Epson Adds Two High-Performance 1080p Projectors to Award-Winning Home Theater Lineup

ATLANTA, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CEDIA Expo 2009, Booth 3353 -- Epson America today announced two 1080p front projectors, the PowerLite Home Cinema 8100 and 8500 UB, expanding its award-winning line of 3LCD(TM) home theater projectors. Featuring D7 technology for brilliant color and detail, and higher contrast, the Home Cinema 8100 reaches a 36,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and the Home Cinema 8500 UB achieves an unprecedented 200,000:1(i). The Home Cinema 8100 and 8500 UB also offer the latest in real color reproduction capabilities for more natural and precise colors, delivering an outstanding viewing experience for home entertainment and AV enthusiasts.

With pricing of $1,599 (plus an additional $100 rebate at launch) and sub-$3,000, respectively, the Home Cinema 8100 and 8500 UB offer consumers affordable high-definition 3LCD home entertainment, delivering bright and natural color, crisp image detail and reliability. These 3LCD projectors use an advanced, three-chip optical engine for brilliant color and image quality without the possibility of color break-up, unlike DLP projectors that generate images using a spinning color wheel with a white segment.

"Epson is committed to leading the market when it comes to home theater performance and value," said Marge Ang, senior product manager, Epson America. "These new models take advantage of Epson's latest technology to offer consumers the highest-performing 1080p solutions available at their respective price points."

Epson Home Cinema 8100

The value-packed Home Cinema 8100 features an improved contrast ratio of up to 36,000:1 (double that of previous models) and higher brightness - 1,800 lumens color and white light output(ii) - for outstanding image quality in dark or lighted rooms. The projector's exclusive Dynamic Iris system contributes to the dramatic contrast improvement, allowing light to be controlled on a frame-by-frame basis at up to 60 times per second, making it ideal for fast-action movies with frequent scene changes. Designed for home entertainment and AV enthusiasts on a budget, this projector offers high-quality home entertainment for enjoying movies, video games, sports, and more.

Epson Home Cinema 8500 UB

Along with the latest D7 chip set, this high-quality projector adds Epson's C2Fine and UltraBlack(TM) technology for superb black levels and vivid images. Further boosting black levels, the Home Cinema 8500 UB includes brightness of 1,600 lumens color and light output and new dual-layered auto iris technology, allowing for an impressive contrast ratio of up to 200,000:1. As a result, the projector controls light intensity more effectively, causing dark images to appear even darker and blacks to appear even richer and deeper.

The projector also features Epson's new Super-resolution(TM) technology to create a sharper, more detailed picture resolution ideal for broadcast signal noise reduction or enhancing the quality of poor DVD transfers. Super-resolution technology improves the resolution of a blurred image, allowing consumers to fully enjoy high-definition quality at all times. Epson has also added new real color reproduction capabilities, which delivers more natural and precise colors, allowing viewers to experience the true-to-life colors filmmakers intended.

To ensure sharp, clear images, the projector features Epson's 12-bit 3LCD driver technology and a built-in Silicon Optix HQV Reon-VX scaling and de-interlacing video processor. This processor reduces mosquito and block noise and augments multi-level contrast enhancement to further improve picture quality. The Home Cinema 8500 UB also features enhanced FineFrame(TM) technology resulting in smoother frame interpolation, sharper video quality and the elimination of judder.

Shared Features of the Home Cinema Line - The Home Cinema 8100 and 8500 UB share features designed to improve image quality and total cost of 3LCD projector ownership, including:

• Cinema Filter: Delivers larger color space for improved color fidelity.
• Fujinon OptiCinema(TM) Multi-Lens Optics System: Projects clean, precise edges with consistent image quality across the entire screen, expanding installation flexibility.
• Pre-set Color Modes: Features seven color modes (Dynamic, Living Room, Natural, Theatre, Theatre Black 1, Theatre Black 2, x.v.Color) for optimal viewing in any environment.
• E-TORL (Epson Twin Optics Reflection Lamp): Provides optimum light uniformity and increased light output for screen sizes larger than ten feet with exclusive 200 watt high efficiency design; uses less energy for up to 4,000 hours of lamp life(iii).
• Advanced Dust Filtration System: Ensures efficient power use, reduced cool-down periods, lower fan speeds, quieter operation (only 22 db), and 98 percent efficiency for longer filter life.
• Input Options: Features two HDMI 1.3a inputs with Deep Color support, high definition component video input, S-video input, composite video input, and VGA-type RGB input (D-sub 15).

Availability and Support

The Epson Home Cinema 8100 will be available in late-October and the Home Cinema 8500 UB will be available in November through authorized Epson projector dealers and select retail outlets, and come with Epson's industry leading service and support. Pricing for the Home Cinema 8500 UB will be released at that time. This includes a two-year limited warranty with access to Epson PrivateLine priority toll-free support, 90-day limited lamp warranty, and free two-business day exchange with Extra Care(SM) Home Service.

About Epson America Inc.

Epson America Inc. is the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation (SEC) and is a leading provider of digital imaging products that exceed the vision of its customers. The company's extensive range of printers, 3LCD projectors and small- and medium-sized LCDs are renowned for their superior quality, functionality, compactness, and energy efficiency. The Seiko-Epson organization is proud of its ongoing contributions to the global environment and was recently added to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, an indicator for leading companies in economic, environmental and social criteria.

Note: Epson, C2Fine, E-TORL are registered trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation. PowerLite and PrivateLine are registered trademarks, OptiCinema and UltraBlack are trademarks and Extra Care is a service mark of Epson America Inc. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks.

(i) Home entertainment projectors under $4,000.
(ii) Light output varies depending on modes (color and white light
output). White light output measured using ISO 21118 standard.
(iii) Lamp life will vary depending upon mode selected, environmental
conditions and usage. Lamp brightness decreases over time.

Source: Epson America Inc.

Posted by Shane Sturgeon, September 8, 2009 6:31 AM