Epson LS12000 HDR Issue
· 20 min read
Quick Summary
This post will summarize months of research that I and others on AVSForum have conducted. What we've found:
The Issue
- The issue appears to be with how the projector handles the red color channel with BT.2020 color space content. BT.2020 color space is most frequently associated with HDR content, but it can be forced with SDR content
- This manifests as blotchy colors visible in gradients or on people's faces in cooler color temperature scenarios, leading to inaccurate and unnatural reproduction -- see images below
- This happens with any source device, at any signal settings from the lowest quality 4:2:0 8-bit YUV, to 12-bit RGB, from 24 hz to 120 hz
- This happens in any color mode
- This happens with any source, from video games, to streaming video, to UHD BDs
- I've done factory resets and the issue persists, and even the latest 2.0 firmware does not resolve this issue
Testing
- I have personally spent upwards of 20+ hours systematically testing various combinations of settings to narrow this down
- I have done the same tests with a Sony TV and projector and could not replicate the results there indicating this is truly an Epson projector issue
Support
- I first engaged Epson support about this issue May 2023 and it took several months of back and forth emails to try and explain the issue
- Epson support at one point sent me a replacement projector which exhibited the same issue
- On August 29th, 2023 support said they have assessed the issue and are working on a fix
To date (September 2024) they have not resolved the issue, and continue to sell the LS12000 (and LS11000 which is similarly affected) with this issue. Hopefully this post will shed some light on the issue.