6500UB Product Overview

It's always surprising to me to see new projectors hit the market with better and better performance and less and less compromise - and at prices often identical to, or even lower than, just a year prior. It's like going out and buying a house with an extra 500 square feet and better upgrades than your own for 20% less than you paid a year ago. Come to think of it, just about anyone can do that right now. In either case, projectors aren't like amplifiers and A/V receivers, which can trade amplifier quality for features. I'll let you in on a dirty little secret. Projectors can be measured objectively with test instruments to measure color accuracy within the ability of the human eye to detect, and by using test discs to determine performance with motion footage under a variety of conditions. While this may be subject to much debate - especially with regards to the subjective nature of motions tests and testing material, we can at least safely say that no manufacturer can get away with substituting poor quality parts in a projector for long. These new products - with more features, bulb life, and video performance seem to be the "real deal".

The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 6500UB has more features, bulb life, and overall image quality than its predecessor and seems to be a real market leader in terms of performance and value. If you thought the Home Cinema 1080UB projector was a deal, then you are going to want to perk up your eyes and take a gander at the subtle, but important improvements Epson made to their flagship home model.

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Everybody started asking us about the new Epson projectors when it was found out that we got a sneak peek of their flagship models last October. The real question on everyone's mind was how the new 6500UB was going to compare to the excellent Home Cinema 1080UB model which received a 5/5 rating from us in both value and performance. We set up a quick grid to outline the differences:

At first glance it's easy to shrug off the improvements the 6500UB has over its 1080UB predecessor. And I certainly wouldn't incite the masses of 1080UB owners to sell off their projectors and grab the new model. As you can see, the changes are minimal - but they are significant where it counts. The 6500UB, for example, uses a Silicon Optix HQV chipset to deliver much better video processing than the 1080UB's Pixelworks system. If you're viewing a lot of 480i source material or you don't have a great DVD player this will likely help picture quality significantly. Additionally, Epson seems to have made the projector a tad quieter. We felt that it had very low noise output even when the lamp was set to High. Best of all, the new E-TORL 200W lamp is rated to 4000 hours, regardless of which lamp mode you are using. That means you can watch 15 hours of TV each week and not have to replace the bulb for 5 years.

Editorial Note: Since bulb life is often given as the age at which light output reaches roughly 50% of its original value, users of any projector may wish to upgrade somewhat earlier than the official lamp warning point to experience the best possible output, contrast, and color accuracy. It is possible that this bulb may have a longer usable lifespan, moving its dropoff point from an average of 1200-1500 hours to somewhere around 1800-2000 hours. We'll have to get feedback from ISF and THX calibrators over time to see how this plays out.

Physically, this projector is a departure from the Home Cinema 720 or 1080UB models. Instead of the curved lines of the older form factors, the new 6100UB and 6500UB offer a larger, more squared off look. It's not unattractive, just different. It's kind of like going from a Corvette to a BMW. The design is less curvy, but still quite attractive to look at. The lamp can now be replaced without having to remove the projector from an installed location. This is a marked improvement over the Home Cinema 1080UB or 720, which both have lamps located where the mounting bracket attaches to the projector's underbelly.

Differences Between the Home Cinema 6500UB and the Pro Cinema 7500UB

Except for a very small list of differences, the Home Cinema 65000UB ($2499 after rebate) and Pro Cinema 7500UB ($3999 retail) are identical. The 6500UB is available at retailers and online, while the 7500UB can only be sold through Epson's dealer network. Differences, in addition to the body color, include the following:

• The 6500UB lacks the ISFccc picture modes which can be used by calibrators to lock down day and night settings which cannot be accessed by the client.
• The 7500UB comes with an anamorphic stretch mode that allows you to use an anamorphic lens without needing an external video processor. The 6500UB does not include Blue- and Red-only color bar test patterns which eliminate the need for filters to calibrate hue & saturation and check for color decoder inaccuracies.
• A spare lamp and a ceiling mount are included in the price of a 7500UB.
• The 6500UB has a two-year warranty and the 7500UB's extends that to three years.