Epson TW3500 Home Cinema Projector Review

Epson's new TW3500 1080P Home Cinema is the next step up from the TW3000. The TW3000 was reviewed as good projector, it won a lot of fans but this new model is evolution or is it simply marketing?

"..This projector is overkill if you have more
than 1 candle of light in the room according to Epson.."

By the model number you'd think the TW3500 is better than the TW3000 but that's not really the really the case, unless you put all your eggs in the dynamic contrast ratio claim.

The TW3500 is between the TW3000 and TW5000 and it's priced as an entry level 1080P projector. None the less the EH TW3500 is a very powerful LCD 1080P projector that would be appreciated by most as great value. Let's not confuse the issue Epson can't make a bad projector and the TW3500 is another great model.

Reviewers often confuse you with meaningless technical jargon, just like the manufacturers try to do all the time.

This is all you need. If you're loaded and have a dark theatre room by all means buy a more expensive projector but as we say over and over if you have any light in the room you're wasting your money.

Unlike 1-Chip DLP projectors there is no spinning colour wheel in Epson 3LCD projectors to cause "rainbows" this is a consideration for some people that are sensitive to them.

There is no shortage of great projectors so your choice may come down to the Warranty, Purchase cost, LCD or DLP, Brightness or other features for your particular needs.

In nature you often come across the "law of cube" meaning to make something twice as fast/bright/loud/good you need more than twice the input (four x comes to mind).

When we saw that Epson were claiming 18000:1 to 20:000:1 (depending on which press release you read) contrast ratio (CR) on the last model, the TW3000, we thought this is a more realistic range than CR claims made about other Epson projector models.

The fact they change CR all the time means to us it's more a feeling than a measurement! You can almost see the advertising guys saying: "Nah.. 36 looks better than 18.." But how does this work if the LCD engine is the same? Even if it is true it's based on a setting you'll never use for home cinema, the dynamic mode.

Unless you have no light at all in the room (have not seen it yet) this projector and indeed the last one is all you'll ever need. Take CR with a grain of salt, they all sex it up.

The eye can't see contrast of 36,000 or 50,000 to 1 in "The real world" but we can pick if the black is very black, easily. The real or native contrast ratio would be around 12,000:1 actual contrast ratio in cinema mode would be about 700:1 which is tons as Cinema film is maximum 1000:1. And as we mention time and again any light in the room and it's all academic. You'd also need your walls painted matt black, your furniture black, sorry it just makes us mad, this style of BS marketing. They all do it but Epson leads them then others must make the same silly claims. Similar to quoting Plasma CR with the main glass removed.

10 bit processing (1.1 billion colours) & Epson C7 LCD engine, that's where you see small differences in specifications compared to higher end models. The high end models have 12 bits all the way currently called the Pro-UB. Epson have new 12 bit models coming available now.

What happened to home cinema? 42-50-60 inch that's still just TV. Big deal that they're flat.

With projectors like the TW3500 home cinema should be a must have for anybody wanting to overtake the Jonses, (why just keep up with them?) or indeed have a new way to spend "quality time" with the family.

The word is "Home Cinema is the new swimming pool" ..about time and a lot easier on the water storage.

You'll never see a great demo at a Plasma/LCD TV merchant, it's not in their interest to convert you to real home cinema, you'll be happy with your flat TV if they have any say.

Screen shot of the Epson TW2000 with DNP Screen
The TW3500 is slightly brighter again.

Even up close you can hardly make out the pixel structure on the screen, from any sort of normal viewing distance it's impossible. The image is as smooth as silk just like the Sanyo 1080 model. You may have heard of the Panasonic "Smooth screen technology" you just don't need it the TW3500 is smooth enough without sacrificing sharpness.

Epson 3LCD technology is also used under licence by Barco, Canon, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Infocus, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sanyo, Sony, Toshiba, Viewsonic and many more..

The new TW-3500 LCD HTPS panels utilize Epson's C2 Fine technology. If any projector is 1080p, LCD and 12 bit it uses the new Epson D7 chips. As mentioned before the TW3500's colour processor is 10 bit so having 12 bit LCD panels is somewhat academic.

With this new technology, the (Epson EMP TW3500) delivers superior black levels, vividly accurate colors and much higher degrees of contrast than previous-generation models. Additionally, by achieving brightness levels as high as 1,800 ANSI lumens, the TW3500 is even well-suited for rooms where ambient light can't always be eliminated.

Note this specification is a bit vague also we've see both 1,800 and 2,000 ANSI lumens quoted on the last model, in any case it's bright for a cinema model and using it for cinema you won't be needing 1,800 or 2,000 lumens as that is way too bright. The cinema modes are less bright so you can see the subtle colours and cut down on the fan noise too.

There is not much you need to do. You may like to have a fiddle with the lamp power and Iris on/off but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Dynamic is for emergency use only! Bright for sure, but say goodbye to the subtle colours. More useful for PC spreadsheets in a bright room. This is the mode used to produce the highest contrast ratio.

Theatre to Black 2 them for the blackest blacks, darkest darks, nothing when there is really nothing!

Larger colour range or gamut and you can see it. This is one they snuck in without much fanfare but it's a great option.

Sony Corporation sub brand name "x.v.Color", x.y.Colour is based on a color range standard with approximately twice that of conventional standards it was accepted and issued as an international standard by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in January 2006. Products which conform "xvYCC" will be able to faithfully reproduce natural object surface colors with contents that also conforms "xvYCC".

We tested the Epson TW3500 looking for the overall impression which is first rate, because you won't see any difference on web images we didn't bother to do the screen shots again.

With Bly-ray content you'll soon find out the limitation is often not the projector it's your eyes plus the source material. Shots below are TW2000 we will replace them as soon as Epson really change this model. You can't spot the difference on this sort of test, you need to take some measurements. Then it's all academic.

Please remember our screen shots are taken with a digital camera and are not as impressive as reality.

TW3500 will be used in cinema mode where it hardly works up a sweat. The fan is very considerate in cinema modes. The larger case helps to keep noise down but there are quieter projectors.

High lamp mode causes the fan to speed up, on a hot night the level is very noticeable so there is the rub if you do need to use full lamp mode because you can't control the ambient light you will hear the difference.

The latest version of the HDMI standard for resolutions up to 1920x1080 pixels. We noticed the EMP TW2000 did not need an in-line signal booster over 15m unlike every other model we've tested. The TW3500 should be the same. The higher the signal the more lightly you are to get noise over a long distance.

The Epson EMP-TW-3500 is good value at this end of the market, which a few short years ago was reserved for the very rich and you're getting a 1080 HD projector from the makers of the LCD engine even the diehard DLP brands now use. It's worth putting on your list.

You can't go wrong unless you're going to test the contrast ratio then you'll find out about marketing. To quote Epson, who can't have it both ways:-

"With this much light in a room, there is no difference between 500:1 and 10000:1 contrast ratio!” (See image below)

Don't be afraid of buying a TW3500 it's another success from Epson who make LCD engines for many other brands.

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*Warranties mentioned in this review are for genuine Australian supplied units only. Check with Epson Australia if in doubt.