Video Projectors: Evolving Towards High Definition

Epson EMP-TW200H: Start Your Engines

After connecting the unit to our Philips DVD player via the YUV connectors, we fired up the TW200H with a simple press of the button on the remote control. The fan is fairly quiet in theater mode, but a tad boisterous in the other modes. You should avoid them for Home Theater use, especially since the blacks are much better in Theater mode thanks to the use of a physical filter to reduce the light output.

Our test-pattern tests revealed no major problems. The contrast, brightness, and black depth are among the best available in this price range. Colors were correctly calibrated and very rich. We did notice a slight lack of sharpness, as if things were just a little too smooth. If you like an image with soft contours, you'll be happy - otherwise you can increase the sharpness on the Epson or your DVD player.

With the film excerpts we screened, we found the same qualities previously mentioned, with no problem rendering dark scenes like the one from Blade or dazzling the viewer with colors in Finding Nemo, and with a display quality that showed absolutely no screen-door or stairstep effects. The built-in progressive scan did a very good job of rounding contours. So you won't need to buy a progressive DVD player in place of the one you already have.

Other uses, such as connecting to a PC or console, also presented no problems - the sources were detected automatically and the presets did a good job of adapting to viewing conditions.

We also did some tests with HD video from our PC. The results, as for the Sanyo PLV-Z3, were far above what the projector can display in standard resolution. Again, we strongly advise you to start taking a close look at DVD players that can convert signals to 720 or 1080, because the results are really worth the investment. In short, we'd have rated the Epson EMP TW-200H a no-fault product if only it had an HDMI or DVI input.

Pros: Native 720p, good blacks in cinema mode, power zoom and focus, quiet operation

Cons: No DVI, contrast only average