipment has been provided to maintain a safe and constant environment and temperatures.

Never put a FP in a cabinet.Even with fans.You need room for it to breath.Your focus problem is due to heat I bet.

Last I checked (a few weeks ago) I was well over 2000 hours. No real problems, just the usual unit-to-unit quirks.

While the lens shift seems pretty slack, focus, once set, should be solid. The biggest thing is prior to focusing, the unit should be well-warmed... like at least an hour, to get everything thermally settled. Of course, that may mean it's not perfectly focused at subsequent start-ups... but should drift back in as it warms up!

Sorry, I never followed up on this.

I did take the 8345 back to Futureshop for a replacement. I could have mailed it to Epson, and probably got an 8350 back in exchange (+200 lumens, supposedly), but Epson only ships via Purolator, and their shipping depot is inconvenient to get to. Canada Post or UPS would have been nice.

Anyhow, the replacement model is improved, still not perfect but better. With this unit, the convergence issue is not visible on video content as it was on the previous un it, so it's good enough.

I bought a screen for my projector towards the end of March, a Da-Lite Theater-Lite, which is an 80" 16:9 portable unit with a 2.2 gain screen and a 45 degree viewing angle ("Wide Power" surface). It's a huge improvement over my bare wall, and even though it's not perfectly flat (it's a portable unit with only one telescoping bar behind the screen), it's good enough and the slight wave isn't noticeable on video content. Considering this thing cost me like $250 or so, I'm thrilled.

I've been living with this setup for the past few months now (only a month or so of use on the screen), for television watching, movie watching, gaming, etc. I'm very happy with it, and don't at all regret my decision to buy this setup instead of a 50+" samsung HDTV. I'm also a huge proponent of lens shift, even more so than I was before (more on that in a bit). In the future, I will not buy any projector that does not have lens shift, point finale. It's just too handy, allowing more flexibility in placement. In my case, it's on top of a bookshelf behind my couch (my apartment is ~360 sqft, my 80" screen is rather insane for a place this size, which is awesome), and this sort of setup would be completely impossible without lens shift and a decent amount of zoom.

This projector has also spoiled me. I work for a convention where I'm in charge of, among other things, projector purchases/management for panels, workshops, and video screenings. We own 22 projectors of varying ages, all but 2 being DLP office projectors (try finding a 4500 lumen home theatre projector for under a thousand bucks to drive a 180" screen), and only two of them have lens shift, and even though those two are actually rather crappy projectors, they're still precious just because of the flexibility they offer us in placement.

Another way in which the Epson has spoiled me is colour reproduction; I get great and accurate colour at home, but our convention projectors are terrible in that regard. I can't count how many meetings we've had where the art department has had to explain "No, really, that purple outfit on the mascot really looks red on my laptop!" or something similar.

Has anyone noticed a hue shift when the auto iris darkens the screen? When I play movies through my AppleTV3 it is really noticeable on the bottom play time display bar. Before the movie starts and the screen goes black as it loads, the time bar goes from the normal silvery bar to a red and the blue tint and gets extremely dim and dull, when the movie start playing it pretty much goes away, probably because the iris opens up. This does not happen when auto iris is off. Just wondering if anyone else has seen this…

Received my Peerless PRG-UNV projector mount last night and finally got my new 8350 mounted to the ceiling.

My first impressions:
1) Picture is nice and bright.
2) My first LCD projector, so I'm now seeing the differences between my old DLP projector and this one. The typical DLP vs LCD debate. Not sure which I like better yet.
3) The unit is so quiet it's no longer the only thing I hear in my HT room. I don't even hear the auto-iris.
4) The Dynamic Picture mode setting is terrible with my Dish Satellite source. Makes the picture all jagged and pixelated when there is motion on the screen.
5) Lots of tweaking to do, but out of the box, Cinema mode looks best to me.

I'll post more on my upgrade experience after I have put some hours on the unit.

vladd,

Did you every do this?

You guys are killing me! My 8350 has been sitting in its box since February, waiting for me to finish the basement. I'm drooling...and keeping my fingers crossed.

I will post some pictures of my setup, that should help get your basement finished a little sooner.

I'd suggest you at least set it up and test it out, even if it's on a wall. IF something is wrong, you will be able to get a new replacement, but only in the first few months. Then you're in the refurb cycle. Just my two cents!

Replacement number three arrived tonight. I think it is brand new. Doesn't matter though. This one is DOA!!!! Tried to fire it up and the temp light flashed red. Manual says faulty fan or faulty sensor. Ie send it back.

I am thinking of asking for a better model. Maybe refurb 8700?? And paying the difference. Anyone have any luck with something like this or any luck with getting money back???

Just set up my 8350 the other day and I'm still playing with the settings. I have mine installed in my basement where I can get the lighting levels next to nothing. Without having to look through 237 pages of info, can somebody recommend some calibration settings for viewing movies and for playing xbox games in virtual darkness?

Sorry to hear you are going on replacement number 4, do you think maybe units are getting damaged in shipping?

Put a few hours on mine last night, picture looked good, no convergence issues that I can see, and I'm loving how quiet the unit is.

Sorry about the bad luck. Unfortunately, getting a replacement projector should not come down to luck of the draw. It sounds like you have done everything you can do going through normal channels. Not sure what you need to do but it's definitely time to take it to the highest level. Best of "luck"!