Epson EH-TW9400 Projector Review & Comments

Thanks for the review Steve - I have one of these and I love it. Agree motion isn't a strong point (I found the 9200 had better Frame Interpolation) but its bright, the colours pop, reasonably quiet, lens memory is great and the detail can be fantastic. I don't have a batcave. Also I find 3D needs a half hour or so of warm up time to get rid of crosstalk....after that the 3D is really good. I don't have it calibrated but have used many of the settings provided by some great AVF posters. :smashin:
 
It's worrying you could only get the gamma to 2, I wonder what it would be like with some hours on the panels as if it drops there will be nowhere to go.
 
I jsut bought this yesterday. I can't wait to set it up! I also got it for quite a bit less than the RRP. So shopa round and send emails asking for quotes!
 
Another great review Steve thanks. I currently have the TW7300 which is my first step into home projection. I use it in a family type room (non bar cave) on a white 1:1 gain tab tensioned screen. Although I’m really pleased I wonder if the TW7400 you mention or even the older TW9300’s would give me anything more image wise?
 
Have been extremely happy with mine this past year. Whilst I would like a native 4k panel I (like many I suspect) cannot justify the £4k additional uplift to get one.

So I am going to thoroughly enjoy this one until Epson come out with a 4k below £3k :laugh:
 
" but there is no way of changing this with the controls available. "

What about Custom Gamma ??? There's a ~8 point editor!

The TW9400 has the normal RGB Ofset/Gain for broad grey scale calibration, but NEW in this model is an 8 step Grey scale calibration on top. You can do a LOT better than in this review. Sorry!

I've detailed it in an FAQ i made for the projector. There's also a very active forum page

Oddly no mention of the THREE power levels. Low is pretty quiet, Medium isn't much noisier but high is quite loud if no competition for a decent sound system. Along with the switchable WCG filter in Cinema/Digital cinema you can customise the PJ for what you like. Happy with noise and HIGH power works great with 3D and WGC or if you have a massive screen. Smaller screen and less brightness and low power is great!

There's a HDR EOTF slider on the TW9400, another nice upgrade on the older 9300.

Also the Iris you can stopper down for less light output for smaller screens and Rec709 even if you don't want the dynamic iris, which does help in some cases, but certain credits you can notice some pumping!


It really is the no brainer at this price point since JVC stopped the X-series. Double plus for native 4K though arguably DLPs may be a bit sharper with 4x pixel shifting and single chip (though the 9400 does have a comprehensive panel alignment feature)
 
I heard that you can auto calibrate the Epson TW9400 with Calman, might be worth a shot. Sealed light path, wich projector have that?
 
" but there is no way of changing this with the controls available. "

What about Custom Gamma ??? There's a ~8 point editor!

The TW9400 has the normal RGB Ofset/Gain for broad grey scale calibration, but NEW in this model is an 8 step Grey scale calibration on top. You can do a LOT better than in this review. Sorry!
Have you actually tried it? Because it didn't work properly on the sample I had.
 
It's worrying you could only get the gamma to 2, I wonder what it would be like with some hours on the panels as if it drops there will be nowhere to go.
It might have been an issue with the sample Epson sent me, because the TW9300 that Phil reviewed had no problems hitting 2.4.
 
Hi ...... can any owner or Steve give an opinion on how much of the 2,600 lumens is usable please, especially at mid power setting?
(High power might be too intrusive sound wise?)
I have a very big screen that I don't use very often because my sony with 1,800 lumens doesn't light it up well enough so something like this with and extra 800 lumens might do the job.
I mainly use a smaller Dalite high power screen for most watching as brightness is addictive.
I'd only use the larger screen for blu-ray movies so hdr isn't an issue.
 
Fan noise is louder on 4k projectors as when it is given HDR content the Brightness shoots up and the Fan kicks off quite annoying
 
Hi ...... can any owner or Steve give an opinion on how much of the 2,600 lumens is usable please, especially at mid power setting?
(High power might be too intrusive sound wise?)
I have a very big screen that I don't use very often because my sony with 1,800 lumens doesn't light it up well enough so something like this with and extra 800 lumens might do the job.
I mainly use a smaller Dalite high power screen for most watching as brightness is addictive.
I'd only use the larger screen for blu-ray movies so hdr isn't an issue.

LCD projectors have always been bright due to the way they work, so will definitely be an improvement; however the Sony has richness and depth of colour that most LCDs cannot match, so make sure you try before you buy.

To be honest, from your description, I think you probably need a laser projector for your big screen.

Bill
 
Hi ...... can any owner or Steve give an opinion on how much of the 2,600 lumens is usable please, especially at mid power setting?
(High power might be too intrusive sound wise?)
I have a very big screen that I don't use very often because my sony with 1,800 lumens doesn't light it up well enough so something like this with and extra 800 lumens might do the job.
I mainly use a smaller Dalite high power screen for most watching as brightness is addictive.
I'd only use the larger screen for blu-ray movies so hdr isn't an issue.
I was testing the TW9400 on a 10 foot scope screen and even in the low lamp mode it had no problems. Granted I have a bat cave, but even so I don't think brightness will be an issue.
 
Another great review Steve thanks. I currently have the TW7300 which is my first step into home projection. I use it in a family type room (non bar cave) on a white 1:1 gain tab tensioned screen. Although I’m really pleased I wonder if the TW7400 you mention or even the older TW9300’s would give me anything more image wise?
Assuming you have the budget I'd get the TW9400, it's got plenty of brightness for those conditions and it's a more accomplished projector.
 
I’ve had a 9300W for getting on 3 years now and I haven’t found anything that comes close. The low fan noise in particular is what distinguishes this from the DLPs before it which all drove my partner nuts. I bought a second hand Sim2 HT3000E but it did not compare - not bright enough and just too noisy. This is the first PJ she has ever tolerated. I’ve even seen the new JVCs on occasion and they are good but I still prefer the image this thing throws on a React 2 screen. Watched Gemini Man the other day and the image quality was just amazing. I can’t see this PJ being replaced any time soon.
 
I’m torn between this and the BenQW2700.
I’ll be watching obviously loads of movies but also a lot of Sport, is the motion really that bad? 😧
 
Here a calibration report from yesterday on a new TW9400.
Not used the autocal function on this unit, but work poerfect. :)

Have to say good result.

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I currently have a JVC X35 which has been great, but it is knocking on in age a little now. I don't have a bat cave, and this has peaked my interest a little. I'd like to have a PJ that can accept 4k, as I route everything through my AV Receiver, which means I'm watching normal HD on a 4k OLED.

This looks like a decent upgrade, and there is no way I'd spend £ 5k on a projector as I have other priorities.

However, this non-sealed business and dust in the light path bothers me a little.

If I were unfortunate enough to get some dust in the light path, is it possible to have it cleaned or blown out like you can do with a cameras sensor ?
 
I currently have a JVC X35 which has been great, but it is knocking on in age a little now. I don't have a bat cave, and this has peaked my interest a little. I'd like to have a PJ that can accept 4k, as I route everything through my AV Receiver, which means I'm watching normal HD on a 4k OLED.

This looks like a decent upgrade, and there is no way I'd spend £ 5k on a projector as I have other priorities.

However, this non-sealed business and dust in the light path bothers me a little.

If I were unfortunate enough to get some dust in the light path, is it possible to have it cleaned or blown out like you can do with a cameras sensor ?

The X35 needs calibrating to look good. And sad to say, You might have an old lamp and a nice gamma drop in your JVC. That can all be corrected in a Pro calibration and is much cheaper than a new projector.
 
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The X35 needs calibrating to look good. And sad to say, but I would like the JVC X35 better because of the much higher contrast and picture performance. You might have an old lamp and a nice gamma drop in your JVC. That can all be corrected in a Pro calibration and is much cheaper than a new projector. And you will not change.

There is no calibration menu (CMS) in the X35, so I'd need to buy a video processor to accomplish that. However, out of the box it isn't bad and has been fine for these years.

However, as I said before, I don't have a bat cave and so the better blacks are rather wasted in my living room.

So I think I'd be better off putting the money towards a new PJ rather than the cost of a video processor CMS and a the cost of calibration on such a venerable projector.
 
There is no calibration menu (CMS) in the X35, so I'd need to buy a video processor to accomplish that. However, out of the box it isn't bad and has been fine for these years.

However, as I said before, I don't have a bat cave and so the better blacks are rather wasted in my living room.

So I think I'd be better off putting the money towards a new PJ rather than the cost of a video processor CMS and a the cost of calibration on such a venerable projector.
Ther is no need for a videoprocessor, even with a old JVC X3, you just need to correct the gamma/ grayscale like with a new Epson, no projector is better than the calibratio, the right tools and experience is however very important.
 
Anyone using the wireless hdmi of the 9400W? I’d really need to chase new hdmi cables through the poster for 4K hdmi as mine are 2016 hdmi 1.3.

If I got a steady 4K hdr feed then it seems a great shout for me
 

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