The Epson EH-TW 2900 is a Full HD LCD projector that’s been on the market since November 2009. Epson lists the device for 1,099.99 GBP, which matches the price you’ll pay through online retailers.

Reviewed by Florian Friedrich on March 18, 2010

Versatile lens-shift optics.
Massive zoom factor.
Sharp HD pictures.
Full colour-management system.

Exaggerated colours.
Slight colouration in black images.
Average in-picture contrast.

Excellent features for your money! The build quality also pleases, as does the extremely versatile installation, but Epson’s LCD projector fails to make the most of its potential — its presets, for example, show subtle discolourations. Experts can optimise the colours using the detailed set of picture controls.

Most Important Connections:

2x 1x 1x 1x

Features

Epson’s new three-chip projector uses a proprietary D7 LCD panel with an improved fill factor — we’ve already seen this in Epson’s EH-TW 5000. If you select the “Theatre Black 1” preset, the LCD projector delivers a fairly neutral colour temperature of 6,800 Kelvin. The colours are extended towards red and green in all presets, but you can correct this problem by adjusting the primary and non-primary colours in the “RGBCMY” section of the picture menu.

Epson has provided expert users with a complete set of colour controls. There are also separate RGB controls for brightness, contrast, and gamma. Ten user presets allow you to experiment and save your settings by pressing the “Memory” button on the remote control.

The Epson’s two HDMI inputs mean you can connect both a Blu-ray player and an HDTV receiver at the same time.

We also like that the Epson has two HDMI inputs — this gives it a significant advantage over similarly priced competitors. The 200-watt lamp’s pictures aren’t as bright as those from some rivals, but this also means the Epson doesn’t get as hot.

Operation

The remote control is not only clearly laid out; it also scores highly for its backlit buttons, which switch off automatically after 10 seconds.

Here again, we can only offer praise. For example, the versatile 2x zoom with manually adjustable lens shift is the same as that found in the pricier EH-TW 5000 — and is unique in this price class. The picture offset can shift the image by up to half its width to either side or by almost its full height up or down — this makes it easy to house the projector in a bookcase, for example.

Picture Quality of Standard-Definition Signals

Video arriving via composite or S-Video looks a bit too flat, and shows a fixed amount of picture-cropping (overscan). Unfortunately, it’s only possible to turn down the overscan for HDMI and YUV signals. The analogue YUV input impresses with sharpness that almost reaches HDMI level.

De-interlacing is also flawless, providing effective reduction of flicker on moving edges. With “Motion Detection”, the Epson is even able to shift the balance between cinema (in level one) and TV material (level five). But fast camera pans in sports broadcasts, for example, still show significant blur, and the motion depiction fails to improve. In films, on the other hand, motion displays smoothly.

In one of our favourite test DVDs, “Six Days Seven Nights”, the EH-TW 2900 exhibits further small weaknesses. For example, the red plane appears in more of a pinky purple. Slight colouration (shading) also appears in the edges of the picture — and not only in bright cloud formations, but also in dark scenes. The Epson’s iris can’t increase the average in-picture contrast of 1,070:1, but does at least dynamically reduce the residual illumination in dark scenes.

Picture Quality of High-Definition Signals

The EH-TW 2900 shows significant colour-space extension.

The Epson’s de-interlacing of HDTV video is superb. The video processor quickly and reliably eliminates flicker in films arriving in 1080i from an HDTV satellite receiver. It even handles HD video in 1080/30p format correctly — earning itself yet more praise. The projector’s convergence is perfect — not even most three-chip DLP projectors can display fine patterns in test pictures with so little colour fringing. Respect!

Day-lit scenes in “Casino Royale” look striking, despite the limited contrast. But strongly saturated colours — such as the leaves on the potted plants in front of the hotel — look too intensely dark green. If you can’t stand this effect, you can shift the tint control towards yellow and set the brightness higher, making the leaves look more natural. The colour management turns out to be an excellent picture-tuning tool that will also appeal to professional users. You cannot, however, use it to get rid of the reddish shading in letterbox bars.

Ideal Settings

Color Mode: Theatre Black 1

Brightness: 0

Contrast: 0

Color Saturation: 0

Sharpness: 0

Abs. Color Temp.: 6,500 Kelvin

Skin Tone: 3

Power Consumption: Normal

Auto Iris: Normal

Gamma: 2.2

These settings apply to realistic playback of HDTV/Blu-ray material through the HDMI interface in a darkened environment. Manufacturing and HDMI playback device deviations might necessitate slight adjustment.