Epson TW 9400 Owners Discussion Thread

[Johnny_Boy]

On 04/02/2020 at 7:26 PM, mauro145 said:

How do you deal with hdr with this projector? Do you find yourselves reaching the remote during movies to change settings very often? Or its usually not needed.

 

Thanks

I've got two user settings set up so far. HDR and SDR. With a simple switch between the two depending on what i'm watching. In saying that, once in HDR mode, my normal SDR reset it still looks pretty good. I can notice the difference, but my wife can't. 

Depends on the source as well. I watched Gemini Man in 4k HDR and it is amazing, watched 4k HDR A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and was underwhelmed. It could have been standard BD SDR, and even then was average.  Though the story of A Beautiful Day was lovely. 

 

3 hours ago, zzkazu said:

Mine has only just arrived but I haven't found the need to swap settings in the 5 hours of use ...

Enjoy!

[zzkazu]

You swapping HDR/SDR  using memories? 

 

I have noticed when I'm using Lens memory it gets it 90% of the position correct. Needs some adjustment most times.

 

But coming from a 12 year old  TW2000 which was all manual its a god send.

 

Picture is fantastic and I'll wait until 100 hours to do a calibration...

 

Great projector..

[evil c]

37 minutes ago, Johnny_Boy said:

I've got two user settings set up so far. HDR and SDR. With a simple switch between the two depending on what i'm watching. In saying that, once in HDR mode, my normal SDR reset it still looks pretty good. I can notice the difference, but my wife can't. 

Depends on the source as well. I watched Gemini Man in 4k HDR and it is amazing, watched 4k HDR A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and was underwhelmed. It could have been standard BD SDR, and even then was average.  Though the story of A Beautiful Day was lovely. 

 

Enjoy!

You can normally leave the setting on Auto and it will choose SDR or HDR as required.

 

Occasionally,  odd 4K  movie put on has interestingly stayed in SDR mode.

 

Played 4k copy of War for Planet of the apes last night , and auto chose SDR, swapping to HDR and colors looked oversaturated- so set back to SDR.

Under the HDR mode you can adjust the setting of course,  but couldn't seem to get it looking right with that particular movie.

Any thoughts @betty boop ?

 

[Johnny_Boy]

29 minutes ago, evil c said:

You can normally leave the setting on Auto and it will choose SDR or HDR as required.

 

Occasionally,  odd 4K  movie put on has interestingly stayed in SDR mode.

 

Played 4k copy of War for Planet of the apes last night , and auto chose SDR, swapping to HDR and colors looked oversaturated- so set back to SDR.

Under the HDR mode you can adjust the setting of course,  but couldn't seem to get it looking right with that particular movie.

Any thoughts @betty boop ?

 

Hi Evil C,
it will definitely auto switch over to HRD/SDR mode, but what wont switch is the colour profile mode you are in. The two i have are better suited to either SDR/HDR. 

Yet to have something not auto switch over correctly. Strange 

[betty boop]

37 minutes ago, evil c said:

You can normally leave the setting on Auto and it will choose SDR or HDR as required.

 

Occasionally,  odd 4K  movie put on has interestingly stayed in SDR mode.

 

Played 4k copy of War for Planet of the apes last night , and auto chose SDR, swapping to HDR and colors looked oversaturated- so set back to SDR.

Under the HDR mode you can adjust the setting of course,  but couldn't seem to get it looking right with that particular movie.

Any thoughts @betty boop ?

 

Could be a bug like planet earth this bug effects pans players only not oppo

[betty boop]

6 minutes ago, Johnny_Boy said:

Hi Evil C,
it will definitely auto switch over to HRD/SDR mode, but what wont switch is the colour profile mode you are in. The two i have are better suited to either SDR/HDR. 

Yet to have something not auto switch over correctly. Strange 

I remember reading a review evilc pointed me to saying the HDR switching was caught out at times  so possible can still miss.

 

Does t it pick up colour profile when. Switching fir HDR ? Should only need to select once and remembers ?

 

we used natural for sdr and cinema for hdr. Cinema has the filter fir wider colour

[Johnny_Boy]

15 minutes ago, betty boop said:

I remember reading a review evilc pointed me to saying the HDR switching was caught out at times  so possible can still miss.

 

Does t it pick up colour profile when. Switching fir HDR ? Should only need to select once and remembers ?

 

we used natural for sdr and cinema for hdr. Cinema has the filter fir wider colour

It switches to HDR, but doesn't select the correct colour profile. 

 

I cant remember the exact modes i use, but believe its Digital Cinema for HDR and Natural for SDR

[betty boop]

36 minutes ago, Johnny_Boy said:

It switches to HDR, but doesn't select the correct colour profile. 

 

I cant remember the exact modes i use, but believe its Digital Cinema for HDR and Natural for SDR

were switching and selecting and checking and what not, so cant remember to be honest. thats a shame though if case, so not like the JVCs then ? as with those you select once and then automatically selects same colour mode.,

 

digital cinema step up from cinema for larger screens if remember, but yeah natural definitely the one for SDR. for HDR you could leave in natural just means it wont use the filter for WCG which is handy if want more output on HDR .  also gives an option as lamp ages....

 

 

[franin]

Hello all

Whilst my NX9 is in the service centre I ended up picking one of these cheap. Ive never considered Epson and for its price, Damn! its not bad at all. The lens is what surprised me, a really nice lens on it. I had Two models of Sony Laser projector the 870es and the 970es and I tell you the low light scenes  ( Dark scenes ) the Epson handles them better than the Sony, I kid you not. Ive demoed films that I know the Sony struggled with ( Ghost In the Shell  Chapter 10 ) Jurrassic Park ( Fallen Kindom Intro Scene Underwater scene ). Sony was all pixelated and in the Ghost in The Shell ( BTW No Metadata )  you couldn't even see walls or the pipes but with the Epson you can clearly see it,  I was shocked. Im still scratching my head on how can a cheap Projector like this outdo an expensive projector in the low light scenes ?? I was very active on the Sony Forums in AVS and I was trying to find a happy medium with the Sony projectors using the Panasonic Optimzer. Don't get me wrong when it comes to colours and brightness the Sony Destroyed the Epson but your paying $20K +  

 

Another thing is which impressed me was the covergence had a little bit of red but 4 clicks it was perfect and sharp.  

 

I use the Spears and Munsil Disc UHD  as my point of reference. With its own internal Tone mapping it does an impressive Job.  Mine will need calibrating when it hits the hours but the horse scene which is know for its clipping is handled quite well with this projector. I didn't use the optimiser in these scenes just the Epson Tone Mapping. I have tried HDR to SDR 2020 via Panasonic today  and have noticed that the contrast clips ( not sure if that's a bug or its my projector. But going back to HDR 2020 its fine.

 

My point of this review is that this is an impressive projector for its money. These pictures are from the EPSON running its own HDR with DR 8 I chose the 10000 nit selection

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by franin
Spelling

[flamjam]

On 18/05/2020 at 10:58 PM, franin said:

Hello all

Whilst my NX9 is in the service centre I ended up picking one of these cheap. Ive never considered Epson and for its price, Damn! its not bad at all. The lens is what surprised me, a really nice lens on it. I had Two models of Sony Laser projector the 870es and the 970es and I tell you the low light scenes  ( Dark scenes ) the Epson handles them better than the Sony, I kid you not. Ive demoed films that I know the Sony struggled with ( Ghost In the Shell  Chapter 10 ) Jurrassic Park ( Fallen Kindom Intro Scene Underwater scene ). Sony was all pixelated and in the Ghost in The Shell ( BTW No Metadata )  you couldn't even see walls or the pipes but with the Epson you can clearly see it,  I was shocked. Im still scratching my head on how can a cheap Projector like this outdo an expensive projector in the low light scenes ?? I was very active on the Sony Forums in AVS and I was trying to find a happy medium with the Sony projectors using the Panasonic Optimzer. Don't get me wrong when it comes to colours and brightness the Sony Destroyed the Epson but your paying $20K +  

 

Another thing is which impressed me was the covergence had a little bit of red but 4 clicks it was perfect and sharp.  

 

I use the Spears and Munsil Disc UHD  as my point of reference. With its own internal Tone mapping it does an impressive Job.  Mine will need calibrating when it hits the hours but the horse scene which is know for its clipping is handled quite well with this projector. I didn't use the optimiser in these scenes just the Epson Tone Mapping. I have tried HDR to SDR 2020 via Panasonic today  and have noticed that the contrast clips ( not sure if that's a bug or its my projector. But going back to HDR 2020 its fine.

 

My point of this review is that this is an impressive projector for its money. These pictures are from the EPSON running its own HDR with DR 8 I chose the 10000 nit selection

 

 

 

I recently purchased at 9400 and think it's amazing for the money. I had previously owned an x9900 and worked out that my personal preference was for a brighter image vs inky dark blacks, so the Epson is more suited to my needs. Once set up, I actually don't find the blacks to be too bad with this pj. The only niggle I have is that it operates a bit louder than the x9900 did, especially in high lamp, but to be honest I haven't found a situation where high lamp has been needed! Some of the settings really blow out the colours and have a lean towards green, but I assume that's due to the high lumen output in those settings. I have found that Natural for SDR and Bright Cinema for HDR is my go to.  HDR is fantastic and I've really enjoyed the pop that this pj offers. The JVC handled motion better, but the Epson still handles it fairly well. I have not calibrated it yet, and have not really dialled it in, so when I get a chance I will play around but so far so good.  I also like the fact that the replacement lamps are almost a quarter of the price of the JVC's which is good  because I am sure my kids will want to game on it a lot!

I think Epson has done a stellar job with this unit, especially considering the price point. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by flamjam

[franin]

Still waiting for my NX9  im very impressed with this projector. I always choose the 10000 nit option and these photos and the previous photos are taken with my Apple iphone 11 max. 
 

I’ve also found which I didn’t know that Calman has an auto calibration feature for the TW-9400 Projectors. 
 

Forgot to mention that’s on Natural. I’m not using the Cinema or Digital Cinema you lose so much brightness. 
 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by franin

[wooferocau]

Frank, that Epson really does a stunning job! 

 

When you look at the price /performance factor , i doubt much if any would compete with it!!

 

I would love to see how it performs with either madVR or a Lumagen ..

[franin]

6 minutes ago, wooferocau said:

Frank, that Epson really does a stunning job! 

 

When you look at the price /performance factor , i doubt much if any would compete with it!!

 

I would love to see how it performs with either madVR or a Lumagen ..

I agree mate with that price you cannot beat it. Add Lumagen or Madvr I reckon you might get a serious competitor.

[jklow888]

FYI - firmware 1.03 available:

 

http://tech.epson.com.au/downloads/category.asp?sCategory=Projector&id=EH-TW9400&SelOS=Y

 

then click in link All to go to firmware link.

[flamjam]

2 hours ago, jklow888 said:

 

FYI - firmware 1.03 available:

 

http://tech.epson.com.au/downloads/category.asp?sCategory=Projector&id=EH-TW9400&SelOS=Y

 

then click in link All to go to firmware link.

 

Thanks for posting. I wonder what the firmware is updating. Bug fixes  and or some new “goodies”!

Edited May 28, 2020 by flamjam

[jklow888]

7 hours ago, flamjam said:

Thanks for posting. I wonder what the firmware is updating. Bug fixes  and or some new “goodies”!

Per AVS - supposedly adjustment to HDR and motion improvement on the "Fine" option. Would be nice if there are release notes stating what was in the firmware update - hopefully someone in the US can find out.

 

Without being "placebo" about it I did think the motion was better doing a short viewing after the update which was very easy to do.

[slowey16]

On 18/05/2020 at 10:58 PM, franin said:

Hello all

Whilst my NX9 is in the service centre I ended up picking one of these cheap. Ive never considered Epson and for its price, Damn! its not bad at all. The lens is what surprised me, a really nice lens on it. I had Two models of Sony Laser projector the 870es and the 970es and I tell you the low light scenes  ( Dark scenes ) the Epson handles them better than the Sony, I kid you not. Ive demoed films that I know the Sony struggled with ( Ghost In the Shell  Chapter 10 ) Jurrassic Park ( Fallen Kindom Intro Scene Underwater scene ). Sony was all pixelated and in the Ghost in The Shell ( BTW No Metadata )  you couldn't even see walls or the pipes but with the Epson you can clearly see it,  I was shocked. Im still scratching my head on how can a cheap Projector like this outdo an expensive projector in the low light scenes ?? I was very active on the Sony Forums in AVS and I was trying to find a happy medium with the Sony projectors using the Panasonic Optimzer. Don't get me wrong when it comes to colours and brightness the Sony Destroyed the Epson but your paying $20K +  

 

Another thing is which impressed me was the covergence had a little bit of red but 4 clicks it was perfect and sharp.  

 

I use the Spears and Munsil Disc UHD  as my point of reference. With its own internal Tone mapping it does an impressive Job.  Mine will need calibrating when it hits the hours but the horse scene which is know for its clipping is handled quite well with this projector. I didn't use the optimiser in these scenes just the Epson Tone Mapping. I have tried HDR to SDR 2020 via Panasonic today  and have noticed that the contrast clips ( not sure if that's a bug or its my projector. But going back to HDR 2020 its fine.

 

My point of this review is that this is an impressive projector for its money. These pictures are from the EPSON running its own HDR with DR 8 I chose the 10000 nit selection

 

 

 

Hey Frank,

 

If you don’t mind me asking, where did you pick one up from? I’m currently looking to upgrade my projector and have decided (I think) on an EH-TW9400 as it seems to be the best value for money. 

 

Cheers

[franin]

28 minutes ago, slowey16 said:

Hey Frank,

 

If you don’t mind me asking, where did you pick one up from? I’m currently looking to upgrade my projector and have decided (I think) on an EH-TW9400 as it seems to be the best value for money. 

 

Cheers

I got mine in WA but personally you should try Richard from Oztheatre Screen he will look after you . 

[slowey16]

9 minutes ago, franin said:

I got mine in WA but personally you should try Richard from Oztheatre Screen he will look after you . 

Thanks, I’ll have a chat with him.

[flamjam]

2 hours ago, slowey16 said:

Thanks, I’ll have a chat with him.

Richard is a great guy to deal with! If you are after a screen, he also has fantastic screens. 

[flamjam]

Anyone know if you can go back to old firmware?

[j19801110]

New firmware observations:
- tone mapping updated for HDR: it’s a bit brighter but also cuts less highlights. In fact, highlights seem to stay better defined even in higher slider levels on some movies.

- Colours seem brighter and bette contoured / natural due to updated tone mapping for HDR

- they have done something with pixel shifting. The actual pixel pattern you see on the screen is slightly different. I think they may be flashing the panels in 3 positions now, not just 2: they also do a flash in the middle between the two previous positions. This could deliver just a tad more brightness as well and could be why some people think there’s a tad more sharpness, although just remember that a brighter image will appear to be sharper even if nothing else changes!!!
 

the pixel shifting has just a tad more flicker but you can only see it when you pixel peep. I think it’s because they seem to be flashing the panels 3x now, not 2. This is all just a guess at this point but that’s how it looks to me. 

[j19801110]

Someone should check if single pixel patterns are resolved better than before. I didn’t run any such patterns before on my unit. Cheers!

[j19801110]

Well, I watched quite a bit of material now with the new firmware and pixel-peeped on quite a few, stuff that was prepared with 4K DIs and it certainly looks like the panels are put into 3 positions now, not 2! So instead of getting 2 x 1080p resolution, it is giving 3x 1080p. 

 

I’d like others to confirm this but that’s how it looks. Previously I could very well see the two positions. Now it looks like they are blending those with a 3rd. That is superb news if true!!! Looks sharper too so I dialed back the sharpness control to 0 on my Panasonic. I had it on 1 previously! 

[j19801110]

Someone else mentioned the changed pixel structure on AVS as well so I’m not making it up! Epson has updated the pixel shifting!