Question on the Epson 6500UB

[gates70]

Proud new owner of this unit and the only thing I'm trying to figure out is about the auto iris option. On or off ? What do you guys prefer ? I'm not sure I see much of a difference yet except for a bit of grinding noise. And about that grinding noise, that means moving parts so in the longrun won't it break down ?

[Oddiophile]

Try it both ways, see which way you like it.

The dynamic iris "on" will increase your on/off contrast making the black levels on the projector look blacker. A down side to the dynamic iris's is they can have brightness compression where dark scenes look dim or dull from the close down iris. Iris's can be slow to open from a fully close position, so if the scene is dark and then suddenly changes to a bright scene you can some times see the iris opening back up. Also pumping can happen, where a scene can confuse the iris and the iris consistently opens and closes creating a pumping effect till the scene changes.

Dynamic iris are not perfect but they do effectively increase your on/off contrast. Give it a try, watch a few movies see what you think. I had a dynamic iris on my Sony HS51 and could see what I described above but always ran the iris because I liked it's positives more then its negatives. I put over 4000 hours on my Sony and never had a problem with the iris, some of them are nosier then others.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Oddiophile

Try it both ways, see which way you like it.

The dynamic iris "on" will increase your on/off contrast making the black levels on the projector look blacker. A down side to the dynamic iris's is they can have brightness compression where dark scenes look dim or dull from the close down iris. Iris's can be slow to open from a fully close position, so if the scene is dark and then suddenly changes to a bright scene you can some times see the iris opening back up. Also pumping can happen, where a scene can confuse the iris and the iris consistently opens and closes creating a pumping effect till the scene changes.

Dynamic iris are not perfect but they do effectively increase your on/off contrast. Give it a try, watch a few movies see what you think. I had a dynamic iris on my Sony HS51 and could see what I described above but always ran the iris because I liked it's positives more then its negatives. I put over 4000 hours on my Sony and never had a problem with the iris, some of them are nosier then others.

Yes now that I've watched a full movie while switching back and forth, I can see a difference. The grinding noise in quiet scenes is annoying though. I'm wondering how long an iris can go on like that without breaking ! It seems to work a lot.

[Oddiophile]

If it's making a motor humming sound as it's working then it's normal. If it sounds like gears grinding or a mechanical grinding nose you may what to take it back to your dealer and have them look at it. Maybe see if they have a demo unit or another unit in stock you can compare yours to to see if it sounds the same. I have seen post on different boards from people saying there 6500UB sounds quit and other say it's kind of noisy but not annoying while watching a movie.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Oddiophile

If it's making a motor humming sound as it's working then it's normal. If it sounds like gears grinding or a mechanical grinding nose you may what to take it back to your dealer and have them look at it. Maybe see if they have a demo unit or another unit in stock you can compare yours to to see if it sounds the same. I have seen post on different boards from people saying there 6500UB sounds quit and other say it's kind of noisy but not annoying while watching a movie.

Well maybe I explained it wrong. It's a sound like when a computer hard drive makes when it's accessing something. It's not constant though. It makes it sometimes and not other times. Depends on the scene I guess.

[Oddiophile]

Originally Posted by gates70

Well maybe I explained it wrong. It's a sound like when a computer hard drive makes when it's accessing something. It's not constant though. It makes it sometimes and not other times. Depends on the scene I guess.

If it's a hard drive like tick, that sounds normal.

My Sony projector with the DI was ceiling mounted and I noticed if you sat underneath it you could not hear the DI. If it was behind you or in front of your seating position the ticking became noticeable.

[Blu2theBone]

I turn the iris off unless I'm watching a movie. The grinding noise can get pretty annoying. Almost makes me wish I had bought the 7500 as it doesn't have this problem. Still love everything else about this projector.