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Review: Epson EH-TW7400 Ultra HD LCD projector

Epson EH-TW7400 projector
Review: Despite few limitations, Epson EH-TW7400 projector is an excellent projector. He has a very high light output, and excellent calibration.
4.5/5 - (576 votes)

In the autumn of 2018, Epson renewed its three best Home Theater projectors. The Epson EH-TW7400 projector is the basic model of the three. But base in this case still means a projector that supports Ultra HD and HDR and that is very well equipped. Reason enough to test it.

Epson EH-TW7400 projector – specifications

  • What: Full HD 3LCD projector with 4K image enhancement
  • Setup: 1,920 x 1,080 native, 3,840 x 2,160 with pixel shift, light output 2,400 ANSI lumens , dynamic contrast 200,000: 1, projection ratio 1.35 – 2.84 (100 inch diagonal between 3.0 and 6.3 m), noise level 31/20 dB (standard, ecomode)
  • Connections: 2x HDMI (2x v2 .0a, 1x HDCP2.2), 1x VGA, 1x USB (power), 1x USB (WLAN adapter), 1x 12V trigger, 1x network, 1x rs-232c
  • Lamp life: 3,500 / 5,000 hours
  • Extras : HDR10
  • Dimensions: 520 x 193 x 450 mm
  • Weight: 11.2 kg
  • Consumption: 355/271 / 0.2 watt
  • List price: 1.999 euro

Epson EH-TW7400 projector – design

With the design, it seems to us that Epson has changed little compared to the EH-TW7300. That means a large projector that is clearly intended for a fixed setup. Do not take this model with you to friends or family.

The white projector has a satin-finish, almost mother-of-pearl finish that gives it a lot of style. Impressive, yes he is. The large lens and front cooling grids even give it a touch of sports car appearance. At the front right you will find the control buttons under a hatch.

Connections

The connections are all at the back. They are also a few centimeters embedded in the projector, so you do not have to provide too much extra space for the connectors. You can not place it with his back against the wall, but a few centimeters of space suffice to drain the cabling.

The projector is equipped with two HDMI 2.0 connections, but only HDMI1 is equipped with HDCP2.2. An Ultra HD source will therefore have to connect to HDMI1 as well as always. More important, however, is that both HDMI connections do not deliver the full 18Gbps bandwidth, just like on the previous models. That is a point of interest when connecting Ultra HD sources. At 24fps you can only supply RGB or YCbCr 4: 4: 4 chroma subsampling if you limit the bit depth to 8 bit. If you want to supply 10 bits (eg for HDR), you have to switch back to YCbCr 4: 2: 2 chroma subsampling. Ultra HD sources that deliver more than 24 fps can only be connected in YCbCr 4: 2: 0 with 8 bit bit depth. This limitation is especially difficult for gamers who can not play in 4K HDR. In many cases, it is best to switch the source’s HDMI output into ‘auto’ mode to avoid problems.

In addition there is only a VGA connection. The other connections are all for automation: RS-232C, a 12V trigger, and a network port. The USB connection is used for an optional WiFi module, not as a media reader. There is also a separate power supply that you can use for HDMI optical cables. Finally, Epson provides an HDMI cable clip with which you attach heavy HDMI cables to the projector. That way you avoid putting stress on the connection or falling out.

Epson EH-TW7400 – Location and ease of use

The Epson will find a place in many rooms thanks to its installation features. The most important are the spacious horizontal and vertical lens shift, so that the projector does not have to be perfectly central to the image. You can just as well opt for installation on a coffee table as on a shelf. Keep in mind that you can not use the extremes of the lens shift together. For example, if you almost need the maximum vertical, then the horizontal shift is very limited and vice versa. The lens has a somewhat long projection ratio, you need at least three meters distance for a 100 inch image. Thanks to the 2.1x zoom lens you can also project the same 100 inch image from 6.3 meters.

Epson EH-TW7400 projector

Both the focus, zoom and lens shift are motorized, which allows for a precise setting while you are close to the screen. You can also store up to ten different configurations in the internal memory and activate them at the touch of a button. Very handy if you work with a 21: 9 screen and want to see different aspect ratios at the full screen height.

The EH-TW7400 offers three different lamp modes (can be found under ‘image, power consumption’), namely high, middle and low. In the two lowest positions there is only the typical fan noise that you seldom or never will disturb, but in the highest position it can be annoying.

Menus

The Epson menus are very extensive, but well structured and easy to handle. navigate. Keep the manual handy for an explanation of the many settings.

All necessary settings for extensive calibration are available. But the most interesting settings for the consumer are in the ‘image improvement’ functions. There you will find ‘4K enhancement’ that activates the pixel highlighting (by default, and that may remain the case). In addition, you can define five presets that you call with the ‘Image Enh.’ Button on the remote. This way you can determine combinations of noise reduction, MPEG noise reduction, Super resolution and detail improvement.

Remote control

The remote is very large, is illuminated, and has a lot of keys that allow you to use certain picture functions directly. changes without having to go through the menus. In addition, it has a block of playback buttons that can be used by many players thanks to HDMI-CEC. A ‘user’ button to which you can assign a function yourself via the menu makes it even more convenient.

Epson EH-TW7400 projector - remote

Despite its size, it is easy to hold, and the buttons are very easy to press. [19659002] Epson EH-TW7400 – features

To show Ultra HD 4K images, the Epson uses a pixel-shift technology (under the name 4K image enhancement). We refer to this technology in our general projector article here . The Full HD image is very quickly shifted half a pixel diagonally and back, and combined with the necessary image processing it leads to an almost Ultra HD level of detail.

The projector can handle HDR10, not with HLG or formats with dynamic metadata. You can view two different HDMI sources simultaneously thanks to the Picture in Picture function. Finally, the Epson also supports active 3D, you have to buy glasses separately.

With the LAN connection or an optional wireless dongle and the Epson iProjection software you can send your legs from a computer or a smartphone to the projector.

Epson EH-TW7400 – Image processing

The image processing tests show a slightly improved result compared to the previous models. Deinterlacing and detection of less common film and video framerates remains problematic, so you still best provide 720p, 1080p or 2160p sources. The noise reduction gives very nice results, also for hard compression noise (large block formation) and is also very fine to set.

Really completely 4K detail you can not expect from a pixel shifter, and it seems to us that the result of the Epson must be very small compared to the DLP competitors. In practice, the difference (given viewing distance and moving images) will not be noticeable. So you get a level of detail that is somewhere between Full HD and Ultra HD, but nicely conceals all pixel boundaries. You can use the ‘Image Enhancement’ settings to sharpen the image. In the picture below you can see the effect when with all the improvements, preset 3 and preset 5. As you can see, too high settings can be avoided because they create an exaggerated effect.

The EH-TW7400 has motion interpolation, but it only works on 1080p24 images. So whoever sets his player to 4K resolution can not use motion interpolation, that’s a shame. The motion interpolation works well, and we found the lowest and middle position an excellent choice, which does not cause too many artefacts.

Epson EH-TW7400 – Image performance

On paper the Epson comes with a light intensity of 2,400 lumens. In the dynamic image mode and the lamp in the highest position you even get 2.460 lumens. That image is obviously too green, but it promises much good for the calibrated institutions. The Natural Picture Set delivers the best results with 1.713 / 1.344 / 1.125 lumens, depending on the lamp mode (standard 100%, medium ~ 75%, eco ~ 65%). Even in the lowest lamp mode, that’s enough for a 110-inch image, even with ambient light.

The Cinema and Digital Cinema modes slide a filter for the lamp to increase the color range, but that will cost you light of course. The Digital Cinema mode reaches a maximum of 728 lumens, and falls to 507 lumens in the lowest lamp mode. That is still good for 100 inches, but then with blackout, and even better is to limit the screen to 80-90 inches. We will return to the usefulness of the larger color range when talking about HDR.

This projector also delivers good results in terms of contrast. The native contrast is approximately 1,450: 1 in all picture modes. That in itself is already pretty good, for better results you have to knock on substantially more expensive models. Thanks to the dynamic iris, the contrast can go up to about 30,000: 1 even if it is on test images and you will have to put in less with reality. In normal mode the complete transition takes up to 80 seconds, in ‘fast’ mode it is 20 seconds. The iris does its work in silence, and does not cause rapidly changing luminosity jumps, so there is no disadvantage to keep them activated.

For SDR images, choose the Natural Picture Set. It is very well calibrated. The gray scale is a bit too cool (very vague blue tint), but apart from that the results are excellent. The color reproduction is even impressive. This setting is excellent for ambient light and for darkening, although in the latter case you can also drop the gamma for a slightly more plastic image.

HDR

The Cinema and Digital Cinema image presets use an additional filter for the lamp to increase the color range. That is of course only useful for HDR images, but the result is impressive. In this way, the projector achieves a color range of 96% DCI-P3, which equals the best television performance. The result is particularly visible in extreme red and green tones. But unfortunately the price you pay is a significant drop in brightness. And let that also be important for HDR. Since in the ‘Natural’ image mode for HDR images you still get a large 80% DCI-P3 color range but double the light, so it is definitely an option to choose that mode.

The calibration for HDR10 is reasonable, but for a good result you have to dive into the menus. Under ‘Signal, Advanced, Dynamic Range’ you will find four different HDR modes. These modes give you the choice between a clear / dark image with less / more white detail. For example, mode 1 and 2 hides all detail above 500-650 nits, but gives the clearest image. Mode 3 hides everything above 1,000 nits and mode 4 everything above 4,000 nits. Unfortunately, at Mode 3 you notice that the image is considerably less clear, and that does not affect the HDR experience for the better. HDR mode 2 is therefore a solid compromise, in the Auto mode the Epson seems to always choose it.

In short, this projector can convince with HDR, but for that you really have to look at blackout . In addition, it also remains a consideration whether you want more color or more light, but we generally recommend to opt for more light (Natural Picture Set). We would also appreciate a more fine-tuned setting of the HDR curve.

Gaming

With a lag of 28.5 ms, this projector is an excellent choice for gaming.

Review equipment

For the lag measurement we use a Leo Bodnar Display lag meter. For all other measurements we rely on a Spectracal C6 HDR2000 Colorimeter, Xrite i1 Pro spectrophotometer, a VideoForge Pro pattern generator, and the Spectracal Calman for Business software. To analyze any HDR problems we use an HDFury Vertex.

Epson EH-TW7400 – Conclusion

The biggest shortcoming of this Epson projector is the limited bandwidth HDMI connections. Gamers can therefore not play 4K HDR games, for those who only watch movies that restriction is less important. Those who like to use motion interpolation should know that this can only be done at 1080p24 sources, which is difficult if you use a UHD Blu-ray player as source that does all upscaling. In addition, it provides an enormous range of colors for HDR, but only at the expense of a lot of light. Here you have to make a choice.

Despite these limitations, this is an excellent projector. He has a very high light output, and excellent calibration. The images are colorful and natural, and thanks to the good contrast that still improves thanks to the dynamic iris, they really have a lot of punch. In HDR, the task is somewhat more difficult, but he still manages to deliver a nice result. The pixel shifting technology provides enough detail to see the difference with Full HD. The price is good, especially given the ease of installation. Those looking for a home theater projector for a reasonable price can certainly put it on the short list.

Cons

  • HDMI connections do not offer full bandwidth
  • Motion interpolation only at 1080p24
  • Compromise needed for HDR: color or light

Pros

  • Light output
  • Contrast / Black detail
  • Color reproduction
  • Good Ultra HD detail
  • Ease of installation

 

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