Epson EH-TW9200 /3LCD-FullHD- 3D -2400-600000:1

Video Processing

We have generally been impressed with video processing capabilities of Epson's projectors, so it should come as no surprise to discover that the TW9200 was equally as impressive. It was able to fully reproduced the SMPTE colour bar tests for both PAL and NTSC, correctly scaling the full 576i and 480i images without any loss of detail or unwanted ringing. It also sailed through the video deinterlacing and the motion adaptive deinterlacing tests. In the cadence tests the projector continued to perform flawlessly, correctly detecting the 3:2 (NTSC - USA/Japan) format as well as the 2:2 (PAL - European) format. The projector also had no problems displaying mixed film material with scrolling video text and was able to reproduce the text without any shredding or blurring.

The TW9200 performed equally as well in the tests using high definition content and with the player set to 1080i, it correctly deinterlaced and displayed both the video and film resolution tests and showed excellent scaling and filtering performance as well as good resolution enhancement. With 1080i material the projector had no difficulties in showing video text overlaid on film based material and also handled 24p content without any problems. As long as EPSON Super White is on, the TW9200 reproduced all the video levels above reference white (235) up to peak white (255). It also showed detail down to 16 but not below it which means it's correctly reproducing black whilst maintaining appropriate shadow detail.

The motion handling on the TW9200 was reasonably good, although this being a LCD projector it will always remain a weakness. We got about 400 lines on the moving resolution test which is what we would expect, so with camera pans you get some smearing and loss of detail. The TW9200 includes Frame Interpolation software which attempts to address this inherent weakness by using interpolation to improve motion handling. The downside is that it results in artefacts that can be worse than the motion handling itself and these artefacts are more obvious on a large screen. Frame Interpolation, especially the Low setting, can be used with fast paced sports action shot on video but we would recommend turning it off when watching film based content.

The TW9200 delivered some lovely and highly entertaining big screen images that could more than hold their own against the competition. In fact we had only recently reviewed the Sony HW55, which is the current direct competitor to the TW9200, and there really was nothing to differentiate the two. The TW9200 produced bright and detailed images that retained their accuracy, resulting in very natural and film-like images. There was no need to resort to any unnecessary image manipulation or processing, as the TW9200 rendered the pictures faithfully with fine details such as film grain being retained. Obviously the better the source, the more effective it was projected onto a large screen - so Blu-rays looked superb, as did 1080i TV broadcasts. When upscaling standard definition content the results weren't as good but any projector is going to struggle to fill a huge screen without it looking soft because the initial resolution just isn't there.

Whilst the native blacks aren't as deep as the soon to be discontinued JVC X35 and the dynamic iris isn't as well implemented as it is on the Sony HW55, the Epson remains highly competitive. If you're room isn't ideal or you want to use a very large screen then the TW9200 has the edge over both the Sony and especially the JVC in terms of brightness. The only issue with projecting a very large image using the TW9200 is that the pixel structure will become more apparent. This is unavoidable due to the fill between each pixel on the LCD panels but it does mean that viewing distances are important. Whilst a projector this bright will obviously produce a lot of heat, the TW9200 was surprisingly quiet in operation and we had no problems with dust getting into the light path. Ultimately the TW9200 did exactly what it was designed to do, deliver bright, accurate and detailed big screen images and when watching The Wolf of Wall Street it, it perfectly replicated Martin Scorsese's over-the-top visuals.

Epson's implementation of 3D has been very effective in the past and continues to impress with each successive model and the TW9200 continues this tradition, delivering a highly entertaining and deeply immersive 3D experience. The added brightness available to the projector in high lamp mode makes a huge difference when watching 3D on a big screen. You really need that extra light output to give the 3D images the impact that they need but the TW9200 was also able to do this without sacrificing image accuracy. Instead creating colours still looked natural, whilst retaining a level of detail and sense of depth that was exceptional. Epson's use of 480Hz technology has been well implemented and thus the RF glasses were perfectly in sync and there was no noticeable crosstalk to distract the viewer. In fact the TW9200 delivers the best 3D images of any projector we have reviewed at this price point. As a result the 3D images were highly immersive whilst retaining plenty of punch, thus creating a very enjoyable overall experience. We watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on 3D Blu-ray and the TW9200 delivered all of Peter Jackson's carefully composed 3D visuals with ease, whilst the sight of Smaug the dragon filling a large projection screen was genuinely thrilling.