Epson PowerLite Pro Z10005UNL Projector Review - Performance

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Art Feierman

Epson PowerLite Pro Z10005UNL Projector - Performance: Brightness, Contrast, Noise

Brightness

Epson PowerLite Z10005UNL - Brightness
Color Mode	Lumens
Dynamic	8551
Presentation	7063
Theater	4390
Sports	7540
Photo	5000
sRGB	4550
DICOM SIM	5000

Note: For the measured lumens values the projector's contrast control was adjusted to produce the correct reference white level when playing a 100% white test pattern on the connected Blu-ray Disc player. The listed lumen values were with the zoom set to its mid-throw position. At max. zoom I measured about an 8% increase in brightness and at the minimum zoom position I measured a 24% decrease in brightness. When set for maximum zoom my measured brightness (i.e., approx. 9250 lumens) was a little below Epson's rated 10,000 lumens. However, the Z10005UNL reviewed had approx. 200 hours of use on its dual lamps, which could account for some loss of brightness. Also Epson offers several different lenses for use with this projector and certain of the other available lenses may produce a brighter image than what was provided with the 'standard' zoom lens provided with the reviewed unit. The bottom line is Epson's specified 10,000 lumen value appears realistic for the brightest mode, with new lamps and with certain of the available lenses.

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Contrast

We do not normally measure the contrast ratio for the projectors that we review. However, in the case of the Z10005UNL I did go ahead and measure the native (without use of the dynamic iris) on/off contrast ratio. In Dynamic color mode I measure a contrast ratio (CR) of 1313:1 and in Theater color mode I measured 1106:1. These values are better than most 3LCD business class projectors which frequently have a native CR of well under 1000:1, but somewhat below those for many full size DLP business class projectors, which may have a native CR on the order of 2000:1. However, Epson's inclusion of an effective dynamic iris in the Z10005UNL does help a lot when viewing video as compared to the ineffective dynamic contrast enhancement feature found on certain DLP models or some other 3LCD models.

Noise

The Z10005UNL is a high brightness projector using a pair of 380 watt lamps. The total power consumption in normal mode is 1120 watts and much of that power is being converted to heat (what is not being converted into light). The projector has two large cooling fans on the rear and they do produce some significant noise. Epson rates the noise level at 40 dB in normal mode and 35 dB in Eco mode. The noise level in Eco mode is similar to what many 3000 lumen business, or classroom, projectors produce in their normal mode while 40 dB is audibly louder than what I've heard from these much less bright business models. So increased noise is the price to be paid for having a much brighter projector. However, given the intended use of this projector, I would not expect it to be mounted near the audience and projector noise would be expected to be a non-issue for most installations.