The Epson EMP-TW-2000 is a Full HD, LCD projector, on the market since late 2007. Epson lists a recommended retail price of 2,930 GBP, but the TW-2000 currently sells online from around 2,500 GBP.

• Excellent black by LCD standards.
• Accurate colors and graytracking.
• Uniform picture with no color spots.

• Conspicuous iris-adjustment.
• Average de-interlacing.

Epson's LCD projector, the EMP TW-2000, provides excellent color, decent contrast, and unusually pure blacks. It shows HDTV signals in their full glory, and the flexible optics simplifies projector positioning. What's more, if you like to tweak, you'll love the comprehensive set of color controls. On the down side, de-interlacing is mediocre, and the automatic iris is anything but subtle - you can even hear it adjusting.

Connections:

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Introduction

Epson is one of the most important names in the world of home-theater projectors. The company also supplies development services - manufacturers such as Panasonic and Sanyo buy in Epson-designed projection chips. The TW-2000 is the company's new top model. It uses a D7 chip, which, in comparison to the earlier D6 model, produces a higher fill rate (52 instead of 43 percent) and a more balanced picture.

Technology

An "E-Torl" projection lamp and a Fujinon lens system offer significant improvements in picture quality.

Besides the D7 chip, Epson has fitted the TW-2000 with the new "E-Torl" projection lamp, which, it says, offers better colors and causes less light scattering. New polarization filters in the beam's path increase contrast, and the Fujinon lens system has also seen some improvements.

These changes led to a very self-assured set of data in the specifications sheet. Epson refers to the projector's black level as "Deep black" and claims impressive values such as 24-decibel fan noise, a 50,000:1 contrast ratio, and a light output of 1,600 lumens.

In our test, however, we weren't able to verify any of these values, not even in the least home-theater-suitable picture mode "Vivid" (see Picture modes and in-picture contrast). Particularly with projectors, you have to take the manufacturer's values with a healthy pinch of salt.

Both HDMI inputs conform to HDMI version 1.3, and the RS-232C serial interface allows remote control of projector functions via a cable. The "Trigger out" connection can control a motorized protection screen.

Good news for European users: The developers have decided to swap the special, Japanese "D4" connection for a second HDMI input. Both HDMI sockets meet the latest 1.3 standard, and support "x.v. Color".

The projector offers versatile positioning, thanks to the 2.1x zoom and wide-reaching picture-offset function (up to 47 percent left and right, and up to 96 percent up and down). The only shame is that you can only adjust the lens-shift, focus, and zoom manually, and not using the remote, as you can with the Sony VW-60, for example.

This makes setup much more complicated, despite the integrated test-patterns. For a fixed home-theater setup, however, this poses less of a problem, since you'll only need to set it up once.

The Epson EMP-TW 2000 comes with a backlit remote control for easy operation in a dark home-theater.

Light and Color

The device's color gamut, represented here by the white triangle, is too large in comparison to the ideal values (gray triangle), resulting in unnatural primary colors. On the other hand, there are very few visible color deviations (spots in the center of the triangle), so grayscales are at least consistent.

Epson designed the TW-2000's color controls to correspond with isf (imaging science foundation) standards, and the isf-ccc profile is intended for use in expert calibration. The settings therefore allow even deeper adjustment than before.

The "HD" preset attempts to match the picture-impression of studio monitors, but its gamma and primary colors are incorrect, to put it mildly: In fact, the color gamut and white point are further from the standards than any other recent Epson model. Clearly, the isf standard doesn't always give optimal results.

Luckily, if you want to correct the white point, all you have to do is change the "Abs. Color Temp." setting from 7,500 to 6,500 Kelvin. Things get a bit hairier with the color gamut, and you simply cannot calibrate the TW-2000 to the same accuracy as you could the TW-1000.

Light spectrum at 6,500 Kelvin: The Epson's special filter techniques result in an unusual profile.

For the experienced and inexperienced alike, however, we have to stress that Epson does always make their factory setup extremely accurate, and the TW-2000 gives relatively neutral pictures with no adjustment whatsoever.

In terms of color settings, the TW-2000 is a dream to work with. With other projectors, attempts to correct the colors often result in discoloration of certain brightness levels - not so with the Epson. This is due to the color filter in the path of the light. Even full-screen gray pictures show almost no color shading in the corners of the picture. In this regard, the TW-2000 beats all of its LCD colleagues and even some SXRD or D-ILA projectors. It cannot, however, match the color-uniformity of DLP projectors.

The automatic iris control comes into effect rather slowly in some scenes, especially when changing from dark to bright imagery, and is quite clearly audible. It's worth a try at least, since it often dramatically increases the subjective contrast of movies.

In a dark home-theater, the Epson's brightness is enough for screens up to 2.5-meters wide, but we advise sticking to around 2 meters in the living room. Otherwise, bright presets will lose some color fidelity.

Picture Modes and In-Picture Contrast

Modern digital projectors such as the Epson TW-2000 are capable of producing a range of very different images depending on the picture mode - more or less brightness or contrast, more natural or more synthetic colors. The table below shows how the Epson's output values - and therefore its picture - vary depending on the chosen picture mode.

The in-picture contrast is one of the decisive factors. Measured using a small white box in the center of a black background, the in-picture value comes much closer than the On/Off (or "maximum") contrast to the actual contrast visible during a movie. This is because the automatic iris bumps up the value for the "maximum contrast". The ANSI contrast, on the other hand, is measured using a full-screen, black-and-white checkerboard pattern, and is so pessimistic that you almost always see much more contrast in practice that this value suggests.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle of the two values (On/Off, and ANSI). Our measurement of the "in-picture" contrast normally gives a realistic idea of how the picture's contrast will look during movies.

Color temperature, brightness, and contrast in relation to picture mode:

Picture Quality

HDTV:
Put simply, HDTV signals at 24-hertz look excellent. The Epson displays even tricky camera pans judder-free, smooth, and yet sharp - for example, in the alleyways of Paris in the gothic horror movie "Van Helsing".

The projector also processes 50-hertz 1080i signals accurately. For example, the Epson displayed the detailed clock tower in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (showing on a movie channel) with the same startling accuracy as it did a wintry mountainscape.

Faster camera-pans across the grounds of Hogwarts School did blur a little, but not dramatically. In the scene where a dragon chases Harry on his magic broom, the Epson displays the cliffs, buildings, and roofs in full detail, with clearly defined contours.

Reproduction of fine details is generally excellent, and meets our expectations of a 1080p projector. The finest details do not, however, display perfectly - for example, individual pixels from the Blu-ray test disc "HD Basics". The picture shows slight color fringing in the form of chromatic deviations and convergence errors, making it look a little blurrier than on first-rate DLP projectors with high-end lenses, such as the Marantz VP-15. Nevertheless, all the information in the 1080p pictures made it safely onto the projection screen.

Skin tones are always natural and convincing, and the contrast is higher than average for an LCD projector. The Epson only reaches its limits when presented with highly-detailed, fast-moving imagery - for example, 1080p-format computer games from Sony's PlayStation3.

DVD:
Although the TW-2000 has a highly competent video processor, it seems to struggle with processing interlaced PAL signals. Even from the very beginning of "The Mexican", the projector shows irritating flicker, regardless of the de-interlacing setting in the menu.

A worthwhile investment is therefore a DVD player with a good built-in de-interlacer. In our test, we used the Denon DVD-3930, which produced an outstanding DVD picture, especially when outputting an up-scaled 1080p signal.

Ideal Settings

Color Mode: HD

Progressive: Film/Auto

Color Saturation: -6

Brightness: 0

Contrast: 0

Tint: 0

Sharpness: Standard

Aspect: Full

Brightness Control: Low

Abs. Color Temp.: 6,500 K

G-Saturation (RGBCMY): -50

Auto Iris: On

EPSON Super White: Off

Output Scaling: 100%

HDMI Video Range: Normal

Noise Reduction: Off

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