The official Epson 8700UB thread - Page 71

Yep I do have control....but I am told that Elite is really a cheapie brand and I should suck it up and spend a few more dollars on the Da-Lite.

I guess I was wondering if I have lights on over the bar - say 20ft away, yet I have my OPEN theater lights all off, with dark ceiling, etc...in the basement no other light...is the white the way to go...seems like it will be for sure.

love my elite. looks great. easy assembly great price

So Im thinking of purchasing an 8700UB to replace my aging Sanyo Z2000. Aside from the Epson being a louder projector overall, are there any other 'drawbacks' I should be aware of? I have no experience with Epsons, but I hear their customer service and replacement policy is top notch.

I guess Im just asking, what are the typical issues I can expect? I already know about convergence, although my Sanyo had at least 1 pixel offset on the red , so I am used to that. Any issues with premature bulb life, or other such things? Thanks.

Just finished installing my 8700UB... Paired with a 106" JKP Affinity screen and can honestly say this is like a dream.... Agree with a previous poster that it's awfully hard to calibrate this thing with the auto iris enabled. Anyone have any calibration tips for this already finely tuned piece of art?

Congrats on your purchase!

Yes you need to perform your calibration with the auto iris off and then turn it back on when you are done.

I highly recommend stereomandans guide to calibrating Epson projectors to any of you new Epson owners. The after calibration image is simply stunning!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1134710

Thanks! I'll check it out...

screen shots please

Getting ready to pull the trigger on the 8700UB. Will be in a 14x18 ft basement room with no windows. Anticipate seating at 12 to 13 ft and a throw distance of 14 to 16 ft. Walls and carpet are light beige and the ceiling is white. Don't plan to re-paint at this time but it would be an option in the future. Will the above set up work with a 120" 16x9 screen? Have read through the threads and it seems that some think that this screen size might be too large but others go larger. Will be used for Blueray and HDTV. The elite screen calculator indicates this should work but not sure how negative an impact the walls, ceiling, etc will have. Was planning on a white screen rather that grey given absence of ambient light.
Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

Jim

Jim,

I am in the same boat as you and I am 99% sure it will work. I am just confused as to what screen I want, white or grey. I bet I've read 1,000 pages trying to verify it will work and based on everything I've seen. You should be good.

My gut says white, but I am afraid that once a year, like the superbowl per say...what will happen. I can totally light control in the basement and can have NO LIGHTS near the screen, but I have a bar/pool table are that would have recessed can lights.

It would be great for others to give their real world experience.

You have a light controlled room so go with the 120" white you will be fine. I would recommend you paint at least the screen wall and first part of the ceiling black as it will really help cut down on reflections and increase your perceived contrast. For reference I am using a 120" 16x9 Jamestown white 1.3 gain screen in a room with full light control. I shelf mounted my projector so it is 16 feet back. I am using THX mode calibrated but I do have to have the lamp on normal at this distance. I think the picture is amazing and so do all of my guests. If I didn't want to have the chandelier that I have in my room, I would have mounted it at the min throw distance (about 12.5' for 16x9) and would be able to use ECO mode for sure. Bottom line is I think 120" is about perfect, I definitely would not go smaller and if you go any bigger like 135" you will definitely need to use normal lamp mode. I have no problem using normal, it is only a little louder, I got a free extra bulb when I bought it and Epson will replace the bulb for the duration of the warranty so I am not worried about bulb life right now @ about 500 hours now.

Thanks for the input. Just the sort of info I was looking for.

Jim

Yep same here....

Your welcome guys. Yes go with the white, The 8700 has really good contrast ratio and I remember someone talking about they got a grey in a light controlled room and it did more bad than good due to calibration and brightness issues. Also for more reference when I watch football I have the door open and the back lights in the room on (17' distance), I put the projector in living room or dynamic and it is great, the colors are not quite as accurate since I have not taken the time to calibrate those modes yet but it is most definitely bright enough and looks good! Also having the back lights on low with the door closed I can watch the thx calibrated mode with out too much of a hit if someone wants to read while watching, I don't do that for movies but tv it's fine. Also since getting this setup about a year ago my wife and I watch everything in the theatre room it's that awesome to us. Basically the 50" plasma in the living room has become our four year olds personal kids movie/cartoon display, all though she likes to have "party night" in the theatre room with all her stuffed animals because as she says "movies are the best in the theatre room!"

Is anyone doing hardcore gaming with this projector? Im thinking Battlefield Bad Company 2 or similar on a PS3 or XBOX. Im worried about the lag of ~ 50ms (for what I researched) compared to 10-20ms on a lower en Epson 8350.

Can anyone chime in? This is the only thing now keeping me from buying the 8700UB, and I really don't want to go with the cheaper 8350 and lose the blacks...

I need advice from you!! My two week old 8700ub ordered from the projectorpeople.com displays a blue spot on the upper right hand side of my screen seen only during a black/dark screen. I called projector people and they said that its probably dust and to call epson for a replacement. I had called epson right away to find them helpful and responsive. I told them of my situation and they agreed to send a new projector. I asked the gentleman from epson if it would be a new unit since I had mine less than 30 days.....he said yes no problem you will be sent a new unit as a replacement. I was told FEDEX overnight and received three day USPS. On the side of the box said EPSON Refurbished. I was very upset to see this and notified Epson. They told me that they didn't have a new one to send me although i qualify for a new product. Amazed and defeated I turned to the shop I bought it from projectorpeople.com. I sent an email to the tech department there and two days later I am still waiting for a response. I know they are closed on the weekends but I emailed early enough friday to get a reply.
I paid for a new unit and I am promised a refurb...if I wanted a refurb i would have found one for cheaper than I paid for the new one. What do you think I should do? Epson let me down and was basically shown the highway with my request for the new one. I did send back the refurb on sat because I didn't want it. I think the projectorpeople.com should send me a new projector and handle this with epson!! Thanks and btw...most of the picture is amazing..

Epson will eventually send you a new one, I'm sure they're just out of stock. I've had it happen to me. You can return and have it swapped out indefinitely with Epson until you're happy.

In the off chance there's no new ones left, then the vendor should be able to take care of you, or at least work out something with Epson like you keep a good refurb, but they extend your warranty to a third year. It's all possible if you talk to the right person! Be kind but persistent, and it'll work itself out.

After all the research and what-not. Decided to get one. Seems like its one of the best projectors for the price, and I found it for a pretty low price, 1899.00

visualapex.com/Epson/Projector-Specifications.asp?For-The=Home-Cinema-8700-UB&SE=PReviews&KW=8700UB

Thats with a free bulb and free 2 day shipping. From reading many pages of posts, I guess there is always a chance of getting a lemon, but it appears to be the perfect model for my room set up. Here we go :-)

Anecdote...watched the new release of Revenge of the Sith today, and found I preferred the low setting on frame interpolation over 4:4 pull-down. I was feeding the PJ 24p. The image was much smoother and didn't suffer from a "soap opera effect".

I'm wondering if this pj can handle a 2.35:1 screen around 115" - 130" wide. Will it be bright enough, even after the bulb dims in a year? I have the ability to ceiling mount it anywhere from 12.5 feet to 19 feet throw. I will be sitting 19 feet from the screen.

I have the same question, only using a Jamestown screen. Worried about bulb dimming after 1000 hours. 125" 2.35 screen (to fill that would require the same brightness as a 135" 16:9 right?).

thanks in advance

I'm thinking of getting a Jamestown screen as well, not sure if I want a 130" 16:9, or have them build me a custom 2.35:1.

Please help.

I can feed my 8700UB either a 1080i or a 480i signal over HDMI and I want to know user opinions on what looks best for them. I have tried both but panning looks a little jittery with either one. Which resolution with what settings on the 8700UB should provide the best picture quality with DVDs?

Thanks,

Bill

The new 8700UB just arrived yesterday. No screen or sound system yet, but hooked up a new PS3 and projected a 120"(diagonal) image on the beige textured wall. My wife and I were amazed at the picture quality! Just looks fantastic using the THX setting out of the box. Can't wait for the screen to arrive (120" Jamestown matte white) and the receiver. I usually use DVD-E or Avia to calibrate but I'm not sure how much this PJ will benefit from it. Thanks again for the advice provided on the forum.

Jim

Great to hear you like it. What's your throw distance and are you using THX mode with normal lamp?

Thanks!

It's at about 14 or 15 ft now. Anticipate 16 ft for the final set up. Using normal lamp mode now but hope that eco mode will work when the screen arrives.

Jim

FYI I am using the Jamestown 120" 16x9 and 8700 at 16 foot throw and the image is great! I will tell you though that after about 250 hours the bulb dimmed just a bit to where in thx mode I needed to run the lamp in normal mode. As good as the stock thx looks I calibrated it using stereomandans guide with a colorimeter and the picture looks even better! Look back a few posts in you will see another post I made about with a link! Also check out my posts about the Jamestown screen in the jamestown vs elite thread on mounting advice. Enjoy your setup I know you will!

good information.

this seems to suggest that after 5-700 hours it may be too dim even in normal+THX mode. :-(

Another reason I'm holding back on this pj. I really want it, but the brightness issues and dimming are making me think twice. I want a very large screen.

@bassage,
You may want to get a screen that has a 2.2 gain if your wanting to go really big.

I wouldn't worry about the brightness...keep in mind you can calibrate the other modes and they look very good. As a matter of fact I just calibrated living room mode on eco and it looks just as good to me as my calibrated thx mode except its honestly too bright right now.. my bulb is at about 500 something hours and it has not changed in brightness yet since the initiall dimming at abou 250. So I am not worried about it when thx gets too dim I will switch to the calibrated living room mode.