Last year Epson sat on the 3D projector sidelines, claiming they’ll join the game when they believe 3D technology can deliver winning results. Today, the company released 6 new products, with 5 of them 3D capable, and other delivering uncompromised 3D wirelessly. “A year ago we didn’t think the market was ready. Now we do,” said Bruce Bealby, Epson’s visual imaging manager in Australia. After the first generation of 3D projectors went out, the company noticed 3D suffered from a new pantheon of image issues. There was the burdening cross talk, where the different images being sent to the right and left overlapped, casting a shadow over one another. To counteract the issue companies tint their 3D enabled glasses and sacrifice the brightness of their projected videos, which is a problem on its own. Epson’s new projectors use a 480Hz frame rate when projecting in 3D, much faster than 2D’s 240Hz. Working at double the pace, the lenses are closed less often, allowing for more light to shine through ultimately producing a much brighter image. “A major hurdle in all 3D systems is maintaining image brightness and thus picture quality. Epson has addressed this by using a 480Hz Active Shutter system in its 3D projectors rather than the slower 240Hz system,” said Bealby. |
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Even with their new and shiny 3D projectors, the company is adamant that 3D is but a feature, understanding that most day-to-day content will be consumed in 2D. “There’s going to be occasions over the next few years where people are going to watch 3D. But 3D is not new. It sits next to 2D,” and doesn’t replace it Bealby said. The first range of 3D projectors caters to the family living room, is capable of 2D and 3D across the range, have two 10 watt speakers built in and produces 2200 lumens of light. The Intro EH-TW5900 offers 720 HD projecting, with a contrast ratio of 20,000:1, and unlike its more capable siblings, doesn’t come with the IR active shutter glasses in the box. Instead, they’ll cost you $99 each on top of the $2,199 price tag. Next in the series is the TW6000, which is capable of Full HD projecting, has a higher contrast ratio of 40,000:1, offers split screen viewing in 2D and comes with a pair of 3D glasses, reflected in its $2,499 price-tag. The range topping TW6000W has the same specs as the TW6000, except it comes with a Wireless HD transmitter, transferring data to the projector wirelessly as opposed to using a HDMI cable. “Uncompressed and lossless Full HD transmission, [the] same quality as a HDMI cable connection,” said Epson. Its claims were backed up with the wireless technology passing HDMI certification tests. The TW6000W will retail for $2,799, comes with a pair of Epson’s 3D glasses and be available in October, along with its TW5900 and TW6000 variants. |
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On the other side of the spectrum is Epson’s top of the range cinema-room projectors, offering a higher 2,400 lumens, a 200,000:1 contrast ratio and 2D to 3D conversion. The specs are shared between the two models, but unlike the TW8000, the TW9000W comes with the Epson’s wireless technology. At present, the TW8000 and the TW9000W have yet to be priced, but will be available sometime in November. |
