KILLER NADS
Prominent Member
thanks for your reply, yeh i had a good time with the laser epson and the 9k hours i got on it in 5 years, probably majority of them came during lockdown (ie the last 1 year).hi KN, its good have had the 9400 calibrated well worth it ! also good the LS10000 was calibrated as well. though by the sounds am not sure really calibrated for HDR ? keeping in minds calibration has come a loooong ways with 4k uhd and HDR as well ! not only in availability with tools, techniques and understanding even with pro calibrators. I can tell you it was only few years ago most of local calibrators while very competent with SDR and R709 calibration, a bit on the cluelsss side with 4k uhd sand HDR..and then there is the struggle with end user as well with folks also not really knowing what to do with projectors especially those with no static let alone dynamic tone mapping capability ... and very much not set forget !
the LS10000 had a few things going for it vs the 9400... keeping in mind the 9400 still uses the ole epson 9000 series 1080p chip just pixel shifted and with a new light engine the LS10000 according to epson came...
"With Epson's innovative 3LCD Reflective system, you get remarkably high contrast as well. Featuring advanced liquid crystal on quartz technology, this 3LCD Reflective projector boasts exceptional performance, including an improved pixel density and increased aperture ratio for smoother, film-like pictures."
so higher contrast ... which actually gives greater perception of detail, and pictures look richer and with more depth ie with more dynamic range ! and also a better inter pixel gap... so indeed a smoother film like look to it ... closer to the JVCs and Sonys...
the couple of things the LS10000 struggled with was light output with only 1500 lumens uncalibrated it really doesnt leave much up sleeve depending on setup. probably fine in most setups but lacking for HDR in most larger screens. the colour filter also i beleive took a bit away from output... then there is the other limitation of hdmi chipset which while ok in early days of 4k uhd is a bit lacking these days with not being able to support 4k 50/60 and fully across the gamut of what can throw at projectors today...
enjoy ! a new house is a pretty big thing to take on so probably just bide time...
the n5 will bring true native 4k which neither epsons can do. also jvc has the best inter pixel gap right now. for an even more analog smooth film look along lines of the ls10000. contrast wise will be a step up from both ! the dynamic tone mapping will also be a game changer with set forget between sources and movies ... every thing can throw at it. jvc n7 if want more contrast again the wcg filter which unlike the epsons only robs some 10% or so of light. both projectors will provide a step up in light as well from LS10000 and not too far from the epson 9400 as the JVCs dont drop as much light in calibration as the epsons do...
notice in no where above have posted anything about the laser...in my opinion its really irrelevant the light source ...in this argument. lamps are cheap and affordable when consider the price difference between quality laser and lamp machines...and especially when consider for most folks A lamp is all most folks would change in a lifetime of a projector maybe a 2nd lamp at most ...still justify on the basis of lamp replacement ...
All this said ...i do hope epson refreshes the LS10000 for 2022 ! it deserves too... hopefully can eek out more lumens with a new laser engine. fit a better p3 filter that doesnt sacrifice as mcuh light... and finally updates the hdmi chip set for something more in tune with folks current projection needs. hopefully in all this they can also pull off a more room friendly package size for the projector too rather than the behemoth of a thing every one here wheee i am kept away from !
But when i switched to the tw9400 i immediately noticed the jump up in quality of the picture, colors, sharpness, brightness everything was improved and even the 4k scaler just seemed so much better to me then the lasers.
I have now purchased a panasonic ub820 to playback 4k disks, previously i was using a ps5, but so glad i upgraded to this ub820 as its so much better, i get a really amazing 4k HDR picture now, and not only that but my sound is so much punchier and clearer when playing dolby atmos on the ub820 over the ps5. Love the tone mapping feature also for the ub820 and it was the primary reason for buying it, but even without adjustments the HDR just looks amazing on most movies ive tried.