Epson TW5500: Beefy piece for the best home cinema

Epson is the biggest in the projector market and we have been waiting a long time for their new series of home theater models. The TW5500 is the top model and offers both a good picture and new functions.

Beefy but easy to install
The projector is a really beefy piece with a rather boring design. The target group is clearly enthusiasts who are not afraid of the large format and are prepared to pay a little extra for good image quality. The projector is based on the manufacturer’s own D7 panel and the specifications look promising, to say the least.

No matter what your home cinema looks like, you will be able to install the projector without any problems. The zoom range is extremely generous and both vertical and horizontal lens movement is far better than we are used to. You set everything with manual controls.

100 Hertz in the projector
The “frame interpolation” function that Epson has included in this model is a bit special in the context of projectors. It is about the equivalent of the television page’s 100 Hertz mode.

The TW5500 interpolates extra frames for faster updating and to avoid the stutter found in especially film material where 24 frames per second is standard. The projector does this really well but with the setting at max we still see some interference in contours that lag behind in fast movements.

Nice that the function found its way to the projector, but we prefer to leave it off.

Another novelty is “Super-resolution”, which in practice is about an improved technique for scaling up low-resolution material. This also makes the projector exemplary, even if the DVD version of Casino Royal did not come close to the bluray edition.

Good light pressure and excellent contrast
The light pressure is really good and the preset mode “lively” works well even if you have difficulty dimming. But it is in total darkness that the projector really shines. Blacks are brutally good and we get an incredibly detailed image in both bright and dark movie scenes.

At the same time, the colors are very rich and nice, even if a little fine-tuning is required for an optimal image.

On the minus side, it should be mentioned that the projector makes a bit of noise when you are not driving in eco mode. If you are sensitive to loud fans, this is definitely something to take into account. With low brightness on the lamp, however, it is considerably quieter, and if you have good blackout conditions, this setting will do just fine.

A big plus on the edge is that Epson provides a three-year warranty on both projector and lamp, which is unique in the industry.

Epson TW5500
Manufacturer: Epson, www.epson.se
Type: LCD
Image format: 16:9
Resolution: 1920×1080
Projection distance 100 inches: 3-5.1 m
Image inputs: 2 hdmi, 1 vga, 1 component, 1 s-video, 1 composite
Brightness: 1600 ANSI lumens
Specified sound level: 22dB
Contrast: 200,000:1
Measure: 360x450x136 mm
Weight: 7.5 kg
Approx price: SEK 35,000
Guarantee: 3 years on site (projector & lamp)

Plus: Good blackness and contrast, easy to install, generous warranty
Minus: Sound level, boring remote control, big and clunky
Grade: (8 out of 10)

Epson TW5500