Epson MovieMate 85HD Projector - Performance

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Art Feierman

Epson MovieMate 85HD Brightness

Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom):
Dynamic	2552 lumens
Living Room	2543 lumens (no statistical difference from Dynamic)
Theatre	1132 lumens
Game	2536 (also no statistical difference compared to Dynamic or Livingroom)

In this section we consider the brightness, sharpness, and image noise of the Epson MovieMate 85HD home theater projector. Also considered are the physical attributes of light leakage and audible noise.

Since we don't calibrate all-in-one projectors, and don't do full measurements on them, Mike gets a break, and I get to break out my light meter. We measured all four pre-set modes:

Please note: All three bright modes are different, but interestingly they all measured within 2% of each other. The Game mode more green than the other two, less desireable for non-game viewing.

Modes - Below are the same image, same camera exposure, showing the differences in the primary viewing modes.

MovieMate-85HD_mode_dynamic_large

MovieMate-85HD_mode_livingroom_large

MovieMate-85HD_mode_theatre_large

Low lamp will drop the MovieMate 85HD's brightness from 2552 lumens to 1857 lumens in

That works out to a 27.2% drop in brightness from Normal power.

That same 27% and change drop should hold true for Eco-mode, with any of the pre-set modes.

With a 1.2:1 zoom lens, there will be some small increase in lumens by going to full wide angle mode (largest image), from telephoto (which we used for measurements). Normally we measure mid-point, but due to the placement of the MovieMate, Telephoto had to do in this situation. Figure that zooming in to full wide angle will probably add another 50 to 150 lumens, not a serious difference in the grand scheme of things!

Epson MovieMate 85HD Sharpness

Over all, the sharpness is very good. Mind you, to our current knowledge, this is the only 720p all-in-one projector sold in the US at this time. Optoma who has made several all-in-ones over the years, has been quiet, and they never have had one with HD resolution.

The projector's convergence is off a fair amount - close to a pixel, which likely adds a touch of softness. Of course, on the high def content, a 1080p projector will normally look sharper, but, having worked with 720p projectors over a full generation, there's nothing wrong with this Epson's overall sharpness.

Yes, almost any comparably priced DLP home projector will look as sharp, or a touch sharper, but not enough to impact viewing enjoyment for the normal target market for the MovieMate.