Page 31 - 2022-08-01 Sound & Vision

brightness information with HDR. projector in my bat cave
The Spears & Munsil UHD HDR
Benchmark disc provides a wide
variety of pa erns mastered at
different clipping points along with
great demonstration montages;
those pa erns would be useful for
se ing up custom modes, while the
montages could be used to fine-
tune them to taste. Keep in mind,
though, that the montages on the
Benchmark disc are mastered at
very high average picture levels—
much higher than what’s seen on
most films and TV programs. They
represent a bit more of a “worst
case scenario” for video playback
at different nit levels. So, if you use
them to adjust the Epson’s HDR
se ings, you can probably get
away with allowing a li le bit of
highlight clipping since that’s not
likely to be seen in more typical
video content.
PERFORMANCE
Before I started in on measure-
ments or calibration, I made a point
of just viewing with the Epson
using its out-of-box se ings on a
110-inch 16x9 Stewart StudioTek
130 G4 screen (the 16x9 masked-
in portion of my larger 140-inch
diagonal scope setup). I did some
cursory laser output adjustments to
dial in a brightness level I liked, and
then made a few cursory adjust-
ments to some of the enhancement
se ings.
The Epson impressed me in
nearly every image quality param-
eter right off the bat. Sharpness
was excellent, with incredible
fine image detail and depth. LCD
tends to have a slightly lower fill
factor compared to other display
technologies including the LCOS
projector I use as my reference,
but the lower fill factor and slightly
higher pixel gap can also create
a slightly more “digital” look that
comes across as sharper at times.
Colors showed strong saturation
and images overall looked natural
and not overcooked.
I was very curious to see how
the new Epson would fare when
it came to dynamic range. I have
become accustomed to the
typically higher contrast ratios of
LCOS designs, and it had been a
while since I’ve had an LCD-based
a bit jarring in the tone mapping solutions I have on
to evaluate. Overall, rapid jumps from full hand. Lower-nit level HDR content
the dynamic range black. (See Test Bench like Blade Runner 2049 also looked
with most content was for peak contrast a bit drab unless I rode the HDR
exceptional; it was only measurements and se ings. As I said earlier, you will
when I started looking more related info.) likely need to adjust on a per-
at the darkest of clips Epson does offer content basis or rely on multiple
that the limitations more aggressive laser custom picture memory modes
of LCD’s overall dimming if you chose with the Epson. The HDR Optimizer
contrast performance the Dynamic picture technology in Panasonic’s Ultra
would show up. For preset. As mentioned HD Blu-ray players would help
instance, full blackouts before, this is the here, but that will only apply to disc
had a more grayish projector’s brightest playback.
appearance, and some mode, but also the most My only other gripe with the
of the content I use inaccurate. With laser LS12000 was noticeable banding
to stress-test black dimming enabled in artifacts, especially with HDR.
performance looked a Dynamic, you can get This was apparent in some of the
bit washed out. the laser to fully shut off. montages on the Spears & Munsil
The LS12000 offers Based on all the testing UHD HDR Benchmark disc. (There
a dynamic contrast system with I did looking for improvements in is a whole sequence on this disc
Normal and Fast modes that black performance while remaining designed to reveal bit-depth issues
modulates the laser output to sensitive to transition artifacts, I that may result in banding.) Epson
help with black-level perception. would recommend just using one lists HDR processing as 10-bit and
In my recent review of JVC’s new of the more accurate picture modes video processing as 12-bit, so I
DLA-NZ9 projector, I had a lot like Cinema along with the Normal was surprised to see the banding,
of misgivings about the laser dynamic dimming mode. an artifact I’ve also noted on the
dimming: gamma modulation was Overall, most images looked last few Sony SXRD projectors I
far too aggressive, doing li le to fantastic on the Epson. I use the reviewed. I didn’t see this again
help black levels while revealing opening sequences from the Ultra during the rest of my time with the
obvious clipping artifacts on HD Blu-ray of the animated Farma- Epson, so it’s unlikely it will pop up
highlights. The effect of this was to ggedon to evaluate mixed contrast much during normal viewing.
reduce the subjective contrast of with a darker overall average
most content I viewed. picture level (APL). The movie CONCLUSION
Epson takes a much more subtle starts with some panning through
approach with the LS12000. The space and then ends up with night- Epson’s LS12000 4K Pro-UHD
Normal dimming mode is very slow time photography in an English laser projector delivers fantastic-
to lower the laser level and is limited town and forest. Here, image depth looking images. You will be
to about a 4x multiplier when and detail, along with black levels, hard-pressed to find another
lowering the black floor. Native held up nicely. A er the darker model that offers the same level
contrast measured offscreen in opening, the film transitions to a of performance and features at
my calibrated viewing modes was daylight sequence on a farm with its price point. And while I would
about 4,500-5,000:1. Normal amazing detail and plenty of color like to see Epson move to a native
dimming mode moved that to eye candy. This looked fantastic as 4K LCD panel, resolution was
about 11,000:1 quickly and then well, even when using the Epson’s completely satisfactory on the
on prolonged blackouts would default HDR se ings. The image content I viewed. I would also
slowly improve to about 20,000:1 reminded me a lot of what I’ve seen like to see more manufacturers
peak. This basically means the from higher-quality DLP projector start to offer true dynamic tone
Epson will likely never reproduce offerings, but with slightly be er mapping to increase performance
the lowest black level in content, blacks. with the more common HDR
but it also means you won’t see The Epson does struggle with formats. Outside of that, I was fully
any “pumping” artifacts. I viewed higher APL and lower APL HDR impressed by the bright and vibrant
some clips that transition in and out images. Two great examples of the images the LS12000 put out and
of black frequently (the opening former are The Meg and Starship enjoyed my time with it.
credits of the film Lucy is great for Troopers on Ultra HD Blu-ray,
this) and with the slower fade in and when I adjusted the HDR
Normal mode, there was almost level to reduce clipping artifacts The Verdict
no visual benefit, even when the on both, the resulting gamma
image went to full black. balance robbed the image of Offering great image punch, clarity,
Switching to Fast mode, peak its visual punch. This was pre y and good contrast, Epson’s LS12000
contrast was still limited to around obvious even without a reference impresses with most content,
20,000:1. Viewing the same to compare against, but really bad though its HDR performance is
opening sequence from Lucy, I when I compared it to some of the hindered by the lack of dynamic
saw pumping artifacts that were dynamic frame-by-frame HDR tone mapping.
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